Of the original 39 Section 1 Video Nasties, I personally only consider a very small handful to actually be worthy of the title. Movies like “Bloody Moon” and “Love Camp 7” may have shocking or gory themes. But in real world terms, by this point? There positively pantomime. Even some of the big shockers of the day like “Driller Killer” and “Tenebrae” while violent, have more artistic value beyond just being obscene for obscenities sake.
But in amongst the “Mardi Gras Massacres” and “Forest of Fears” we find movies that even some of the most ardant horror fans would consider “A bit near the knuckle”. And today, to celebrate the frankly astounding fact that this channels amassed 1k subs (Sincere thank you’s by the way on that front, when I started this channel I didnt think i’d ever hit 50 subs, letalone 1000…im honestly lost for words) I decided that this required something a little bit “extra” than your usual hack and slash fodder this channel regularly looks into. So today? We’re taking a look at what is arguably one of the nastiest, most graphic, obscene and horrible movies not just in terms of the video nasties, but in actual cinematic history. 1980’s Cannibal Holocaust.
A film thats courted controversy since even BEFORE its premier due to the large amount of live unsimulated animal mutilation, realistic (but fake) rape, and violence presented throughout…The film was premiered in Milan where, after only 10 days in circulation, all prints were seized by the Italian authorities and the films director was arrested on murder charges because the authorities couldnt contact any of the cast members to confirm they were alive after the shoot because the deaths looked so authentic for the time.
It transpired that the cast had all signed agreements to go into hiding for 12 months after the film had wrapped in order to add to the “reality” of the film.
But when they found out the director was looking at a life sentence, they quickly came out of hiding and the murder charges were dropped. That didnt however save the film from the censors. With it being outright banned in over 50 countries between 1980 and the present day…not in Japan though. No…they REALLY liked this film…how much did they like it? It was there 2nd best selling video tape of 1983, only being beaten by E.T: The Extra Terrestrial (and THAT is a hell of a double feature let me tell you right now)
The film was SO controversial that porn actor Robert Kerman, who’d signed up to the film in an attempt to escape the horrible working conditions the porn industry of the time, WENT BACK TO PORN after this film was completed. Thats how badly the film was recieved by not just audiences, but the cast and crew as well. It was one of the main films to be wheeled out in the UK when it came to showing footage to parliament in order to justify the video recordings act of 1984 coming into effect. Seriously, they showed a supercut of all the horrible bits from an array of the other nasties, which caused most government officials at the time to wince. Then when that finished they were like “This is the stuff we leave IN after editing” before playing a second supercut containing mainly footage from Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal ferox showing the absolute WORST elements of these films all rammed together, causing some MP’s to walk out of the screening…if that isnt an effective way to manipulate and legislate, I don’t know what is.
So what deranged and broken mind put together this absolute FILTH!? Well…It was a chap by the name of Ruggero Deodato. An Italian film maker with an impressive 60 year career in film direction. And some of the goriest titles under his belt that cinema has produced. His main inspiration for the film came from two places. First; was a documentary he’d been made aware of about a documentary film crew who all died while investigating stories of cannibalistic tribes in Africa, it was only shown once due to its graphic nature and shocking subject, BUT! It apparently does still exist in an italian tv networks archive.
The other inspiration came from a chance encounter one morning with his son after the pair caught a news report on television that was excessively violent. He noticed that the reporter was focussing heavily on descriptions of violence and the scene of the crime and that some of the shots used in the report were clearly staged to help sensationalise the story more. Deodato put these two ideas together and the rest they say…is infamy.
The films really a game of two halves, as we open following one Professor Harold Munroe, Professor Munroe has been nominated by New York University and a network cable company to lead an expedition and rescue mission with the aim of locating and safely returning home four famous American documentary film makers and their guide who’ve been missing now for 2 months. They were originally heading out to document cannibalistic tribes of the Amazon for the cable network after many previously successful documentaries showcasing cruel and oppressive environments around the world. There’s Alan Yates, his girlfriend and lead scripting director Fey Daniels, and there camera crew Jack and Mark alongside their Amazonian guide “Phillipe”.
