I'd toyed with the idea of watching Cannibal Holocaust for a long time before actually taking the plunge. I suppose I was wary of the film's reputation as a piece of extreme cinema, and subconsciously kept putting off seeing it. Having finally viewed it – and, what's more, in its uncut version containing all the animal killings, the longest available "Road To Hell" footage, and all the other gory moments – I must say I'm rather surprised. Surprised that I admire the film when I expected to hate it; surprised that in parts the film is remarkably well made; and surprised that an Italian cannibal film of all things manages to be so prescient in its depiction of media sensationalism.
A group of four young film-makers vanish in the Amazon while making a documentary. A few months later, anthropologist Harold Monroe (Robert Kerman) sets off to find out what happened to them. After various adventures Monroe and his guides eventually find a group of natives, the Yacumo tribe, who have had contact with the film-makers. They push on further into the jungle, to the unexplored regions peopled by much more dangerous and isolated tribes like the Yanomamo and the Shamatari, where Monroe eventually locates the barely recognisable remains of the film crew. Amazingly, the movie reels they have shot are still intact and Monroe manages to persuade the tribesmen to let him have them in exchange for a tape recorder. The "recovered footage" shows director Alan Yates (Carl Gabriel Yorke), script writer Faye Daniels (Francesca Ciardi) and cameramen Mark Tomaso (Luca Barbareschi) and Jack Anders (Perry Pirkanen), journeying into the depths of the jungle where they use increasingly unethical and violent methods to get the footage they want. Eventually, the Yanomamo tribe turn on the film-makers and brutally slay them, their horrible deaths captured on film as the documentary crew desperately try to escape.
For its first half, Cannibal Holocaust is not particularly good. This part is a standard jungle expedition adventure with typically bad acting, wooden dialogue and bursts of gruesome violence. Where the film suddenly and unexpectedly makes you sit up and take note is in its second half, referred to in the film as the "Green Inferno" segment. Using an effective cinéma vérité style, director Ruggero Deodato shows the exploits of the film crew in the jungle. He uses scenes of real animal cruelty to shock the audience and knock them off balance, then moves onto realistically simulated "human" horrors such as rape, impalement, beheading, cannibalism and more. These simulated scenes have added believability because our senses have already experienced the onslaught of real cruelty and death. Deodato relentlessly shows how unscrupulous and corrupt the film-makers are, and how they will commit the most horrific acts against animals and natives just as long as they get their film made. The problem is that Cannibal Holocaust becomes the very thing it tries to condemn - a piece of sensationalism. It's hard to accept this fierce assault on the immorality of the media when the film itself resorts to the same offensive immorality. Nonetheless, this is an effective and disturbing horror film which should be seen at least once, if only to experience the raw cinéma vérité sequences (which surely inspired later "lost footage" movies, most notably The Blair Witch Project). There isn't a single moment here that will make you jump, but there are many appallingly cruel moments that will play on your mind for a long time afterwards. Tough viewing.
A group of four young film-makers vanish in the Amazon while making a documentary. A few months later, anthropologist Harold Monroe (Robert Kerman) sets off to find out what happened to them. After various adventures Monroe and his guides eventually find a group of natives, the Yacumo tribe, who have had contact with the film-makers. They push on further into the jungle, to the unexplored regions peopled by much more dangerous and isolated tribes like the Yanomamo and the Shamatari, where Monroe eventually locates the barely recognisable remains of the film crew. Amazingly, the movie reels they have shot are still intact and Monroe manages to persuade the tribesmen to let him have them in exchange for a tape recorder. The "recovered footage" shows director Alan Yates (Carl Gabriel Yorke), script writer Faye Daniels (Francesca Ciardi) and cameramen Mark Tomaso (Luca Barbareschi) and Jack Anders (Perry Pirkanen), journeying into the depths of the jungle where they use increasingly unethical and violent methods to get the footage they want. Eventually, the Yanomamo tribe turn on the film-makers and brutally slay them, their horrible deaths captured on film as the documentary crew desperately try to escape.
For its first half, Cannibal Holocaust is not particularly good. This part is a standard jungle expedition adventure with typically bad acting, wooden dialogue and bursts of gruesome violence. Where the film suddenly and unexpectedly makes you sit up and take note is in its second half, referred to in the film as the "Green Inferno" segment. Using an effective cinéma vérité style, director Ruggero Deodato shows the exploits of the film crew in the jungle. He uses scenes of real animal cruelty to shock the audience and knock them off balance, then moves onto realistically simulated "human" horrors such as rape, impalement, beheading, cannibalism and more. These simulated scenes have added believability because our senses have already experienced the onslaught of real cruelty and death. Deodato relentlessly shows how unscrupulous and corrupt the film-makers are, and how they will commit the most horrific acts against animals and natives just as long as they get their film made. The problem is that Cannibal Holocaust becomes the very thing it tries to condemn - a piece of sensationalism. It's hard to accept this fierce assault on the immorality of the media when the film itself resorts to the same offensive immorality. Nonetheless, this is an effective and disturbing horror film which should be seen at least once, if only to experience the raw cinéma vérité sequences (which surely inspired later "lost footage" movies, most notably The Blair Witch Project). There isn't a single moment here that will make you jump, but there are many appallingly cruel moments that will play on your mind for a long time afterwards. Tough viewing.