Holocausto Canibal

Now if you are an animal lover - why are you here? Believe me you don't want to see this! You won't even mind for why animals were abused in this. Mostly the animals killed here (yes they actually did that!), were for food. So while especially the scene with the shelled "friend" seems like torture, it is not something that is not happening to other animals most of us eat daily.

I'm just trying to give you a perspective so you won't feel like a hypocrite after you say certain things. Not to excuse what is being depicted in this. And while that may sound like a weird warning to a cannibal movie (and no human was harmed in the making of this - at least not in a deadly way), but it is important to note such things, so you are fully informed when it comes to deciding if you want to watch this or not.

The other thing is the movie became infamous and Ruggero knew what he was doing. Nowadays this is almost unthinkable. Apart from Blair Witch Project, where the filmmaker apparently never had seen this, otherwise he wouldn't have made his movie which changed the landscape ... but this one changed a lot of things too. While the movie pretended that its actors were dead (told them not to involve themselves in other projects after this was finished), the filmmaker got into legal trouble, because people believed this was completely real. The real animal torture killing and the overall realistic looking effects did the rest ... especially one impaling scene! Ruggero has since explained how he did (quite "easy" faked), but still many are awed by how it looks.

So to summarize, this is depraved, this is dirty, this is appaling and this will make many sick to their stomach ... mission accomplished

I am not going to sit here and type out the reasons why this is not only the best Cannibal film ever made, one of the best horror films ever made, and basically just a damn good film. If you're reading one of the thousands of Cannibal Holocaust reviews on here; chances are you've seen it, and know why it is such a masterly structured and excellently made film. And therefore you don't need me to tell you why it is.

Suffice to say that this film is simply stunning. The music, direction, camerawork, plot and atmosphere are practically faultless, and I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of horror, or a fan of well made, and clever films.

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 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.

Cannibal Holocaust truly is one of the most disturbing and uncomfortable films I've ever seen. Released in 1980, the movie has gained a reputation over the years as being one of the most controversial films ever made, and I think it rightfully deserves that title. Now this is a hard film to recommend, especially considering all of the brutal onscreen violence, rape, dismemberment, genital mutilation, and of course the incredibly hard to watch real life animal killings. However, whether you love or hate the film you can't argue that it's very well crafted. As with most Italian movies the cinematography is great, the soundtrack beautiful and the locations exotic. The tropical scenery truly is stunning to watch and music even greater to listen to.

The film focuses on a group of young film makers who venture out into the Amazon Rainforest to make a documentary on the local tribes, and as to be expected they never return. A professor is destined to recover the lost footage to put the story to rest and hopefully find out what happened to the crew. What unravels next is an example of one of the earliest found footage horror films ever conceived, made nearly two decades before The Blair Witch Project, and similar to that film the director strived to convince the audience that what they were seeing was real, so much so that he had the actors sign contracts to disappear from the media for a year to let the realism of the film sink in which later lead to his arrest, as the courts were convinced that the deaths depicted in the movie were genuine. However once he was able to get in touch with the actors and have them appear in court all charges were dropped, other than a small fine for the animal killings.

From its shocking visuals to its gritty realism Cannibal Holocaust is a very effective film that, like many people have said, is very realistic and has a much deeper meaning to it than one might think. Director Ruggero Deodato's intention (or so I think) was to make a film that deglorified our civilized society, showing the viewer that we, the civilized people, are the true monsters, not the cannibals. The movies' pessimistic tone and negative outlook on society actually makes for an overall depressing and unpleasant experience, a film that truly makes you feel bad in the end.

The movie has quite a sporadic fan base, with famous directors like Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino and Sergio Leone all supposedly being confessed fans of it. So much in fact that Oliver Stone payed homage to the film by replicating one of the most famous scenes in his movie Platoon (1986) and Sergio Leone wrote a letter of gratitude to Deodato complimenting him on the realism and the ability to produce such an effective and encaptivating movie. If you're looking for a fun horror film to watch with friends this is definitely not it. The movie is very dark and unsettling, making the viewer feel horrible after watching. Approach with caution, this movie is not for the squeamish, faint of heart, or easily offended and I suggest that those younger than 17 should avoid completely, only recommended to the most hardcore of horror fans and exploitation enthusiasts. You have been warned.