Cannibal Holocaust (1980) Movie Info
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | Cannibal Holocaust (1980) |
| Director | Ruggero Deodato |
| Screenplay Writer | Gianfranco Clerici |
| Based on Novel by | — (Original screenplay) |
| Lead Actors | Robert Kerman |
| Cast | Robert Kerman, Francesca Ciardi, Perry Pirkanen, Luca Barbareschi, Salvatore Basile |
| Genre | Horror, Exploitation, Found Footage |
| Release Date | February 7, 1980 (Italy) |
| Duration | 1h 36m (96 minutes) |
| Budget | Low-budget Italian production |
| Language | Italian, English |
| Country | Italy |
| Box Office (Worldwide) | Cult success / controversial release history |
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I think I just witnessed the most politically incorrect movie in existence. I thought that dubious distinction was awarded to one of many Troma videos of that nature. I was incorrect.
Cannibal Holocaust (like Cannibal Ferox) always gets notorious credit for being one of the most vile, graphic movies of all time. I am a believer. The thing about Holocaust, as opposed to Ferox, is that this is a full blown, well produced, well made flick. You would think that something this underground and cultish would be shit, but it is not.
The beginning of the film starts out with a breathtaking view of the Amazon river from a small airplane. There is a very pleasant acoustic song playing in the background. This immediately disturbed me, because I knew about the arsenal of gore and despair that was going to ensue. A professor from the United States is coming to the Amazon in search of a party of four students who came to the Amazon earlier for some documentary work and never returned. In his journey into the Green Inferno, (as it is called in the movie) the professor and his two companions notice that the natives are really stirred up for some reason.
Fearing the worst, he keeps on travelling until he indeed finds the results he was dreading. He finds the remains of the party of four and their belongings. But wait! They had a camera and tons of film footage. After some jedi mind tricks with a recorder and a recorded voice of one of the shaman, he mind fucks the tribe leader into giving him all the film. After taking the film back to the States he finds out the grisly truth of the students’ demise. Apparently, these students weren’t as much of victims as it was led to believe.
The gore here is excellent, but it doesn’t steal the show. You do have beheadings, member dismemberments (seems to be par for the course for cannibal flicks), manual abortions, rock pummeled skulls, and more. You have the infamous scene where the party comes upon a native female who was skewered with a big stake that she is hanging from. The stake enters her body from between her legs and exits out through her mouth. People, this is some graphic shit. Apparently, this was so graphic, that the actual movie crew got investigated for this scene, thinking it was authentic. You also have the live animal killings, which I am not going to preach to you about. I think it is cowardly and adds nothing but shame to the movie. Use fake animals for Christ’s sake!
The graphic violence of this movie is where this movie really gains its notoriety. You have multiple graphic gang rapes of women and savage beatings. One notorious scene has a native male raping a native woman using a big oval rock. After he is done, he beats her to death with it. Don’t walk into this movie thinking you are going to have some fun n’ gore a la Redneck Zombies. This is heavy shit. Women’s groups, animal rights groups, ethnic groups, and human rights groups had to be all over this flick. Even though it is not as gory as Ferox, it is more violent and revolting.
You don’t really look for nudity in a movie like this, but it is everywhere, and just as graphic as the violence. Swinging cock n’ balls and naked chicks alike are all over this movie, not that you would care.
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