Cannibal Holocaust

Cannibal Holocaust (1980) directed by Ruggero Deodato

A film crew from New York goes into the jungle to investigate the disappearance of an earlier film crew who set out to make a documentary in the jungle.

Notes:

Deodato and one of the film's producers were arrested and the film seized a week after the premiere due to concerns that this was an actual snuff film. This was, of course, before it came to light that all snuff films were just low budget grindhouse flicks with footage from 'the last house on the left' spliced in. The only footage of human death in cannibal holocaust is footage of apartheid that was originally shot by Jacopetti and Prosperi for Africa Adio, which they had to claim was fake when they were tried for murder upon the release of that film. In Cannibal Holocaust, the apartheid footage is supposedly the work of the film crew that disappears into the jungle, making this film in a way about killing and eating Jacopetti and Prosperi.

The structure of the film, which consists of a film within the film, makes it possible for this brutal exploitative trash-fest to express something intelligent about the nature of film making and exploitation. Ortolani's kick-ass score, (he's also responsible for the scores of Mondo Cane, Goodbye Uncle Tom, and Africa Adio) and the genuine love and craft that went into shooting and editing this film, are possibly the most disturbing features of it.

Beautifully shot, admirably brutal, and impressively cerebral, Cannibal Holocaust deserves all of the notoriety and admiration it has received.

Availability:

OK, so generally there will be an availability section, but my Internet connection is being a little bitch right now so I can't find you those links. This movie is pretty available, so I can point you in the right direction. Download it at thepiratebay.org, or do it oldskool and rent it through netflix or buy it on Amazon. The uncut version is 95 minutes long, make sure you check that you are getting all the gore you signed up for!