Touted as the most controversial movie of all time, Ruggero Deoadato’s Cannibal Holocaust serves as more than just an excuse for unapologetic and unrestrained carnage and exploitation. The film serves as a poignant social parable calling into question the nature of our own humanity in contrast with that of more primitive societies.
Being a member of the infamous Italian cannibal film genre of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Cannibal Holocaust is usually written off as just another senseless gore fest. However, Deoadato’s notorious masterpiece provides adequate context and value for the sense-raping scenes of brutality.
Upon its release in 1980 Cannibal Holocaust was decried as a veritable snuff film and seized by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Writer and director Deoadato was forced to account for every actor and extra brutalized or killed in the film in order to discount allegations that he had actually murdered people on screen. These claims proved false, however all scenes of animal slaughter in the film were admittedly shot with real animals, sparking controversy over animal cruelty.
Disregarding the ethical dilemma of sacrificing an animal for artistic purposes, Holocaust was disturbingly well crafted. Including a both terrifying and emotionally wrenching score married with intense and vivid cinematography, the film succeeds in depicting modern "civilized" society to be as inherently savage and brutal as undeveloped tribal cultures.
Expecting nothing more than unrefined and gratuitous violence the film is surprisingly profound. Watching Holocaust was as difficult as predicted but after the film had reaches conclusion there is much more than merely cannibalism to ponder.
By no means is the viewing of this film a pleasant experience; however the violence of Cannibal Holocaust, though thoroughly repulsive, plays an integral role in illustrating the savagery inherent in human nature.
In this increasingly conservative world films of this degree of debauchery are all too often cast aside as pointless exploitation or smut. It is important to recognize the value of all artistic expression regardless of content and to judge upon the character of the work and not the vehicle by which it is provided.
DISCLAIMER: The authors of the above piece neither condone nor recommend the viewing of the film in question.
According to the Internet Movie Database the rating of X, meaning illegal for viewing by a minor, was applied to this film in 1984. In 1985 a "rating surrender" occurred, meaning that the film rejected all MPAA ratings and is now labeled "unrated". It is, therefore, legally viewable by anyone.