Something strange I noticed about the reversible artwork on the Cannibal Holocaust Deluxe Edition. I had 2 copies of this movie and on the 2nd one, the title of the movie is missing from the uncensored side of the sleeve. First copy had the title on both sides. I looked at a few unboxing videos on Youtube and it looks like both versions of the cover are out there. One may be worth a fortune some day, like those misprinted pennies.
Something strange I noticed about the reversible artwork on the Cannibal Holocaust Deluxe Edition. I had 2 copies of this movie and on the 2nd one, the title of the movie is missing from the uncensored side of the sleeve. First copy had the title on both sides. I looked at a few unboxing videos on Youtube and it looks like both versions of the cover are out there. One may be worth a fortune some day, like those misprinted pennies.
…or maybe not.
Not to drag this thread back up, but I did contact Grindhouse as I was curious since mine is also missing the title on the uncensored side. They said that the title was not supposed to be on the uncensored side. I didn't push it because it doesn't really matter but it is interesting that both are out there. I have not opened my cannibal ferox yet, but I know the titles is on both sides of the similarly designed Corruption reverse cover
I see your point, and I agree. But if I can choose to see a version without the animal cruelty, I'll go for that. I've seen the footage several times already, so I have no need to see it again.
And I did an interview with Deodato for Norwegian Broadcasting during Fright Fest in Oslo last year, and we talked about the animal footage. With the exception of the rat and the spider, the natives and film crew ate all the animals they killed. So at least something godd came out of it...
But they didn't just kill them they tortured them. I saw this film when I was a kid when it was banned and yes I shouldn't have been watching it but as kids did back then I got hold of it from a friend. Being an animal lover it completely scarred me and I haven't watched it again even to this day. I thought it was vile. Had it not been for the senseless torture and killing of those poor animals it might have actually been a good film. I know there is a cruelty free version kicking around but how soon do they make the cuts because I can still remember vividly what happens,so if it's a last minute cut just before they actually hurt the animal I will still remember what happens next so unless the animals are cut out of the film altogether and we don't see them then I wouldn't be able to watch it. Such a shame as it has lots of potential and being a filmmaker myself I can see how it influenced a lot of other movies and understand it has played a part in shaping the face of horror into what it is today! Why oh why can't they just leave animals out of it. It wouldn't have detracted anything from the film.
But they didn't just kill them they tortured them. I saw this film when I was a kid when it was banned and yes I shouldn't have been watching it but as kids did back then I got hold of it from a friend. Being an animal lover it completely scarred me and I haven't watched it again even to this day. I thought it was vile. Had it not been for the senseless torture and killing of those poor animals it might have actually been a good film. I know there is a cruelty free version kicking around but how soon do they make the cuts because I can still remember vividly what happens,so if it's a last minute cut just before they actually hurt the animal I will still remember what happens next so unless the animals are cut out of the film altogether and we don't see them then I wouldn't be able to watch it. Such a shame as it has lots of potential and being a filmmaker myself I can see how it influenced a lot of other movies and understand it has played a part in shaping the face of horror into what it is today! Why oh why can't they just leave animals out of it. It wouldn't have detracted anything from the film.
With the exception of the little coatimundi all the animals had swift almost instant kills - not tortured at all.
That's why the BBFC finally allowed UK viewers to see the majority of the movie and the only killing removed is the coatimundi which does have a rather painful and certainly not instant death.
Previously the UK edit had been cut just because the content was awful and in such bad taste but quite rightly the BBFC changed their minds for the Bluray release.
You should catch the uncut "pig" scene included as a bonus feature on Cannibal Ferox. Now that scene is a video nasty. The version in the finished film is bad enough.
But they didn't just kill them they tortured them. I saw this film when I was a kid when it was banned and yes I shouldn't have been watching it but as kids did back then I got hold of it from a friend. Being an animal lover it completely scarred me and I haven't watched it again even to this day. I thought it was vile. Had it not been for the senseless torture and killing of those poor animals it might have actually been a good film. I know there is a cruelty free version kicking around but how soon do they make the cuts because I can still remember vividly what happens,so if it's a last minute cut just before they actually hurt the animal I will still remember what happens next so unless the animals are cut out of the film altogether and we don't see them then I wouldn't be able to watch it. Such a shame as it has lots of potential and being a filmmaker myself I can see how it influenced a lot of other movies and understand it has played a part in shaping the face of horror into what it is today! Why oh why can't they just leave animals out of it. It wouldn't have detracted anything from the film.
To be fair, it is really only that one killing of the coatimundi that's controversial, as it is clearly suffering. The rest are quick and efficient, and even the dreaded British censors do not cut those anymore.
