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  • So influenced is bad? Also, it's a better score than Mark.

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    • I agree that this film is mostly overrated, both in terms of shock and artistry. I would have probably liked it fine if it wasn't sold as the most 'extreme' film ever or a sophisticated critique.

      Large sections simply make no sense (the murder of the natives is completely under-motivated and why does the guy keep filming even as his friends are eaten at the end?) and it seems more concerned with endless boring scenes of rape rather than cannibalism.

      I enjoyed Jungle Holocaust a lot more in terms of storyline and good old cannibal munching, but I'd say Cannibal Ferrox delivers more disturbing imagery than CH, which pretty much 'peaks' with the stake scene. CH is better made than CF overall though.

      In terms of extremes I find Japanese exploitation goes much further and often in very well made films to boot. In terms of horror there are much better films in the period too. Sleaze-wise there are the films of Zebedy Colt, Costello and De Renzy that really seem to descend into the cultural id of the times.

      I appreciate the film as important, and the background material on the Grindhouse Releasing DVD is fascinating, but the film itself is merely okay, for me. Certainly in the top 3-5 Italian cannibal films but not even at the top of that niche genre for me.

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      • I don't consider Cannibal Holocaust THE most extreme film ever nor a sophisticated critique per se. But, and I'm not sure wether or not most of the decisions made by Deodato during production were conscious, the fact is Cannibal Holocaust is an extremely multi-layered and complex film, especially for being Italian exploitation. It asks so many questions about morality, the act of seeing and creating, and also about the nature of exploition cinema itself. For me one of the aspects that make it so extremely rich, is the fact that almost everything it critizises it's also guilty of itself. And that makes the final line of the movie, "I wonder who the real cannibals are", more than just a moralistic or even ironic comment (even if it of course is both of those things too), but rather a way of putting a heavy burden of blame on both Deodato and crew as well as us, the cinema audience. The fimmakers of the film within the film are cannibals, the people from the television company watching the film within the film are cannibals, the actual filmmakers of Cannibal Holocaust are cannibals, the theaters showing the film are cannibals and yes, even we who watch the film are cannibals. The whole film is such a pitch black and nihilist statement, or really not even that. Just unanswered questions thrown out into the ether; the complete breakdown of all morals.

        For me Cannibal Holocaust is still a shocking film to this day. I have to mentally prepare before every rewatch. The first time I saw it I was emotionally exhausted afterwards. And that's not just because of the convincing documentary style, or the horrible scenes of violence and sexual assault, or even the repulsive scenes of animal violence. The hardest thing for me is that the whole film is steeped in cynicism and coldness, in the pitch black lack of any guiding light for us the viewers. I can never approve of treating animals in the way Deodato and company did in this film, but there's no denying that Cannibal Holocaust is an even stronger picture with these gruesome scenes of killing than it would have been without them. And then we have Riz Ortolani's beautiful score like the icing on the cake, brilliantly used contrapuntally to the carnage onscreen.

        Cannibal Ferox is silly by comparison. It's just extremely stupid and nasty exploitation without even a hint of all the added dimensions of Deodato's film.

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        • Originally posted by Randy G View Post
          I enjoyed Jungle Holocaust a lot more in terms of storyline and good old cannibal munching, but I'd say Cannibal Ferrox delivers more disturbing imagery than CH, which pretty much 'peaks' with the stake scene. CH is better made than CF overall though.
          JUNGLE HOLOCAUST is my favorite of the genre, it feels less exploitative and more like a proper movie. FEROX is probably the most exploitative and dare I say fun. But I like almost all of them above above CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. MAN FROM DEEP RIVER is also very good.
          "When I die, I hope to go to Accra"

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          • So has anyone seen the new Danish/ Norwegian BD release from Another World Entertainment and can tell whether the The Last Road to Hell sequence is totally complete here as it was on their DVD?

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            • Originally posted by enandalusiskhund View Post
              Cannibal Ferox is silly by comparison. It's just extremely stupid and nasty exploitation without even a hint of all the added dimensions of Deodato's film.
              I used to feel the same way about FEROX but when I rewatched it earlier this year via the Grindhouse Blu-ray I found that it had risen in my estimation. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that this most recent viewing of the film was the first time I'd seen it in Italian rather than via the English language dub with which I'm more familiar.
              'You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like. Still the same. Pissholes in the snow'

              http://www.paul-a-j-lewis.com (my photography website)
              'All explaining in movies can be thrown out, I think': Elmore Leonard

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              • Originally posted by Bogart View Post
                Did you get that that scene amongst others is supposed to be a (not so subtle) critique of the mondo movie makers of that time ?
                I always interpreted that scene as being as much about events like My Lai, etc, as about the 'ethics' of the mondo filmmakers of the 1960s/1970s. I think the perception of the film as a picture primarily about the mondo phenomenon - which has gained added currency owing to the easy availability of some of those films in the DVD age - has overshadowed other aspects of the film's immediate context within over a decade of political violence and the Vietnam War, etc. I always interpreted CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST as being as much about those events, filtered through the lens of a narrative (pun intended) revolving around the ethics of a documentary crew and using their incursion into the 'exotic' jungle as a metaphor for broader debates about cultural imperialism and interventionism/interference.

                Of Deodato's similarly-themed films, however, I much prefer CUT AND RUN. That's a fun film, with similar echoes of its immediate social context.
                Paul L
                Scholar of Sleaze
                Last edited by Paul L; 11-12-2015, 07:22 AM.
                'You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like. Still the same. Pissholes in the snow'

                http://www.paul-a-j-lewis.com (my photography website)
                'All explaining in movies can be thrown out, I think': Elmore Leonard

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                • I like to think the film is taking a swipe at the entire western civilization

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                  • Originally posted by Bogart View Post
                    I like to think the film is taking a swipe at the entire western civilization
                    Or just people in general
                    'You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like. Still the same. Pissholes in the snow'

                    http://www.paul-a-j-lewis.com (my photography website)
                    'All explaining in movies can be thrown out, I think': Elmore Leonard

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                    • Doesn't Deaodato say in the Grindhouse doc that he intended film to be a critique of left wing radicals in Italy in the 70s?

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                      • Originally posted by Randy G View Post
                        Doesn't Deaodato say in the Grindhouse doc that he intended film to be a critique of left wing radicals in Italy in the 70s?
                        Yeah...and the fact he was appalled by all the violence shown on the evening news where everyobe was exposed to it.....

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                        • Originally posted by Randy G View Post
                          Doesn't Deaodato say in the Grindhouse doc that he intended film to be a critique of left wing radicals in Italy in the 70s?
                          I haven't seen the documentary on the Grindhouse release, but that would make sense.
                          'You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like. Still the same. Pissholes in the snow'

                          http://www.paul-a-j-lewis.com (my photography website)
                          'All explaining in movies can be thrown out, I think': Elmore Leonard

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                          • Yeah, I thought that was interesting comment from Deaodato, makes the early scenes of the kids clearer and makes me think the film could be seen more as a reflection of the polarized Italian politics of the time, like some of the Poliziotteschi.

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                            • It's the time of the year when miss Finland... the bi-annual Night Visions film festival just kicked off and Ruggero Deodato is the main guest. Cannibal Holocaust and Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man are screening.


                              - https://www.facebook.com/nightvision...type=3&theater

                              Oh, and Ian Jane is quoted on the festival website

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                              • Was expecting Ians quote to be translated into Finnish!!

                                That would have been a first!!

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