It’s here that we’re introduced to both our main tribe for the film, the Yanomamo, and our “Guides” for the movie. Basically armed malitia who maintain with force a section of the amazon by killing any tribes they reckon are getting too rowdy and ringfencing a section of the amazon with modern tech and equipment using it essentially as a docking station for travellers beginning their journey through the Amazon. The professor arrives and after brief chats with the Lieutenant of operations, he’s assigned a guide called Chaco.
What follows is essentially a travel-log as the professor, Chaco, Chacos assistant and a recently captured member of the Yanomamo tribe traverse the pitfalls and dangers of the Amazon rainforest encountering all manner of nasties in search of the Yanomamo’s and any hints that could possibly lead to the documentary crew’s whereabouts. Along the way things start to become increasingly apparent that the crew have met a terrible end. Feys lighter was found at the docking station and after only a short time of hiking, Chaco stumbles over something on the forest floor revealing a completely stripped skeleton thats confirmed to be Phillipe.
After the discovery our troupe continue on, eventually coming to a clearing where they rest up, graphically kill a muskrat, give their tribal hostage cocaine and muskrat stomach to eat they then watch from the bushes as one of the local tribesman appears, dragging a bound and muddied woman behind him… and…well…Im not going to describe what he does, but that lady isnt going to be doing much of anything after this scene. This act however lets them know the tribe they’re seeking is close by.
Eventually after some mild negotiations and some bartering, they manage to meet with the Yanomamo tribe who take them back to their village. It doesnt take long for Professor Munroe to notice something gutwrenching. One of the women in the tribe has a film can bound to her chest like an amulet. With the documentary film crew nowhere to be found and random items from their personal possessions beginning to turn up more and more, Professor Munroe slowly becomes convinced that he isnt going to be bringing the crew back alive.
After attending several rituals of the tribe it’s revealed that the Yanomamo are in a state of constant war with a rival tribe the Yacumo. After helping to protect the Yanomamo from an attack by the Yacumo Professor Munroe tries to strengthen bonds with the tribe by swimming naked in the local rivers with the other villagers, which does endeare him to the them. Unfortunately, after being led away from the river by some locals, Munroe stumbles upon some kind of hand built charm…constructed from the bones and equipment of the documentary film crew he’s been searching for. It’s also revealed that the Yanomamo’s have taken all of the film cans front he crew and have woven them into their huts as charms.
After showing the Yanomamo his dictophone and it’s ability to “trap voices” the tribe become convinced that Munroe is some kind of powerful sourcerer and in exchange for him lifting an evil curse thats plagued the village since the film crew arrived, they offer to give him all of the film reels they have. Munroe returns to new york as quickly as possible to feedback news of the teams demise and to get the reels checked and prepped for viewing. The Execs are keen to move quickly on the project given that their deaths can be used to help more widely publicise the documentary, and they’re keen for Professor Munroe to host and narrate the it to help further legitimise it.
The professor is reluctant as he wants to make the decision AFTER reviewing all of the footage…He wants to know what he’s getting into. So, to prepare the Professor for what he might find, one of the execs takes him to one side and shows him an example of the film makers last documentary “The Last road to hell” which features ACTUAL footage of live executions and murders. (no really. This isnt part of the plot, they literally cut real actual murders during wars and other atrocities into this fictional film…jesus christ.)
Anyway; after the film plays, the professor is noticably shaken, but the exec informs him that the documentary he just watched was entirely fabricated and that Alan and the team are notorious for manufacturing scenarios, creating issues and then capturing the fallout. All for the sensationalism of being able to capture gory, strange or awful happenings and present them as “Life on the other side” she clarifies that most of the “Guards” in the documentary were in fact just locals that Alan had paid to dress up.
The Professor heads out to try and grab some interviews while the cable networks editing team assess the footage and edit it together for review. The interviewee’s are INCREDIBLY reluctant and even standoffish to talk about the film makers, some because their deaths are still too fresh, others because they thought the team were all complete bastards…in either case, not a tremendous amount of usable material is captured so the professor heads back to the studios where the AV team confirm that 2 reels were damaged beyond use and the rest have had to be treated with a special solution to combat humidity damage. BUT! they’re ready to review.
