Snuff

It may come as a surprise to learn that my DVD of "Snuff" is the most played disc in my collection. I must add that this isn't down to the film's playability. No, the reason why this DVD was played night after night was its amazing sleep-inducing properties. It took me at least 4 or 5 attempts to finally finish this movie. "Snuff" is as bad as the reviews say. In fact, it's worse.

Despite some interesting ingredients (a bevy of beautiful women, a seventies' soundtrack with an interesting Steppenwolf-like quality, a splattering of blood and gore, exotic settings, etc.), the film manages to be way beyond the realms of enjoyment.

The last 5 minutes that gave this film its notoriety can be caught on documentaries such as UK Channel 4's "The Dark Side of Porn - Does Snuff Exist?" Even if you're a completist, save your money. This film just isn't worth the outlay.

Dire. 1 out of 10.

Crappy movie that leads to the infamous "snuff" scene. However, after the poor actress looses her one of her left fingers, the final scene of her innards being removed clearly shows all fingers on the same hand intact. Come on. Even if the gore appears fake, at least get the details right. It is actually kind of fun watching movies like this and noting the inaccurate video illustrating the true fakeness of it all.

Besides that, the movie itself is quite funny without trying to be. Not to mention it is not in English, so the voice-over only ads to the enjoyment of it all. If you can watch it for free or downoad it, go for it. However, save your money for something more believable. The "Guinea Pig" series would be a better place to start than this.

Credit must be given to the people behind Snuff. They took a very poorly made biker-drug war movie, tacked a phony real murder of one of the actress and the rest is history. Much has been written about the Finleys and the history of this movie. Enjoy the first 85 or so minutes and look at it for what it is a low rent action/gore film, than prepare yourself for the mock snuff murder with finger chopping and intestine ripping! Watch it for the historical value only. For quality look elsewhere!

Notorious cult item that has to do with a Manson-like cult leader and his bevy of lovely women who do his bidding. They kill a bunch of people before finally targeting a pregnant actress and her rich boyfriend.

Aside from that main storyline, there's also a tacked on ending that was falsely advertised to have been real snuff footage. The gore doesn't even look realistic though, especially the snipping off of a finger. No question about it, this is a bad movie. It's also pretty aimless, and there's a ridiculously overlong parade scene that made me want to hit the fast-forward, though I resisted. There is admittedly some fun to be had, as much of the film is really cheesy with some elements that you can't help but laugh at, not the least of which is the dubbing. Other than the cheese, the only other thing I liked about this movie was the presence of cult actress/director Roberta Findlay as one of the cult followers. I've always had the hots for her, so seeing her here or in any other film is always a pleasure.

My praise for "Snuff" stops there, however. Most will flat-out hate it, and frankly, I can't blame them.

Well, here it is...the biggest hoax to be perpetrated on the (admittedly slow-draw) 42nd-Street crowd. When it was a mere out-of-print obscurity on VHS, there was a bit of intrigue into the 'authenticity' of "Snuff," but such claims are absolutely ludicrous (the transition to the alleged murder on film is too inept--and shot from too many different angles--to have any realistic basis). What we have here is a dull (and clearly foreign) spin off of the Manson massacre, ineptly edited, and dubbed by morons (a lone redeeming quality that eventually loses its ability to entertain); after being subjected to an hour or so of exposition and relationship ties among a famous starlet and her rich boyfriend, the film devolves into the ridiculous, out-of-nowhere murder sequence. Compared to other provocative, 18+ shockers of the time ("Cannibal Holocaust" comes to mind), "Snuff" is incredibly tepid in the realms of cheap, sleazy titillation and gruesome mutilation--the result is a film that might have been morally objectionable or sickening had the people behind the camera not been so damn daft.