Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

During a rescue mission into the Amazon rainforest, a professor stumbles across lost film shot by a missing documentary crew.

Director:

Ruggero Deodato

Writers:

Gianfranco Clerici (story), Gianfranco Clerici (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Kerman, Francesca Ciardi, Perry Pirkanen

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Kerman	...	Professor Harold Monroe
Francesca Ciardi	...	Faye Daniels
Perry Pirkanen	...	Jack Anders
Luca Barbareschi	...	Mark Tomaso (as Luca Giorgio Barbareschi)
Salvatore Basile	...	Chaco Losojos
Ricardo Fuentes	...	Undetermined Role
Carl Gabriel Yorke	...	Alan Yates (as Gabriel Yorke)
Paolo Paoloni	...	1st Executive
Lionello Pio Di Savoia	...	2nd Executive (as Pio Di Savoia)
Claudia Rocchi	...	Undetermined Role (as Luigina Rocchi)

Storyline

With the intention to venture into the unexplored areas in the deep jungle of the Amazon rainforest at the border between Brazil and Peru, in 1979, a film crew composed of four young Americans attempted to make a documentary about the never seen before indigenous cannibalistic tribes. However, it's already been two months since anyone last heard from the crew, so without further delay, the noted anthropologist Professor Harold Monroe and his rescue team of the seasoned guide Chaco Losojos and his assistant, embarked on a mission to locate them in the depths of the Green Inferno. Following the Yakumos, a tribe that no white has ever seen before, soon enough, the Professor's rescue party will encounter the elusive Yanomamos or Tree People and the fearsome Shamataris or the Swamp People. Eventually, as more evidence is found concerning the fate of the film crew, the Professor will try to recover the raw footage that was paid in blood, and return it to New York to the executives of the ...

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Plot Keywords:

actual animal killed | exploitation film | nude in nature | public nudity | running naked | 

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Taglines:

The most controversial movie of all-time

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Genres:

Adventure | Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Grindhouse Releasing

Country:

Italy

Language:

English Spanish Italian

Release Date:

7 February 1980 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust

Filming Locations:

Guri, Venezuela

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

F.D. Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min 89 min (heavily cut) 90 min (animal cruelty-free) 86 min (Québec)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System) Dolby Digital (2001 re-release)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the ten days between its release and its banning in Italy, the movie grossed approximately $1.9 million ($5.2 million in 2012 dollars). Because of its infamy and several subsequent re-releases, some claim the film has grossed $200 million worldwide (not adjusted for inflation), though that has never been verified.

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Goofs

After the "Last Road to Hell" sequence, the female executive tells Professor Monroe that the footage was "all a put-on" and "there was no enemy army approaching." The Last Road to Hell sequence is made up completely of execution footage, with no soldiers acting or enemy army approaching. The script originally called for footage of Vietnamese rebels firing at approaching troops, but execution footage from Nigeria was used instead.

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Quotes

[first lines]
PABS Reporter: Man is omnipotent; nothing is impossible for him. What seemed like unthinkable undertakings yesterday are history today. The conquest of the moon for example: who talks about it anymore? Today we are already on the threshold of conquering our galaxy, and in a not too distant tomorrow, we'll be considering the conquest of the universe, and yet man seems to ignore the fact that on this very planet there are still people living in the stone age and practicing cannibalism.

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Crazy Credits

In the end credits: "Projectionist John K. Kirov was given a two-month suspended sentence and fined $10,000 for illegal appropriation of film material. We know that he received $250,000 for the same footage."

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Connections

Referenced in Day of the Dead (1985)

User Reviews

A must see experience

Cannibal holocaust is a truly charged viewing experience; in all its 20 years of existence no other non mondo film (until maybe Men behind the sun) had such a reputation to shock, even today it is believed by some at the UKs trading standards to be an actual snuff film. CH is not the goriest film ever made, but in terms of themes and narrative its still the cruellest, most fascinatingly harsh piece of filmaking in the horror genre. Ive seen all the Traces of death, the men behind the sun films, and the Guinea pigs and I still think this is king. It is simply so well made, acted, atmospheric and the brilliant score by Riz Ortalani sets the scene so well. The fake documentary style never slips up. But perhaps the most unsettling thing about CH is that it is an exploitation film, and the scenes of animal cruelty (and even human) unsettle because they are being shown to promote a response...should you look away or not?Like I said Cannibal Holocaust is a truly unique experience, not some Gory novelty like Cannibal Ferox, and in this time of increased media coverage of true life atrocity maybe its pertinent? Maybe its just nasty cruelty, maybe it even dissapoints you...you just have to see it to gauge you're own response. For me at least its a classic.