And whats revealed is horrifying, as it transpires our “All American” good guy film makers are in fact absolute bastards of the highest order, and that, on top of just generally being deeply unlikeable people, they’ll stop at NOTHING. And I sincerely MEAN nothing. To make this documentary the most gratuitous, over the top, obscene production they can muster. With notable moments including (but certainly not limited to) dredging a sea turtle up out of the ocean and ripping it apart with a knife and their bare hands for their own amusement, coralling a load of the Yanomamo tribe into a single hut and then setting it on fire so that they could film the carnage. FUCKING in the burnt out remnents of the tribes homes and places of worship IN FRONT OF THE TRIBESPEOPLE. And in one particularly awful scene gangraping a young tribe member on film for literally no reason (its even mentioned in the documentary footage off camera that they cant use the footage so why are they doing it) in barbaric 30-40 minutes of utter UTTER deranged carnage.
This all leads to a final act where the professor begs the execs to shelve the film, citing it’s total and utter scientific inaccuracy, the obscenity and the total distaste in showcasing what amounts to a snuff film. The execs refuse to budge, leaving the professor with little choice but to arrange a “private screening” of the final reels from the shoot, containing some of the most over the top hideousness the film has to offer in a desperate attempt to get them to reconsider. In a frankly grim finale that makes “I spit on your Grave” look like “Muffin the Mule” Will the professor convince the execs? Will we finally learn how the crew met their demise and…oh god, I hope they arnt going to do what I KNOW they’re going to do to that monkey…all this and more will be answered if you feel comfortable watching “Cannibal Holocaust”.
And I really need to stress that aspect of this whole thing, this isnt a film to test your metal, it isnt something you brag about having “survived”, if your doing that you’ve missed the point of this film. This is an intentionally difficult watch. Deodato WANTED to make audiences feel what the excesses of “mans inhumanity to man” could produce. It’s SUPPOSED to make you feel down and reflective in the credits.
Your not SUPPOSED to come out of this whooping and wanting more. Which is why I honestly feel that, if this is too much for you to handle, you shouldnt watch it. Thats a totally understandable stance to take with this film BECAUSE its SO heavy on the animal abuse, sexual assault, gore and other unpleasentries. I wouldnt think less of anyone who didnt fancy putting themselves through it. I only have because im fucking stupid. So if this is where the boat begins and ends for you, TOTALLY understand that. It’s a heavy film and some people just don’t need that in their lives.
What I WILL say though is if you DO attempt to get into this film (and if you feel comfortable doing so I highly recommend it) you will find probably one of the most technically proficient, visually pleasing and razor sharp pictures to make it on to the video nasties list. This film is a phenomenal work, a real primal piece that stirs raw and gutteral emotions out of most everyone who does sit through it. And the fact it’s not only so raw, but technically interesting to boot. Well, it really won me over despite how abhorrent it really is.
From a script perspective we have a light on actual plot, heavy on subtext, unique piece that allows the film a lot of leeway in terms of pacing, plot and act structure. With half of the film playing as a straight work of fiction and the other half essentially being presented via “found footage” which was still quite the novel idea at the time, it frees the film up to just cut to the chase in giving the audience what they came to see. Gore, violence and grimness. There’s a rock solid 3 act structure for the broader film and the film within the film, but because the shock and gore is SO front and center in this production, it can get a little lost in the background at times. Pacing is breakneck as we hurl ourselves from salvaged reel to salvaged reel seeing atrocity after atrocity. And I enjoy how the script is pretty blunt in it’s commentary about how modern man, in many ways is more hostile and aggressive than the tribes the documentary crew are tyring to imply are nothing more than brutes and savages.
Our characters have fantastic structuring and narrative development, with our documentary film crew being portrayed as nothing short of “American heroes” by the media at the beginning, but as the film ticks on the cracks begin to show and that squeaky clean facade that these film makers had slowly ebbs away until your left with the real versions of them as crude, crass, violent, horrible people who would quite literally kill to get what they wanted.
It’s nice to see a film where pretty much ALL the characters have some degree of “arc” or development across the runtime, whether it’s the professor who opens the film being a bit wallflowerish but determined to forge on for the greater good of knowledge and education, and ends the picture with his illusion of academia thoroughly smashed and his head and heart left in a total gray zone as he tries to piece together whats right and wrong anymore. Or the executives, who start off very cavalier and “Fuck it, just get it done” in mentality. And end the film ultimately bittered by the entire experience and ashamed at what they helped create. Theres some serious talent thats gone into developing these characters. Which I thought was a beyond nice touch.