It is certainly regrettable that they were filmed, and for certain the director has time and again said (perhaps being a bit tired of always having it brought up) that if he were to make the film today, he would make do without.
But the fact is they *were* filmed. It was another time back then, and while I would not want to watch a new movie doing the same thing, these animals have been dead for more than 35 years now. Some would say we have moved much forward regarding animal welfare in film since then, and personally I do not feel that I in any way condone violence against animals now by watching this. It is what it is - watch it or don't.
As for the function of the killings in the movie, I would argue there is actually one. You have to remember the context - a time where the audience had not become jaded by watching real-life executions and violence (against people and animals alike) on the internet, and nobody had even thought about terms like mockumentary and found footage.
The killings of the animals exist to blur the line between real and artifice. When the animal killings are real, it becomes much easier for the audience (at least back then) to entertain the thought that maybe the other killings are too. And in fact that was what really happened! In a brilliant marketing move, Ruggero Deodato made his actors go into hiding, when Cannibal Holocaust was first released, to support the notion that it was based on actual documentary footage. But that idea quickly backfired when Deodato was arrested and accused of killing his actors for real! He had to get the actors to appear on an Italian TV-show before the charges were dropped!
I agree with nastiesexpert, Cannibal Ferox is certainly a much more vile and sadistic film when it comes to animals than Cannibal Holocaust. I still like it, but it always leaves with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth whereas Holocaust at least has some pretensions of meaning to it all (some, like me, even regard it as a genuine work of art, animal killings or not).
I'm sure they will. Though it would not matter to me if they did. Sure Deodato regrets now shooting those scenes (or as least saying that to try and save face) But it is a part of the film and its history. It was also basically a requirement for this Italian sub-genre. Why try and hide the fact or censure your film over it. You don't see people getting all worked up about Starship Troopers for having children stomp on cockroaches.
And it is funny, people hate all this animal killing in the film, yet no one sheds a tear for the spider that was killed :\
Killing cgi bugs is hardly the same as this!! The cruelty free version is the only reason I would ever watch this again. I had the misfortune of seeing the original version years ago and I was mortified. By taking the animal cruelty out it might actually be a good film. The other stuff in it doesn't bother me as we know it's fake but when it comes to the animal killings there's just no need for it and it's unforgivable.
Earlier this evening, I watched Cannibal Holocaust for the first time, by way of the Grindhouse Releasing Blu-ray. I'm now listening to the audio commentary tracks.
I feel as though I've just earned a Ph.D in exploitation cinema. The extent to which Cannibal Holocaust disturbs on a visceral level cannot be overstated.
I'm on the fence, though, about whether Cannibal Holocaust is more disturbing than Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, which has held the high water mark for extreme cinema for me until now. This Ruggero Deodato film is certainly more viscerally unflinching, but there's something more horrifying about the Pasolini film in my eyes, probably due to the outright sadism of certain scenes and because of the idea that the events in Pasolini's film were due to premeditated and organized actions. Cannibal Holocaust was a tough punch in the stomach to me, but I'm more inclined to sit through it again than I am with Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, which I never intend to watch again.
Is Cannibal Holocaust a good horror movie?
I think that it is a good horror movie, if not an "enjoyable" one, simply because of the way that the unsettlingly authentic film style meshes with Riz Ortolani's wonderfully stark score, which is my favorite aspect of the film. The Amazon jungle is depicted as a villain in its own right, and there is nothing remotely safe or reassuring about the jungle as shown in the film. In a sense, outsiders to the jungle find themselves in an alien location that is almost as inhospitable to them as space itself is to humans in Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity. The jungle scenes have a Werner Herzog-esque matter-of-factness to them that is vividly bleak.
The sleight of hand with regard to violent footage in the film also works effectively, in the sense that the lines between reality and make-believe are blurred. The horrible animal deaths and the short sequence of film footage from executions in Uganda, which disturbed me greatly, are lead-ins, in a sickly sort of way, to the staged violence, and the end result is a series of terrible acts of violence that all seemed to have been filmed documentary-style in the same settings.
I'm offended by the animal deaths, but no more than I am offended by the animal deaths in movies like Wake in Fright, Apocalypse Now, Walkabout, The Rules of the Game, and the countless prime time Discovery Channel documentaries of the 1990s. I say this not to make excuses for any of the scenes in any of the above movies, because I'm grateful that we have evolved in filmmaking so that animal welfare is prioritized. I do think, however, that Cannibal Holocaust, like the other above films, was a work of cinema for its time, and that it comes from an era where mindsets were different with regard to moviemaking, and from an era where, as Eli Roth states in his essay on this release, horses were routinely shot after being wounded during the filming of westerns. I do not like the fact that Cannibal Holocaust uses footage of animal deaths simply for the above-mentioned sleight of hand effect, and I am appreciative of the viewpoints of those who would rather watch the "animal cruelty free" edit that is mercifully included in this release.
