Review of Cannibal Holocaust (1980) by Peter F — 13 Aug 2012

A documentary film crew who travels to South America to document the cannibalistic communities there disappear, and Professor Harold Monroe (Robert Kerman) travels there to find out what happened to the crew. What he finds is something even more unimaginable than he could ever have thought, and brings back the footage left behind.

This is the first "Blair Witch Project," using found footage to make the viewers think this actually happened. The problem is, most people thought this actually happened! So much so the Italian government arrested the director and charged him with producing a snuff film (a film where real deaths are shown on screen). He had to bring in the actors to prove that they didn't really die.

This film is notorious for being banned in several countries, and for being one of the most shocking, disturbing films of all time, so of course I had to see it. So many times I've been tricked into believing films were "shocking" or "disturbing," and they turn out to be downright silly. I wasn't laughing at this film. This really was the most disturbing film I've ever seen. Maybe it's the animals that were really killed on screen. Maybe it was the amazing special effects that made even me believe that people died for real on screen. I don't know. But what I do know is that this film shouldn't be seen by a general moviegoing public, because it will haunt them for a long time afterward. A truly powerful piece of cinema.