We do have to address the elephants in the room however, the animal cruelty is fucking awful, its raw, unpleasent and the fact this was scripted and planned even in early drafts of the script, makes it clear that this wasnt just a spur of the moment “fuck it” decision, they planned to murder a bunch of animals in horrible horrible ways for the entertainment of the audience and thats fucking terrible.
Deodato in more recent interviews has more or less fully disowned the film for this and other reasons, and in 2011 actually recut the film to remove as much of the animal cruelty as possible. But thats all well and good saying that 30-40 years after the fact, once you’ve made all the money you can off it. I felt incredibly uncomfortable during these scenes, but, I cant deny that they cement this film firmly as one of the most obscene and unpleasant pictures i’ve ever sat through. If your going to make a film thats core message is basically “everyones a bastard, but some are more bastardy than others” you cant really pull your punches. I don’t condone it, but I cant deny that it DOES take my hatred for the characters, the director, the whole fucking situation right up to the next level.
Theres some debate as to whether this film could be considered a “Mondo” film in horror circles. Mondo cinema for the uninitiated is essentially faux documentary cinema that has a harsh, graphic exploitation edge. So for example films like “Shocking Asia” and “Goodbye Uncle Tom” would both be considered Mondo as they’re exaggeratory, over the top, obscene and horrible exploitation style pictures presented as very matter of fact style documentaries.
Cannibal Holocaust in some regards is a mondo film, and in some regards isnt. The professors side of the film is straight fiction cinema, its a movie. But the second half of the picture when they start looking at the “in movie” documentary footage is very much Mondo territory, even if the “in world” execs tell our professor that most of the actions on screen were staged. Thats literally what most Mondo films did anyway, So…I’d consider this “Pseudo Mondo”?…”Quasi Mondo”? It has definite Mondo elements but its probably only just over half out and out Mondo and half fiction cinema. Let me know what you think in the comments I’d be genuinely interested on your take.
The other issue present throughout is the portrayal of the amazonian tribes, which in this is incredibly questionable. These cannibal movies flirt and quite often fully embrace racist stereotypes and rhetoric, and this film could best be described as culturally insensitive to the people involved in the production and could, at worst be described as exploitation for the purpose of entertainment of these peoples cultures. That’s sketchy as fuck and I thoroughly dissapprove of it, but at the same time, with it not really being an out and out mondo movie, at least it cant be accused of trying to convince people that this IS how these people behave in real life. It’s just through very suggestive implication. Which is depressing…but there y’go.
Throw in some razor sharp dialogue that flows totally naturally, is entertaining, well written and rock solid alongside the almost william castle-esq decision to literally pay the cast to disappear for a year once filming finished to only add further uncertainty about how real the film was, and I think you have a script thats absolutely horrible. Almost unwatchable for some people. But one that ABSOLUTELY nails the brief of what was requested for this production. It left me with VERY strong emotional and gutteral feelings. And I feel that if any movie can stir an emotional response out of someone, good or bad, it’s achieved something as a work of art. You may strongly dislike it, but if it’s made you feel. It’s achieved the goal that any work or craft should strive for. And it made me SO angry. That I absolutely feel compelled to savour it for what it is.
The script was written by Gianfranco Clerici, a major and infamous talent in the world of italian scriptwriting with 67 credits under his belt in a career spanning nearly 41 years. Highlights include (but are certainly not limited to) “Don’t Torture a duckling”, “The New York Ripper”, “Miami Golem”, “Delerium” and the “Confessions of Emmanuelle”. When you consider those films were just one of his “Another day in the office” type offerings…it’s not surprising that when he pushed himself to go further than before, he turned out something like “Cannibal Holocaust”.
As mentioned, the film was directed by Ruggero Deodato. He has 36 directing credits with some decent heavy hitters including this films prototype “Mondo Cannibale”, “The House on the Edge of the Park” and “The Washing Machine” with his last credit in 2022! So he’s still somewhat active on the scene, though he does seem to have mellowed out a fair bit from his “Impaling people on poles” phase of film making.
