A movie review of Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

Cannibal Holocaust is a horror movie focused on the theme of indigenous tribes residing in the Amazon rainforest. The movie is noted for its graphic and gory nature and, upon its release, caused a huge amount of controversy. Read on to find out about the 1980 release.

Movie Information

Released in Italy in 1980, Cannibal Holocaust was written by Gianfranco Clerici and produced by Ruggero Deodato. With the casting of English and North American actors, the movie was intended for worldwide distribution. However, it faced instant retribution following its premier. Now notorious for its violent and explicit scenes, director Deodato was arrested and charged with releasing a snuff movie. Though Deodato was never found guilty of the charge, Cannibal Holocaust was deemed inappropriate by many broadcasting commissions and subsequently banned in Australia, Italy and the UK. The movie was released in the US in 1984.

The plot

When a film crew, who had been on a mission to document the lives of cannibal tribes, goes missing in the South American jungle, New York anthropologist Harold Monroe ventures into the South American jungle to find out exactly what went wrong. Aided by two local guides, Chaco and Miguel, Professor Monroe comes face-to-face with the Yacumo and Yanomamo indigenous tribes. After gaining the trust of the Yanomamo tribe, Monroe is shown a shrine, which he finds out contains the remains of the missing crew. Monroe then manages to convince the tribe to hand over reels of undeveloped film. Back in New York, Monroe investigates the film and discovers that, before meeting their fatal death, the crew had harassed and provoked the natives. He then faces a battle with a production company over whether the documentary should be aired to the public.

Cast and characters

Robert Kerman - Kerman stars as Professor Harold Monroe who goes in search of the missing film crew. Carl Gabriel York - York plays Alan Yates, the director of the missing American film crew. Francesca Ciardi - Italian Ciari plays Faye Daniels, the girlfriend of Yates. Perry Pirkanen - Pirkanen assumes the roles of Jack Anders, one of the cameramen from the film crew. Luca Barbareschi - Also Italian, Barbareschi plays Mark Tomaso, the crew's other cameraman.

Critical reception

Due to its explicit nature, Cannibal Holocaust was met with mixed reviews and a good deal of criticism. Whereas many were repulsed by the brutal images and violence, some critics have gone on record as saying that the movie is nothing more than a social commentary on the modern world and the differences that prevail between civilised and uncivilised communities. The movie currently has an IMDB rating of 6.0 and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 58%.