Cannibal Holocaust

[whitezombie]

I recently watched Cannibal Holocaust (uncut). I'm not quite sure where to start. At best my reviews lack structure.

Firstly, I guess I have to say that this is probably the most powerful and shocking film I've ever seen. No meat feat given that it's over 30 years old! I'm not entirely sure what it is that I found so shocking and upsetting about the film. Compared to many, more modern films, the films isn't that gory, though it does feature it's fair share of bloodletting. Perhaps it's the way that the gore is shot, where you can't see quite what is going on, and also the inclusion of the now infamous real animal killings. Additionally, a lot of the gore isn't your typical 'bloodbath', the fake blood seems to have been used sparingly, but there is a lot of severed flesh on show.

Having said all of this, the sheer bloodthirst of the 'victims' is probably the most disturbing thing of all, and simply hammers home the fact that everything we are seeing onscreen, is the result of the West's taste for the obscene, regardless of what is violated in the process. The cinematography definitely lends itself to the raw nature of the subject matter, too.

I kind of struggle with Deodato's condemning of the film-maker's treatment of the animals and natives within the film (or the film within the film, if you will), when he went ahead and killed so many innocent animals in the way that he did. Is this a price worth paying to have our lifestyle reflected back at us through a lense?

I've seen my fair share of films that are considered 'challenging' to watch (Martyrs, Man Bites Dog, Baise Moi, Audition, Visitor Q...), but none really come close to impact that CH had on me. One of the few films that I've seen that I rate highly, but didn't 'enjoy'. It just gets under my skin *shiver

Rating: 8/10