On the direction front, we had absolute chaos, while the end result is, in my opinion a tight and solid product that utilises all elements of the cast and crew effectively to give a well rounded and impressive horror show of a movie. The behind the scenes on Deodatos directing style for this production are fairly infamous. Key actors were flown to the amazon without bring provided with a script or even an idea of what or who their character was supposed to be outside of a name, Deodato would *allegedly* constantly shout and swear at the actors in Italian when they felt uncomfortable on set. Tensions ran high between the cast and Deodato with threats of walkouts being made if they were made to repeatedly kill animals. THE FACT THIS FILM HAD AN ALLOCATED “ACCEPTABLE NUMBER” OF ANIMALS TO MURDER. And that There was no start and stop time on shooting. It went on until it didnt.
They say that through hardship and struggle some of the greatest works of tortured art have been produced. And in this instance i’d be inclined to agree. The people who worked on this film absolutely suffered throughout the shoot in humid and unpleasent conditions with real danger around them at all times and an uncompromising and bizarre director in a high pressure situation. And yet somehow despite the total anarchy. I think this works, it presents an end film that feels totally unique when compared to its peers and shines as an example of dedication at *all* costs to see a job done.
It’s the same story with Direction of the cast. It could best be summed up as, there was limited direction of the cast outside of basic scene outlines and they’d only know if they did it wrong if they got shouted at in Italian. And yet somehow, this film has turned out some genuinely well orchestrated performances, you feel the genuine fear the cast have in certain situations, the strong discomfort in the more controversial scenes and that negative energy runs right through this film helping to feed the script in producing something genuinely quite unsettling. It’s rare that you fear for the welfare of a cast. But by god this film had me nervous.
On the cine front? Its gorgeous, just. An EXPLOSION of colour and composition. This is a late 70’s, early 80’s exploitation film. It has ZERO right to be colourful. By my count this thing should have been shades of brown and orange as far as the eye could see…and yet what we have is some VERY forgiving handheld shots, tightly cut together alongside carefully planned and crafted, vibrant cinematography that this film just doesnt deserve…but by GOD it’s here.
The planned shots all follow standard cine procedure, decent compositional structures presented with decent attempts at blocking and the rule of 3rds, the handheld footage is fairly meticulous too, though, for my money I think it could have stood to have gone rougher still than it did. While theres no mistaking that shaky hand held camera aesthetic, there were points here that felt just a little *too* considered. Where a bit more shake and a bit more of a loss of control on the camera may have helped to cement an extra layer of reality.
Theres a decent variety of shot types on display here, with plenty of experimentation across the runtime which I thought was decent, when combined with the scripts razor edge and the beyond interesting set designs across the runtime you really do end up with something quite interesting as a visual piece. In fact, the only other thing I really noted was that, while the lighting is pretty much all ‘natural’ light. It maybe would have been interesting to see a bit more attention to detail in the new york segments when it came to interesting lighting. The scenes shot in locations like offices and theaters are all fairly flatly floodlit, which seemed a bit clinical, im not saying they needed to go mad with creating interesting lighting. But just…something a bit more inkeeping with the style we see in the jungle shots, even if it was just something a bit less flat and white probably would have just taken this film to the next level.
Performance wise we largely have a fairly believable and decent cast at hand. Given the main remit of our deceased documentary crew members is “to be the biggest twats this side of the Amazon river” I feel they more than live up to that, swinging between malicious, hammy and irritating. They’re the perfect combination of traits that make a character not just someone you dislike, but actively despise for who they are and what they do.
Notable performances Include Robert Kerman as Professor Munroe, who brings a wonderful weighty performance along for the ride in this, starting off as a hopeful academic believing he’s going to be part of the history books, only to end the film disillusioned and bereft by all that he’s seen, experienced and learned across the runtime. Carl Gabriel Yorke as Alan is phenomenal, not only did he have NO idea what was going on most of the time, but he’s easily one of the more demented performances present in this film and I found him perfect for the role and utterly despicable in equal measures. Patrick Bateman before the fact, he’s just…fantastic in the role truly phenomenal.
Credit also must be given to Salvatore Basile as Professor Munroes Amazonian guide Chaco. He’s blunt, crude, smart, and not one to mess with and Salvatore well and truely realises the character perfectly with a quiet but sharp performance that really shines through in the opening half of the movie. Thats not to do a disservice to the rest of the cast, all of whome perform excellently throughout. But the ones mentioned above, are the ones who really take it to the next level for me. With some fantastic physical performances and an almost electric energy in their physicality. They really help make the film the believable and terrifying end result it truely is.
