Nackt und zerfleischt

Cannibal Holocaust was, first and foremost, a disgusting movie with more violence than I have ever seen. Despite this, it is also one of my favorite movies. It gives a feeling of Blair Witch done right, even though there are some very obviously contrived scenes in which nobody is holding the camera, but despite some small cosmetic problems this is the best horror movie I have ever seen.

Unlike most "shock" films, such as the Guinea Pig movies, Cannibal Holocaust has a very well written plot and a definite progression. The focus is still on making the audience ill, but we don't even see any violence until fairly late in the movie, so the emphasis on plot is much stronger. The story told is a deep one, showing the lengths at which people will go for some goal, the example given being fame and fortune. The theme is reflected in parallel story lines through the second half of the movie, as Alan and his crew go to more and more desperate lengths for fame, and the professor struggles against a big media company to suppress the release of their footage. Even in a "meta" sense, we see the theme appear once again in the lengths the director of Cannibal Holocaust itself went, going so far as to kill and butcher four animals on camera.

One must keep an open mind when viewing Deodato's infamous cannibal film, Cannibal holocaust. While the feature is shot beautifully and has a truly mesmerizing score by Riz Ortolani, its hard to break past the aspects that made this film so controversial to begin with.

Yes, the film depicts the actual slaughter of jungle-dwelling creatures. Yes, traumatic horrors such as rape seem glorified as "just" forms of punishment. Its not easy to handle... and yet, that was the goal of the film.

Deodato did not set out to make a film for the masses. He created an underground feature for a very select crowd, but shot, edited, and scored it masterfully. Cannibal Holocaust is more of an experience than an actual film - and that's just what the makers of this feature planned.

If you can stomach it, watch it in disgust, shock, and reverence. It might be a monstrosity, but its one-of-a-kind.

This film is notorious for its intense scenes of graphic violence and real animal killings, it really aims to challenge us with the exploration into cultural imperialism and the depths of human depravity.

This film stands out from other horrors through its fearless exploration of ethical boundaries in film making, blurring the lines between reality and fiction. The story unfolds with such a raw and unflinching intensity that it really had me questioning the authenticity of the film especially knowing going in about the already existing animal ethical concerns. It does not hold back in its depiction of violence and brutality so a strong warning for those that cannot stand gore. Still however this remains a cult classic for anyone willing to explore such disturbing themes.

Yes, this film was banned and heavily censored in a few places for being disturbing. It does have some really well done gruesome scenes but the real censorship came from the cruelty to animals. Let's just say this film doesn't have "no animals were harmed during production" scrolling the end credits. The animal killings include a pig being shot in the head from close range, a muskrat being slit open for no reason, a giant turtle being split open in an overly long scene and a monkey getting his brains bashed in which required two takes so two monkeys were killed during production. These were real killings and not faked. A lot of the actors on the set protested this but the show went on. In fact, one of the lead actors feared for his life thinking this might be a "snuff" film and might meet the same fate. As much as this bothered people, is it really that different then buying meat in a supermarket? At least it made me think. The movie centers around "found footage" of a group of documentary filmmakers. The filmmakers are in South America searching for a tribe of flesh-eaters, hoping that this documentary will win them fame and fortune. The movie was marketed in a way that made viewers believe all the documentary footage shown in the movie was actual footage of a group that really went to South America to do a documentary. Some questionable acting gives it away. And you thought "The Blair Witch Project" was an original idea didn't you!?

"Cannibal Holocaust" is not the campy little horror flick I expected. It's a "serious" and well-made movie and it's an experience you'll hardly ever forget. According to IMDb's trivia section the movie can "only be seen completely uncut in the EC-UltraBit DVD", which means that I've seen a tamed down version and that, my friends, is insane! "Cannibal Holocaust" is easily one of the most graphic movies I've ever come across. The violence is incredibly realistic. It's no wonder that director Ruggero Deodato was taken to court to prove that he hasn't slain real people for his motion picture. (I still think the real animal slaughtering in the movie was unnecessary. Screw you for that, Deodato!) It's hard to tell if there really is a message or if the "moral" is just an excuse for all the gore. In a strange way the violent scenes somehow speak for themselves and do deliver some kind of message, but that's open for discussion.

If ever a movie deserved the label "disturbing", it's "Cannibal Holocaust". It's controversial, but totally worth watching, if you can take some seriously sick images.