Cannibal Holocaust
June 2nd 2008 04:29
One of modern horror’s landmark statements of contempt and a savage indictment on the consumption of violence in cinema, Italian director Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust (1980) is a movie to be reckoned with.
Mmmm, nothing like a little jungle jollies for breakfast to kick-start the week. One must have a decent meal at the beginning of the day. I hadn’t seen Cannibal Holocaust for a while so I dipped back into it this morning over coffee and a bacon roll with a healthy squirt of ketchup. Yup, I do my private screenings in the appropriate style.
Where does one start with Cannibal Holocaust? Where does it end? The movie is demanding and unforgiving. It is appalling and compulsive. It is dodgy and horrendous. It is wild and reprehensible. It is Cannibal Holocaust. You have been warned.
Guide Chaco (Salvatore Basile) and Harold Monroe (Robert Kerman) watch the natives and make notes
Shamatari tribesmen mutilating a Yacumo woman
A Yacumo warrior punishes an adulteress
“I wonder who the real cannibals are.”
Cannibal Holocaust is not merely a socio-political statement; it is a punch in the face of jaded and desensitised acceptance of Third World mondo propaganda. The movie begs the question is the movie’s transgressions - and yes, the movie is deeply transgressive - in the service of art or commerce? Of curious note: in the opening NYC scenes a huge billboard ad for the movie Dracula (1979) can seen briefly. A darkly humourous reference no doubt.
Jack (Perry Pirkanen) with the river turtle's head
Monroe in one of the movie's few moments of frivolity
After Deodato presented the actors in court to prove they hadn’t been murdered for the sake of good exploitation, the judge then slapped charges over the animal violence which meant he didn’t work for three years as he tried to clear his name. His defence was that all the animals killed during the movie were eaten by tribes’ people. Interestingly, in recent years Deodato claims he wished he’d never filmed those sequences as they continue to haunt him. Even more curious is that Deodato is currently in production on a “remake” of the movie. Go figure.
Alan (Carl Gabriel Yorke), Faye (Francesca Cialdi) and Mark (Luca Barbareschi)'s horrific discovery
In fact it is Riz Ortolani’s orchestral/electronic soundtrack which adds so much of the movie’s dark potency; the lush opening aerial photography of the jungle with orchestral music, which is later juxtaposed against the atrocities with a dark ironic edge, and the brooding electronic pulse behind other scenes.
Vengeful tribal chowdown: Faye's demise
The acting is above average also, although I wouldn’t call it good, it’s by no means dire, as so much of the sub-genre exhibits. As de rigueur in Italian productions all the sound has been post-synch, which adds a sense of dislocation. Some of the fabricated gore isn’t that impressive, whilst some, especially the demise of Jack, is gut-churning. There are also scenes of sexual violence which are nasty and very unpleasant, only adding insult to injury.
However, there are more graphically violent and gratuitous movies on the shelves of your local video store, yet there is something undeniably affecting, and very troubling, about the tone of Cannibal Holocaust. It is grim with a macabre grin of broken teeth.
They just don’t make movies like Cannibal Holocaust anymore, and rightly so. That there is a remake currently in production, regardless of the fact that the original director is onboard, is ludicrous. There is no way in Hell the remake will have any of the disturbing “authenticity” of the original. What’s more, most of the special effects will no doubt be CGIed, and you can bet your sorry ass there’ll be no genuine animal violence. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not condoning the animal cruelty at all, but it cannot be denied that a very strong part of what makes Cannibal Holocaust so horrific is that element of realism.
Cannibal Holocaust is not entertainment in the traditional sense. It’s an intelligent exploitation flick; if there can be such an anomaly. For the hardened horrorphile, it is required viewing, for the unsuspecting the experience is likely to be too intense.
In the words of respected horrorphile Chas Balun; “No mercy is asked … No quarter given. There will be no prisoners taken on this, the last road to Hell.”
Here 's a taste:
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Comment by Cibbuano
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The best part about the movie is the interesting narrative structure. There's almost a sense of dread as they put in the final reel.
The animal slaughter parts are awful to watch, but if you read about the production, I think the natives insisted that the turtle be killed that way. That's how they would eat it, anyway.
How did they get the native tribes to play along? Interesting stuff...
I thought the acting was awful - but, like you said, natural for a film of this sort. It would have been even more powerful if the film crew weren't such obvious bastards from the beginning...
Comment by Bryn
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Comment by Natalina
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On the other hand, it may possibly leave me with nightmares for life and I'll regret ever deciding to view it. I'll let ya know.
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