And finally; the soundtrack! Simple. But effective! We have a hybrid synth/acoustic soundtrack courtesy of Riz Ortolani a maestro of sound, his musics been featured in films from Tinto Brass to Quentin Tarantino. And here it’s PERFECT. It’s sickly sounding, warbly and thudding, it feels alien. But not in the science fiction sense, in the sense of it being of the unknown. It fits the tone of the film perfectly and amplifies the power of the hardest hitting moments. Theres a reason this films had its soundtrack issued seperately multiple times over the years. Its a fantastic work with the theme tune itself being nothing short of Iconic for the horror genre as a whole.
Just to quickly get it out of the way as well, while researching this film I found a few of my fellow film critics criticised this film for having poor dubbing. My friends, I say to you. You show me an italian production from 1975-1985 with perfect dubbing and i’ll show you a green dog. This is actually one of the better efforts i’ve seen in terms of ADR…whether its just that not many people have seen the Grindhouse release or whether they just havent fully experienced the ‘dubbed’ italian film scene yet, I cant say…but yeh. I think the audio on this is actually one of the more solid efforts truthfully.
Cannibal Holocaust managed 10 days before it was seized by milan police and the director charged with breaching the obsenity laws of the country alongside suspected murder. In terms of a home video released it was released in the UK uncut on VHS in 1980 by ‘GO Video’ there wasnt even a question of this getting scooped up by the 1984 video recordings act, it’s place on the nasties list is one of the few instances where I totally understand how it ended up on there…I might not agree with the draconian idea of the government telling me what I can and cant enjoy in the comfort of my own living room. But I absolutely understand that if your making a list of films most likely to cause upset and corruption amongst the population, as of 1984, that this film would be on that list.
As such it didnt get re-released in the UK again until 2001 when it was released on VHS and DVD by VIPCO with 5 minutes and 44 seconds worth of cuts, removing all the animal cruelty and a decent chunk of the gorier or more misogynistic material altogether. In 2011 Shameless films resubmitted the film for classification and this time the film was passed with only 15 seconds cut (basically the muskrat killing) with all the other instances of animal cruelty either reframed, trunkated, or altered to mask the worst elements of it. This release came out on DVD and Bluray and was accompanied by a ‘Director approved’ animal cruelty free cut, which removed all instances of animal cruelty, masking them with film ‘leadout’ stock footage. Finally in 2014, Gridhouse releasing released a region free bluray copy of the film which included the full film in HD uncut for the first time, alongside a different version of the “Animal cruelty free” cut and a second disc packed with extras alongside the motion picture soundtrack, all packaged in a lovely boxed release. It’s gorgeous, I love it, and because I live in the UK I DEFINITELY DO NOT OWN THIS VERSION OF THE FILM…okay? It’s DEFINITELY NOT ON MY FILM SHELF RIGHT NOW. got it? Good.
Oh…and in 2022 88 Films put out a 4k release of the movie, but it’s basically the same cut as the 2011 shameless version, so…while I appreciate the effort…and if you don’t mind seeing a cut film and you don’t own a copy already then, absolutely go grab that version. Im happy with the version I own and i’ll probably only upgrade again if grindhouse do a 4k version of their bluray release…I mean…I WILL NOT BE BUYING THAT BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE NAUGHTY AND ILLEGAL TO DO IN THE UK…god damnit im digging a hole here…move on! Move on!
Cannibal Holocaust is worthy of its reputation, a vile, despicable film with unlikable characters abusing and torturing only slightly less likable characters in a big grim situation filled with awfulness. And I honestly think it’s one of the most impressive pieces of art produced in the modern cinematic age. I wont debate the morality of the piece, I think thats an open and shut case, it’s repugnant. But as a work that can stir feeling, start discussion, create debate, raise instinctual feeling? This is a masterwork. With a razor sharp script, gorgeous and colourful cine, rock solid performances, a creative and alien soundtrack and direction that dances a fine line between artistry and madness. Its okay to hate Cannibal Holocaust for what it did, and what it does. But as scholars of the field. All I ask is that you try to look at it more broadly than it just being a piece of shit cannibal movie. Its much more nuanced than that below the surface.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/cannibal-holocaust/1/
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