Cannibal Holocaust: 25th Anniversary Edition

[WinslowLeach]

I just picked this up last week and its one of the best produced Special Editions Ive seen. It has a beautiful film transfer and its chock full of all kinds of cool extras. I think I found all the Easter Eggs on the DVDs too. Theres even a trailer for Debbie Does Dallas! Grindhouse Releasing has thrown down the gauntlet for DVD special editions. Every big studio should take notes.

Do you Love it? Hate It? Personally, I think the film is really well made and also very disgusting (of course). Its definitely an incredible work of cinema regardless.

[burlivesleftnut]

I have heard of this movie, but know little about it, WL. Would you mind giving a mini-review of the movie?

[WinslowLeach]

Short Synopsis: Four documentary filmmakers journey into the Amazon jungle to record the lives of some cannibal tribes. Time passes and they are never heard from again. An anthropology professor, Harold Monroe, hears about this and decides to follow their trail and see what he can find. While down in the jungle he witnesses all kinds of nasty acts (raping, killing etc). He finds some of the belongings of the filmmakers at one tribes village. The belongings include the cans of film that filmmakers shot before they dissapeared. Professor Monroe brings the film back to NYC and screens it for some colleagues. This is where we see some of the most disturbing, gory and violent things ever put on film.

If you get grossed out by blood and gore in movies you may want to have a barf bag close by cuz this movie is full of nasty ass stuff. Its got raping, castration, sea turtles being ripped apart and more.

[burlivesleftnut]

Wow sounds bad ass. Thanks WL! I must own this.

[WinslowLeach]

You should see all the extras. Youll love it! Theres so much good stuff to watch besides the movie. Im still going through them.

[Brocktune]

this is on my netflix queue. im dying to see it. i didnt vote, because A: i havent seen it B: king kong was not an option

[ZombieZoneSolutions]

for some reason, i have never seen this film... but i'm dying to see it now!

nothing like unholy transgressive carnage to get the juices flowing!

[Constant Reader]

One of the only movies to make me feel physically ill while watching it, and almost ashamed that I'd sat through it when I was done. Don't enter into it lightly.

CR

[St. Alphonzo]

I've heard that the DVD actually has a "no monkey or turtle" option for viewing. Is that true Winslow? That would certainly dull the impact.

This movie is everything that Blair Witch desperately wanted to be.

[DrillerKiller]

I had seen it a few years ago but only in it's cut state. Even then it was a masterpiece, such realism could probably never be duplicated today.

Then I saw it uncut at a horrorthon in Dublin. Fairly disgusting alright, especially that turtle scene, it looked like its insides were boiling. It was all a bit unnecessary, especially the weasel thingy getting skewered through the head by a stick (the sound was the worst), but it doesn't detract from the film's power. It's like an endurance test for innocent people. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a visceral film experience.

Met Ruggero Deodato after the Q&A aswell. The man's english is so bad it's hilarious, it takes him about 2 minutes to put a sentence together.

[jgraphix]

Just watched this last month and it is pretty brutal.

I've seen all the sick shit and this was one that up there in the top 5 of sickest movies of all time.

If your a fan of exploitation and you like to eat people, you'll love this little fucker.

[DrillerKiller]

Out of interest, what can match it for sickness?

Only ones that come to mind are other mondo movies, Deep River Savages etc, but Visitor Q comes to mind aswell. Not a great film by a long shot (and I love me my Miike), but it's pretty mental.

[Constant Reader]

I've heard that the DVD actually has a "no monkey or turtle" option for viewing. Is that true Winslow? That would certainly dull the impact.

This movie is everything that Blair Witch desperately wanted to be.

That's true - you can choose to watch it without the animal cruelty if you wish.

CR

[so sorry]

If your a fan of exploitation and you like to eat people, you'll love this little fucker.

IPAMPILASH!
nice one...
me personally, i can take a shit load of gore when it comes to movies, but if one fucking hair of an animal is abused in a movie, i start to get sick and want to go on a rampage.

is it actually marketed as a "no animal cruelty" version?
that's pretty funny...

[jgraphix]

Some others that I would consider to be close to it on the fucked up scale:

Funny Games

Irreversable (rape scene alone)

Ichi the Killer

Murder Set Pieces

and many others that are out there.

[TheBaxter]

i saw this many years ago. strangely i don't remember much about the gore or violence done to the people, but the turtle and weasel scenes definitely stuck with me. especially the weasel squirming and making squeaking noises while it's being killed. i guess knowing that it's real and not faked or a special effect gives it a more lasting impact. then again, i bet there are PETA films that make the animal violence in this movie look like mr. rogers.

