Cannibal Holocaust
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Movie Reviews of Cannibal Holocaust
Movie Review: Not for the weak.
Summary: 5 Stars
Having bought this based on constantly hearing Eli Roth rave about it on tv all the time, I had to get on here and say some things about it. Does it live up to the hype? YES. Is it everything it says it is on the new DVD packaging? YES. My only gripe was the senseless animal killing. So if you're big into animal rights, there are 2 scenes that will make you quite angry. It is also easy to see where movies like Blair Witch took ideas from. I have pretty much seen it all. 2/3 of my DVD collection is horror or sci-fi and this takes the cake. Considering when this film was made, it has effects that rival or beat a lot of what is out now. I don't think this is one I will watch often, but I got through it. The bonus dvd is quite good with a bunch of features as well.Movie Review: It won't ruin your life or make your weekend
Summary: 3 Stars
"Cannibal Holocaust" is neither the film its most ardent admirers nor its disgusted detractors take it to be. A grisly exploitation shocker with much about it to regret, it achieves at times considerable force and shows definite signs of conscious artistry, but hardly competes, either emotionally or viscerally, with the likes of "Straw Dogs" or "Dawn of the Dead", to name two masterworks of its era that meditate much more fully upon the brutality of individuals and their societies.
To address the animal cruelty heads-up: undoubtedly it would be a better world if Deodato had not chosen to slaughter these animals gratuitously for this film, and the film would not, in my judgment, suffer for having spared real animal life. However, I feel that we should remember that, in this same filmmaking era, serious accusations were made against the likes of Kurosawa and Cimino for brutalizing the horses of "Kagemusha" and "Heaven's Gate", while reports and documentaries captured the very serious dangers that extras were exposed to during the making of "Apocalypse Now" and "Fitzcarraldo", the latter of which hazarded the lives of dozens of jungle-dwelling extras by the madly driven Werner Herzog. Auteurs, real or self-described, took a lot upon themselves in this period, and we can be thankful that in that respect, at least, the opening "disclaimer" is not entirely unfounded.
Now then-- "Cannibal Holocaust", I'm afraid, is done in by its ambitious structure. The opening "television" scene is a satirical hoot, rendered all the more delicious by the dubbing. Deodato's impressionistic glances at the NYC skyline ominously render it as a kind of steel jungle, and we are well primed to find out just what those "four fearless young Americans" were all about. But the film's entire 1st act, with Professor Monroe heading in on their trail, is a huge let-down. The whole saga sags terribly, and is only made worse by Deodato's misplaced decision to throw what is arguably the film's ugliest scene of (pretend) violence on the viewer early. We witness a display of porno-Sadean pseudo-anthropologic violence, the ritual murder-by-dildo of an adulteress, by the muddy banks of a truly Stygian river. This hellish act, made all the more terrible since it appears to be the only violent deed in the film which fills its perpetrator with remorse, is, if justified in representation, still misplaced in the film. Imagine if it were captured instead as part of "The Green Inferno", perhaps helping to drive the diabolical documentarians on in their crimes? As it is, I fear Deodato didn't want all the "yummy" bits of the film to be caught on the scratched-up documentary footage-- this scene is filmed therefore with a chilly kind of detachment that is unnerving, yes, but blatantly exploitative.
A representational problem of another sort plagues the notorious turtle-killing scene. The actors faces tell the whole sad story of their own revulsion over this, which should have told Deodato this was a mistake. Are we to believe that the same characters who become stone-faced over the dismembered turtle can conduct a gang-rape as though it were a fraternity prank? It might be one thing if the film were charting a progression to insanity or dehumanization on the part of these characters, but this is not "Apocalypse Now" we're watching. Psychologically, "Cannibal Holocaust" is an EC comic: these little rats fooled the world, but they were amoral little rotters and, by god, they got what they deserved.
If too much of "Cannibal Holocaust" drags, the 1-2-3 finale, alas, may be a bit underdeveloped. Francesca Ciardi's callous reaction to the rape of the tribal girl ('You're wasting film! We're not making a porno!') is a brilliantly ugly satirical swipe in a film whose great merit may be that, yes, it can impact your thinking about the media! (the dvd's spurious credits for these young shockumentarians gives them dubious appelations like 'anti-war activist', 'animal rights advocate' and 'feminist'!). Still, one wishes Deodato would try to provide SOME motivation: are we really to believe the director would rape an underage girl under the nose of his fiancee? What, even in his dastardly evil little head, could he be thinking? And then the film jumps immediately to the infamous impalement shot, which makes me wonder whether we are to question if the filmmakers decided to take their own shot at an "authentic" cannibal brutality (I mean the gang of four, not Deodato!!)-- and then they are cornered and picked off in the grisly denoument. While this finale has an undoubted ghastly impact, it would work better as horror if we had a little more sense of cause-and-effect in terms of their encirclement.
But then, so much of "Cannibal Holocaust", especially at the end, depends upon how mindful we are of what the "camera" is doing-- what is he thinking behind it as he films his pals, his fiancee being brutalized and devoured. Does he really think he'll still make it out? Is he at a loss for anything else to do, so instinctual is his voyeurism? Is he titillated by the horrors he records? Does he take some paroxysm of masochistic narcissistic delight in capturing his own dying mug? Such are the grisly questions "Cannibal Holocaust" poses. But it could have done these, and other things, more effectively if it had tried a little more drama and focused less on simple shock. And the turtle could have lived.
Movie Review: The ultimate cannibal movie hands down!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Cannibal Holocaust what can I say that has not already been said about this classic. You know your in for a good movie when the movie in question is still being banned in countries to this day. Everything you have heard about this movie is true, and the movie has had a troublsome history and upon it's release it landed Deodato in jail, and even gained him alot of enemies but in the long run it solidified Deodato as one of the greats.
