Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera (2008)

Director:

Paul von Stoetzel

Genre:

Documentary | Horror

Tagline:

Ever seen a Snuff Film?

Plot:

Feature film examining the existence of films in which people are murdered on camera and the culture surrounding them...

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Larry C. Brubaker	...	Himself
Todd Cobery	...	Himself
Linda Flanders	...	Himself
Michelle Lekas	...	Herself
Nathan Paulson	...	Himself
Mark L. Rosen	...	Himself
Ryan Schaddelee	...	Himself
Raymond P. Whalen	...	Himself
Julie Wilson	...	Herself

Runtime:

USA:76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Filming Locations:

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Company:

Killing Joke Films

Movie Connections:

References Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962)

In-depth? Informative? Hardly.

Man, were my hopes crushed after watching this 'documentary.' It's supposed to be discussing the existence of actual snuff films (films of murders produced for profit), but it fails so miserably at this that it basically turns into a group of random people talking about gory movies (like Flowers of Flesh and Blood, Cannibal Holocaust, Henry, Trouble Every Day, etc.). Also, the 'professional' views seem more like they're just fa group of friends hanging around talking in front of the camera. I mean, their key 'witness' is a 'cinephile and filmmaker' with no real credentials other than he's watched some movies. His role as a filmmaker? He wrote one movie 10 years ago that has 74 votes on this site. So, literally, a single-film maker, I suppose.

Anyway, it could've been an in-depth and intelligent look at the snuff film 'industry,' but ends up being just a bunch of people without real reason talking about gory movies, war, and serial killers. Interesting subjects turned boring by uninteresting speakers on them.

Oh, also, I don't think I could get more annoyed than I do when I hear someone say, "It is very unlikely that ever in the history of cinema was a person killed on a camera for the purpose of profit." Really? Unlikely? Of the billions of people in the world and the many million that could've afforded to pay someone to do that, you have to assume that at no point did some rich guy have a murder fetish and paid someone, say, $100,000 (or more) to film someone getting killed? The odds that that NEVER happened are extremely slim just by the fact that EVERYTHING is done. Rant over.

Final Verdict: 5/10. Simply for the gore scenes and occasional bit of info.

-AP3-