Cannibal Holocaust

A (non)movie that is the embodiment of the term “controversial". Cannibal Holocaust is a hard movie to rate. It has no story, no actors either and the only thing that Cannibal Holocaust stands on is its “behind the scenes legend" about how (un)realistic the scenes are. It achieves its aim - to disgust - indisputably excellently, but at the same time it is a boring hundred minutes of tasteless masturbation about nothing. But still you learn something from it. Perhaps that nobody has the right to kill live animals for any kind of movie. But what if that wasn’t the point after all? You don’t know? Well nor do I. Perhaps you will uncover that proclaimed supposed philosophical side of it. Or perhaps not. (07/26/2007)

Well, what can I say… Unrealistic as a documentary, weak as horror, above average as a film, very successful as a controversial piece. Now it all depends on what you expect from Cannibal Holocaust. I wanted controversial horror and hence my rating: I was very surprised, but little scared → three stars. (06/11/2008)

The first half an hour was very uninteresting and boring, but after that the film was solid! Very bold and strong for its time. The shots of the turtle guts were the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. For me it's above average found footage, but it’s a very controversial film and I don't recommend it to everyone. 70%. (01/04/2014)

This ninety minute showcase of brutality outwardly tries to give the viewer the impression that it carries a message. In fact, this pious message – to highlight the dark side of man and the shameful commercialisation of violence – is just a mere excuse for Deodato to show us the harshest snuff ever committed against animals in a feature film (turtle lovers, don't watch this) and to portray in an extremely authentic way the filth (there's no other way to put it) that man can commit against man. The level of authenticity is so great that while watching it, I wondered if it was really just staged (but not with the animals, they're really live murders). Overall summary: a very artfully made disgusting film that pretends to be profound, but I don't buy it. (09/25/2003)

A visual-narrative experiment that is easy to dismiss for a certain self-evident and blatantly trivial idea, but it’s important to remember that Cannibal Holocaust is not a film that ever had or will ever have the intention to appeal to a wide audience and declaim its message at the expense of its mostly barbaric and unspeakable visual form. No, Cannibal Holocaust is a minimalist and distinctive piece of filmmaking, a self-conscious conveyor of a "real story" in such a realistic way that it transcends the dimension of the generally accepted nature of the cinematic journey and becomes not only a controversial and deservedly infamous work, but also a unique probe into the twisted soul of filmmaking itself, where certain fans, myself included, will always find something new and disturbing. And yet, I rate it negatively. The level of brutality perfectly fits the overall scheme, and to denigrate its self-importance in this regard is utterly absurd, but the absolute lack of interest and zero emotional response towards the characters or the ensuing action that I continuously (un)felt throughout is as much a loss for the filmmakers in the case of this film as it is for David Lynch's films to be fully understood :)) (01/01/2013)