The last 20 minutes of Cannibal Holocaust are an endurance test, and they're quite terrifying. I had trouble watching the genuinely beautiful radiance of Francesca Ciardi's Faye throughout the movie with the knowledge that what was going to happen to her would be terrible, but this foreknowledge did not prepare me at all for what actually happens.
I'm torn right now, because part of me wants to take my copy of Cannibal Holocaust and make a mad dash for the used Blu-ray store down the street, so that I can sell it and get it out of my home. The other side me, though, wants to keep the movie on my shelf, because I am fascinated with the historical aspects of the film, I am fascinated with the making of the film, and I believe that this Grindhouse Releasing presentation makes a good case for why this movie deserves a fair evaluation. I'm undecided, but I am glad that I finally saw this "rite of passage" horror film at long last to satisfy my curiosity.
As far as the presentation goes, Grindhouse Releasing hits a home run out of the park in terms of video quality, audio quality, and a strong assortment of special features.
I'm about to start on the Disc 2 interviews and documentaries, and I have a feeling that I'll find these extras to be quite interesting.
After I'm done, I might have to spend the next few days watching innocuous Anne Hathaway romantic comedies or something, and listening to harmless adult contemporary radio stations. Cannibal Holocaust has thoroughly decimated my curiosity to watch extreme cinema.
On a final note, my hair stood up on end during the scene when Professor Monroe asks aloud whether or not we "civilized" men are the real cannibals, and then the camera pans up to the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The effect is obviously non-intentional, given that Cannibal Holocaust was filmed decades before the events on September 11, 2001, but the effect still made a mark on me.
Last edited by The Great Owl; 06-19-2016 at 01:56 AM.
Outstanding analysis! Cannibal Holocaust is one of my all-time personal favorite horror films, and I believe deserves to be seen at least once by every horror aficionado in the world.
This has been on my radar for awhile now and after reading The Great Owls review I decided to finally make a purchase. Found a used copy in good condition for $18 shipped on eBay. Looking forward to giving this a watch soon.
I had trouble watching the genuinely beautiful radiance of Francesca Ciardi's Faye throughout the movie with the knowledge that what was going to happen to her would be terrible, but this foreknowledge did not prepare me at all for what actually happens.
You sure are easily swayed by anyone being remotely attractive in movies, wow. Her character is rotten to the core! All four of those filmmakers are loathsome villains, even if one of them is a woman. Sure, she tries to interrupt the rape, but it's just because she's jealous her boyfriend is "cheating on her." The sex scene in the burning village is all that needs to be said about that character, really. I don't get great pleasure out of her fate, but it's not like some tragedy or something.
You also might not want to watch the actor interviews if you have a crush on the actress. :P
I was struck by the quality of the filmmaking when I watched Cannibal Holocaust. It has some amateurish acting, but the overall look of it and how professional the camerawork/effects/editing are is pretty alarming. It's a very well-made movie compared to the vast majority of Italian horror/exploitation movies from that period.
Ortolani's score for this film really moves it up to a whole other level. It's on par or even better than his Oscar nominated score (well, actually nominated-song "More") from Mondo Cane. His beautiful music accompanying such visually distressing images was such a brilliant juxtaposition for the time. And I can't think of any other composer who has done it so well with such harsh material since.
You sure are easily swayed by anyone being remotely attractive in movies, wow. Her character is rotten to the core! All four of those filmmakers are loathsome villains, even if one of them is a woman.
Agreed on all of your points above. Faye is a horrible person in the film, but her fate is still difficult to witness from my naturally protective male point of view. Using a beautiful-looking woman for her role is definitely intentional, because her looks further accentuate the notion that "civilized" people have no business in that location, but also the notion that, for all of our cleanly and sophisticated ways, we are all savages in a sense.
However, I'd like to note that Faye's scene is not the most disturbing female assault scene in the film. The earlier scenes with the native women are horrible to see.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cakefactory
I was struck by the quality of the filmmaking when I watched Cannibal Holocaust. It has some amateurish acting, but the overall look of it and how professional the camerawork/effects/editing are is pretty alarming. It's a very well-made movie compared to the vast majority of Italian horror/exploitation movies from that period.
The amateurish acting works in the movie's favor during the "found footage" scenes. It's quite interesting how well everything comes together.
Last edited by The Great Owl; 06-19-2016 at 03:06 AM.
As far as the presentation goes, Grindhouse Releasing hits a home run out of the park in terms of video quality, audio quality, and a strong assortment of special features.
It's been demonstrated that it is noticeably inferior to the German release.
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