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

[whitezombie]

I posted this on Yahoo Answers, to see what I get.

I thought perhaps some of the cinephiles here might be able to shed some light on what is a fairly esoteric subject.

Any takers:

"Now I know much of the backstory to Cannibal Holocaust, that it was banned in Italy, and many other countries, Deodatto was prosecuted for various things such as indecendy, and whatnot. Also, that the animal killings were real, but the killing of the human characters was not (though apparently when Yates is killed at the end, they used the lower part of a real car crash victim for 'that' bit).

However, something I can find very little information regarding is the fact that I believe Deodatto has stated that the film was inspired by a real case where film-makers entered the wilderness to film cannibal tribes and were caught and eaten by said tribes, and what was left of their footage found at a later time.
I believe that an Italian TV station, at some point in the 80's, claimed to have uncovered this footage, and was planning to air it.

Does anyone have any specific info on this particular part of the CH legend?"

[danmc]

Hello Whitezombie.

I recently watched Cannibal Holocaust for the first time too and also in its uncut form and I agree with you there.

My reviews can lack structure too so I will just say it is one of the most distressing, upsetting, disturbing and horrible films I have seen but also extremely powerful, thought provoking, well made and very unsettling (especially with the music).

I don't really rate films out of 10 or 5 anymore as personally due to my own individual taste I find it a little immature but CH would definitely make my top 10 horror movies (something which I plan to write up in the local newsletter I write for. In October preferably/conveniently).

I bought Candyman in HMV today. I saw it when I was 14 and I loved it but it really made me feel haunted after watching it. So I look forward to watching it as an adult now.

[infostream]

I've watched Deodatos masterpiece cannibal film about a year ago and have never been able to stop thinking and talking about it. It has to be the most memorable film ever made (along with Salo).

Though I can never decide if it is a great or terrible film. It is well made and serves its purpose (perhaps too well) as a horror film. However it is not enjoyable.

I have to say that it's predecessor, Last Cannibal World, is a better and more enjoyable film.