[DocPazuzu]

I've only seen it once, about ten years ago and own the Dutch Ultrabit 2-disc which contains the longest known version of the film, but haven't worked up the nerve to see it again. I can't think of any other film with a similar punch to it.
It's in my collection mostly as a curiosity.

Like someone mentioned above, I can watch virtually anything as long as it's fake, but the slightest real harm to animals or humans and I feel sick.
Never understood the freaks who download those beheading videos or frequent sites with real life deaths and crap.

DocP

[Malachi Constant]

I loved it. I saw it for the first time when I was about ten, I had sought it out because I had heard it was an actual snuff film. It was the first of its kind I had encountered long before the Blair Witch phenom. It was so gritty that as a ten year old I bought hook line and sinker that some footage of this film crew meeting a terrible fate had been stumbled upon. It's high up on my christmas list.

[Revoltor]

The "cock-chop" sent me reeling. The beheading that preceded was pretty tough to watch too. The whole movie will stick with me forever.

[Crayotic Rockwell]

When i saw the turtle scene i was like "wow, now that's how you do gore.. wonder why movies nowdays can't pull off the same effect?" As I later found out, it's because it was real

I dunno if I'll be able to sit through that bit again knowing that.. coz turtles are rad

[magicmonkey]

"Who are the real cannibals?"

Well, I watched this movie in the comfort of my bed last night. Has a great soundtrack first off.

The acting in the film is downplayed, quite amateur, but that is not where the meat is. The meat is in the gore and the horror of this film. There is a line in the movie about raping innocents sensabilties or something, and this movie does that in spades. It forces us to confront a world we all know exists but is not shown to us. It gives but a fraction of the horror there is in reality. Therefore, we kind of derserve/have to see this.

At one point I thought do I have to watch this, is there a message beyond its cheap exploitation exterior, and I would certainly say there is. Its a crude one, like the film, but at least its an excuse. The opening of the film starts in New York city streets whilst a voiceover talks of the horrors of the jungle, a metaphor I don't think will fly over most peoples heads. Its also repeated at the end of the film.

The filmmakers themselves in the story are the most base creatures, their capacity for sensationalism and voyeurism is barely tapped in providing tasty material for hungry viewers. Hinting perhaps at the further future degeneration and liberties taking by newcrews etc in order to get that news story, to be no.1 with the highest audience viewers all watching those expensive ad's inbetween newsbreaks. It reveals how much trust we put into believing what we see, whats real and what isn't.

So, overall a nasty little cautionary tale, beautifully shot, oh yeah, and the transfer is delicious.

[CENOBITE]

Well, having seen alot of shit I'd rather not see (most on Rotten.com,Ogrish.com) I guess I have the experience to go pick this up at CineFile.

[magicmonkey]

Well, having seen alot of shit I'd rather not see (most on Rotten.com,Ogrish.com) I guess I have the experience to go pick this up at CineFile.

Yeah, its definately worth the cash. Sure, its not the greatest film ever made but it is beautiful, the cinematography is outstanding in places, as is the scenery.

[Groggy]

I bought an uncut Euro version of this flick about 4 or 5 years ago on DVD, and I have never been able to sit all the way through it.

I got as far as the monkey having its face sliced off. Yet as if that was not bad enough, the cannibal guys then squeeze his inside monkey juices out of where his lil' monkey face once was. This pushed me too far and I had to reach for the 'off' button to prevent me puking.

That said it is always funny to spring these scene on unsuspecting people. Some things once seen; you can't 'unsee'.

A very wrong movie, but a fairly unique feat that will probably never be repeated on the same scale again.

[WinslowLeach]

This film and I Spit On Your Grave are both to me complete masterpieces of shock cinema. I don't consider myself a sicko because I like them. I just feel they're really well made and unique morality tales that happen to push the limits of cinematic graphic violence. I definitely dont like to see real life violence at all.

[austenandrews]

I still need to see ISOYG. I caught CH last October and I must say, it is hands down the goriest flick I've ever watched. It'd been a long time since a movie made me feel physically ill.

I voted for the girl on the stake because that was one disturbing effect.

[WinslowLeach]

I found out after watching the new DVD(s) that the native girl sat on a stick w/ bicycle seat on top and then balanced another big wooden stick in her mouth to get the impaled effect. It looks so real!