This is the holy grail of the cannibal movies, there is no other that comes close, this a tough movie to take in I have shown it to friends who watched a couple of moments of it and than left the room due to disgust, I can handle the gore element very well but there were some parts of the movie I had a tough time with. Before going into viewing the film you really have to go in with an open mind, and you have to metally prepare for what you are going to see.
I would like to point out that The Blair With Project blatantly ripped this movie off. Cannibal Holocaust tells the story of a group of reporters who go down to the amazon to document cannibalism, and mysteriously end up missing. Another doctor soon travels down not to long after to investigate the dissapearance the doctor soon learns the truth as to what exactly happened, he also has to go through some test to gain the trust of the cannibal tribes in doing so he obtains the footage the crew members shot while down their, the footage also holds the key to the truth. What ensues is horror history, if you want more you'll just have to see it for yourself.
The movie is not uncut as stated on the box, there is still one scene that is missing and that scene is one of the most infamous scenes in horror history, the scene is question is the piranha scene where a member of a cannibal tribe get's his leg cut off, and than he gets fed to the piranhas. There is alot of debate saying the scene exists (on vhs versions) and there are people who say it does not exsist. There is a photo on the internet showing a picture of the scene. People who say the scene does not exsist say that the scene was hard to shoot, as they could not control the piranha, and they had a malfunctioning underwater camera.
Before the movie was released there was alot of talk going around that the piranha scene was going to be restored upon the intial release date nothing was there. More talk started that the scene is hidden on the disc as an easter egg, again it was never discovered. However there is something intresting on the disc in one of the easter eggs, it shows Deodato anwsering questions on the movie, someone asks him about the piranha scene, Deodato get's extremely upset and storms out ending the segment. I personally spoke with Sage Stallone (I am not name droping either) who runs Grindhouse Releasing on the issue, and he really did not go into to much detail but he told me that the scene was a headache for everyone invovled.
Scene or no scene this is hands down the ultimate version of Cannibal Holocaust, also included with the disc is a nice poster from the film it is also a 2 disc set with both discs including tons of extras and various easter eggs hidden through out both discs. Although be prepared to be shocked when you open the case up as you will see a picture of a vary graphic scene from the movie. Cannibal Holocaust is my favorite movie of all time and every time I see it it makes me proud to wear my Cannibal Holocaust t-shirt. Hopefully you enjoy this movie as much as I have as well as others!!
Movie Review: You can paint a turd gold, but it's still a turd.
Summary: 1 Stars
BE WARNED: this film's reputation far outshines its content! Don't let the hype and controversy lure you in. It suckered me...and now, in my mind's ear, P.T. Barnum is laughing.Movie Review: Violence and gore, what else could you ask for?!
Summary: 4 Stars
I first became aware of this film while shopping in the mall not too long ago. I was instantly intrigued after reading the quote "The Most Controversial Movie Ever Made", and reading about how it was banned in most countries for so long, and the filmmakers nearly went to jail over it!! But I didn't buy it then, one reason was it 35 bucks!!! So, I found it on here and bought it for $25. First off, I'm a huge horror fan, and the more blood,guts and gore, the better. Nevertheless, there's more to horror than mindless gore, there has to be some substance. So going into this movie, I wasn't expecting this film to be that great, cause most movies don't live up to the hype. And after watching it, I must say that I'm at least, in part, correct with this assumption. Now let me just say, this is by no means a horrible movie, in the sense of basic plot and exposition. One complaint that I do have, is that it took too long to get to the actual part of the film were the recovered footage is being viewed. And yes, the Blair Witch Project did "borrow" from this film to a certain extent!! The acting could have been some better, but its not horrible by any means. But I suppose that the real reason that this movie is such a cult classic is not for its acting, but for its straight-forward brutality and violence. I've read reviews about this movie, people saying that they were deeply bothered and disturbed by it and all that. From my perspective, this film really didn't bother me. In fact, I was somewhat disappointed. From the way the cover of the DVD read, and the reviews by fans and critics alike, I was expecting something far worse. I must admit, however, that I was surprised in the fact that REAL animals were used in the making of this film. This was the main reason that got some of the people involved with the film in legal trouble. So note to any animal lover, THIS MOVIE IS NOT FOR YOU!!! lol Though I think I did notice an option on the DVD to view the movie with the animal violence cut out. Anyway, the other effects in the film were great too, especially for the time it was made. The film was filmed in a "real time" sense, which made the film even more effective. Yes, this movie has pretty much everything..nudity, rape, extreme violence/gore, animal cruelty, etc. And for someone who's not used to seeing that kind of stuff in films, I can understand how this movie may upset people. But with all that said, I don't think its as "controversial" as people tend to think. Maybe its because I've seen a lot of gory and violent films, and it takes a lot to bother me. However, I have to tip my hat, cause I really haven't ever seen a film quite like this one before. Now, as far as the DVD goes, there are a lot of special features with this one. It includes a director's commentary, interviews from cast members, an hour and a half documentary (In Italian, but subtitled) about the making of the film, filmographies and biographies of the actors/director, poster art and still gallery, as well as digital restoration of audio/video of the film itself. And though, I was expecting something more horrific than I got (though it does rank up there on my list), I still really liked this film. It was done well, filmed very effectively, and like I said, the effects were great. So if you're a hardcore fan of horror and don't mind seeing in-your-face violence and brutality, this one's for you. And to the squeamish, the animal rights activist, or just the casual movie watcher..stay away!! Though, I must say that everyone should watch this one at least once before they die!!!
***Note to readers, no animals were harming during the writing of this review!!***
P.S. Know a movie more violent than this?? I'm looking for suggestions. Leave me comment and let me know of any movie that may peak my interest!!!