Cannibal Holocaust

Dir: Ruggero Deodato

1979

*****

Ruggero Deodato's infamous horror classic is terribly misunderstood. It's actually a culture piece focusing on contrasts within different societies. It also makes for a refreshing change of pace somewhat as we see the 'sensationalists/exploiters' being punished for their acts, albeit within a sensationalist/exploitation film. It's the voice of reason and understanding that survives and actually befriends the cannibals in the end which is a remarkably likable end to a horrific and shocking film. In my opinion, Cannibal Holocaust is probably the best horror film ever made. It's truly unique, utterly terrifying (without being ridiculous) and rather intelligent. The Grandfather of the found-footage movie with loads of jucy conspiracies and controversys surrounding it. In 1979, an American film crew disappears in the Amazon rainforest while filming a documentary about indigenous cannibal tribes. The team consists of Alan Yates, the director; Faye Daniels, his girlfriend and script girl; and two cameramen, Jack Anders and Mark Tomaso. Harold Monroe, an anthropologist at New York University, agrees to lead a rescue team in hopes of finding the missing filmmakers. In anticipation of his arrival, the military conducts a raid on the local Yacumo tribe and takes a young male hostage in order to help negotiate with the natives. Monroe flies in via floatplane and is introduced to his guides, Chaco and his assistant, Miguel. After several days of trekking through the jungle, the group encounters the Yacumo tribe. They arrange the release of their hostage in exchange for being taken to the Yacumo village. Once there, the group is initially greeted with hostility and learns that the filmmakers caused great unrest among the people. Monroe and his guides head deeper into the rainforest to locate two warring cannibal tribes, the Ya̧nomamö and the Shamatari. They encounter a group of Shamatari warriors and follow them to a riverbank, where they save a smaller group of Ya̧nomamö from death. The Ya̧nomamö invite Monroe and his team back to their village in gratitude, yet they treat the outsiders with suspicion. To gain their trust, Monroe bathes naked in a river. A group of Ya̧nomamö women emerge from the riverbank to take him to a shrine, where he discovers the rotting remains of the filmmakers. Angered, he confronts the Ya̧nomamö in the village, during which time he plays a tape recorder. The intrigued natives agree to trade it for the filmmakers' surviving reels of film during a cannibalistic ceremony, in which Monroe must take part. Back in New York, executives of the Pan American Broadcasting System invite Monroe to host a broadcast of the documentary to be made from the recovered film, but Monroe insists on viewing the raw footage before making a decision. The executives first introduce him to Alan's work by showing an excerpt from his previous documentary, The Last Road to Hell, depicting executions in several war-torn countries. One of the executives tells Monroe that Alan staged such dramatic scenes to get more exciting footage. Monroe then begins to view the recovered footage, which first follows the group's trek through the jungle. After walking for days, their guide, Felipe, is bitten by a venomous snake. The group amputates Felipe's leg with a machete to save his life, but he quickly dies and is left behind. The remaining four locate the Yacumo. Jack shoots one in the leg so they can easily follow him to the village. Once they arrive, the crew forces the tribe into a hut and burn it down in order to stage a massacre for their film. Monroe criticizes the staged scenes and poor treatment of the natives, but his concerns are ignored. Monroe finishes viewing the footage, and expresses his disgust to the station executives regarding their decision to air the documentary. To convince them otherwise, he shows them the remaining, unedited footage, which only he has seen. The final two reels begin with the team locating a Ya̧nomamö girl, whom the men film and gang-rape. Faye only tries to intervene when Alan participates. Afterwards, they encounter the same girl impaled on a wooden pole by a riverbank, where they claim that the natives killed her for loss of virginity. Shortly afterwards, they are attacked by the Ya̧nomamö in revenge for the girl's rape and death. Jack is hit by a spear, and Alan shoots him so the team can film how the natives mutilate his corpse. As the three surviving team members try to escape, Faye is captured. Alan initially insists that they try to rescue her, but ultimately decides not to. Mark continues to film as she is stripped naked, gang-raped, beaten to death, and beheaded. The Ya̧nomamö then pursue and kill the last two team members as the camera drops to the floor and ends showing Alan's bloody face. Disturbed by what they have seen, the executives order the footage to be destroyed. As Monroe leaves, he ponders who the "real" cannibals were. It is gruesome and horrific but it is deceptively clever throughout. Deodato said he conceived of the film while talking to his son about news coverage of the terrorism of the Red Brigades. Deodato thought that the media focused on portraying violence with little regard for journalistic integrity and believed that the media staged certain news angles in order to obtain more sensationalized footage. He reflected this behavior in the film team in Cannibal Holocaust, whom he said symbolized the Italian media. After its premiere in Italy, it was ordered to be seized by a local magistrate, and Deodato was arrested on obscenity charges. He was later charged with making a snuff film due to rumors that claimed some actors were killed on camera. Although Deodato was later cleared, the film was banned in Italy, Australia, and several other countries due to its portrayal of graphic brutality, sexual assault, and real depictions of violence toward animals. There is nothing like a bit of controversy to gain an audience but you have to wonder whether the people who banned the film actually watched it. It is a shocking but brilliant exploration of sensationalism and society, a work of art in fact. The animal cruelty is the only thing that was unnecessary about the film but it should be noted that recent Disney films featuring cute puppies are noted as being far crueler. It is a bona fide masterpiece, misunderstood by people who read headlines rather than read the actual articles.