Premise: A television studio finds horrific lost footage of filmmakers who went missing in the Amazon and debate about if they should air the footage.
Don't watch this movie. I need to be unequivocal about my lack of endorsement of this movie. While there are aspects of the movie I like, the parts I dislike I find so repugnant that I can't even recommend it as an academic exercise.
For those unfamiliar with it, Cannibal Holocaust is a 1980 horror movie that is a forefather of the "found footage" style. It comes from the Italian exploitation film scene in the middle of a niche cannibal craze in horror movies at the time. The story in the film is that a film crew who are investigating Amazonian cannibal tribes goes missing. A television station sends a crew to retrieve them. All they can find is their footage. They bring that back that back and watch it. The footage shows the filmmakers getting drunk with power, killing and raping the locals until the tribes seem to finally unite against and presumably kill them. The execs at the station then argue about the morality of showing that footage as part of a TV special.
The stated idea of the movie is pretty interesting. It's putting news coverage to task for airing footage of sensational violence and even staging footage. There's also commentary on "civilized" society's treatment of less advanced peoples. The title isn't really referring to a group of cannibals killing a bunch of people. It's more accurate to say that it's about a holocaust happening to the cannibals by these filmmakers.
I do like the early experimentation with found footage. The ominous score is really terrific. That's most of what kept me going, and I'd love for other horror movies to borrow from it. That's about where I stop with things I like about the movie.
Director Ruggero Deodato employed a "Mondo" technique when filming the movie, which involved mixing authentic footage with staged footage. Several animals die on screen, and it is hard to watch. A squirrel monkey is beheaded onscreen. A pig is killed with a point-blank shotgun shot. A large turtle is killed and taken apart onscreen. It was all difficult to watch. Look, I think PETA is a little extreme at times, but I agree that nothing should die on screen for my entertainment. There are also scenes of extreme physical and sexual violence to humans that thankfully were staged. Those felt unnecessary too, but at least those were fake.
Personally, I don't watch horror for the violence. Sure, I enjoy a good Cronenberg exploding head on occasion. I'm generally fine with some incidental violence. But, when the thrill of a scene it tied to the realness of the violence, I don't have the stomach or patience for it. That's why I've had trouble getting into even the most high-brow of the "torture porn". Cannibal Holocaust goes even a step further. It doesn't help that my suspicions about the director while watching were uniformly confirmed. Deodata sounds like a tyrant who mistreated everyone and included the animal harm more out of sadism than a desire to make a larger point. When someone tells you who they are, believe them.
I went into this hoping for some "I can't believe they filmed this" fun like the insane Roar. I'm all for some insane people agreeing to a grueling shoot. Instead, I got a movie that I just plain wish they hadn't made. Much of the most objectionable parts of the movie weren't even necessary.
Verdict: Strong Don't Recommend
No comments:
Post a Comment