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    Jens Thomsen
    Senior Member

  • Jens Thomsen
    replied
    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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  • Scott
    Intellectual Carrot

  • Scott
    replied
    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.

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  • enandalusiskhund
    An Andalusian Dog

  • enandalusiskhund
    replied
    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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  • Randy G
    Senior Member

  • Randy G
    replied
    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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  • Roderick
    Butthorn

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

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  • Bogart
    Senior Member

  • Bogart
    replied
    Yes, that theme seemed to be heavily influenced by Michael Holm's Mark of the Devil though..

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngIdaAPxkqo
    Bogart
    Senior Member
    Last edited by Bogart; 11-09-2015, 01:13 PM.

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  • Roderick
    Butthorn

  • Roderick
    replied
    Originally posted by killer must kill again View Post
    c'mon there's gotta be something you liked! what about the amazing riz ortolani score?!

    If you don't appreciate this score you are broken.

    Leave a comment:

  • killer must kill again
    Senior Member

  • killer must kill again
    replied
    Originally posted by Dom D View Post
    For the record I'm well versed in the darker corners of cinema. I wasn't shocked by this film. I just thought it was fucking bullshit. Documentarians meet this supposedly dangerous and savage tribe and then start rounding the natives into a straw hut which they then set on fire and burn them to death while they rave on about how this is going to win themselves an Oscar. There are so many levels on which that is shit storytelling that there are no words. I could run them through but I think everyone gets them instinctively. And that's just five minutes of this nonsense.

    This film is like a three year sticking his finger up his nose at dinner to shock the grown ups. Vaguely amusing but really not worth your time. By while there's a lot of lot of films on this level (a bunch I even like) the animal violence means you can't enjoy this as mindless fun made by meatheads as you usually would with something like this. You just can't even laugh at it.
    c'mon there's gotta be something you liked! what about the amazing riz ortolani score?!

    Leave a comment:

  • Alex K.
    Senior Member

  • Alex K.
    replied
    Originally posted by Dom D View Post
    For the record I'm well versed in the darker corners of cinema. I wasn't shocked by this film. I just thought it was fucking bullshit. Documentarians meet this supposedly dangerous and savage tribe and then start rounding the natives into a straw hut which they then set on fire and burn them to death while they rave on about how this is going to win themselves an Oscar. There are so many levels on which that is shit storytelling that there are no words. I could run them through but I think everyone gets them instinctively. And that's just five minutes of this nonsense.

    This film is like a three year sticking his finger up his nose at dinner to shock the grown ups. Vaguely amusing but really not worth your time. By while there's a lot of lot of films on this level (a bunch I even like) the animal violence means you can't enjoy this as mindless fun made by meatheads as you usually would with something like this. You just can't even laugh at it.
    I understand that you didn't care for it but it seems like maybe you were expecting too much from it and it played against your appreciation?

    Also, the film makes it fairly clear that the first tribe (The Yanomomo or Tree People) are a mostly docile tribe. The 2nd tribe the filmmakers come across (The Shamitari) are the violent tribe constantly attacking the Yanomomo. The Shamitari are the one's that kill the filmmakers. Plus the film acknowledges that several reels that were recovered had to be thrown out so we're left ot our own conclusions as to how the filmmakers subdued the Shamitari's. I know I misspelled the tribe's names but I can't check IMDB right now.

    I don't think the film is juvenile at all, if you think it is then you might want to check out the other Italo Cannibal flicks.


    Originally posted by Headless Body View Post
    That's actually my problem with the film. I would appreciate it more if it would stand as the crass exploitation that it is without the pretentious (and completely insincere) moralizing.
    It was obviously taking the piss out of the moralizing done in the media and in Mondo movies. The Professor Monroe character never comes off as insincere (naive maybe) but definitely not insincere.
    Alex K.
    Senior Member
    Last edited by Alex K.; 11-09-2015, 12:19 PM.

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  • sukebanboy
    Senior Member

  • sukebanboy
    replied
    I think maybe Deodato had good intentions when he made this movie.....He always talks about his motivations that made him make it...

    It may be a little heavy handed at times...but it was pretty much a product of its time...and I feel that watching it now in 2015 for the first time would not recreate the same feelings that people had watching before the onset of the internet where this kind of thing is pretty tame....

    Also, if you want a movie that wears its crass exploitation on its sleeve you should be watching CANNIBAL FEROX....

    Leave a comment:

  • Headless Body
    Senior Member

  • Headless Body
    replied
    That's actually my problem with the film. I would appreciate it more if it would stand as the crass exploitation that it is without the pretentious (and completely insincere) moralizing.

    Leave a comment:

  • Bogart
    Senior Member

  • Bogart
    replied
    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 ?

    Leave a comment:


  • Dom D
    replied
    For the record I'm well versed in the darker corners of cinema. I wasn't shocked by this film. I just thought it was fucking bullshit. Documentarians meet this supposedly dangerous and savage tribe and then start rounding the natives into a straw hut which they then set on fire and burn them to death while they rave on about how this is going to win themselves an Oscar. There are so many levels on which that is shit storytelling that there are no words. I could run them through but I think everyone gets them instinctively. And that's just five minutes of this nonsense.

    This film is like a three year sticking his finger up his nose at dinner to shock the grown ups. Vaguely amusing but really not worth your time. By while there's a lot of lot of films on this level (a bunch I even like) the animal violence means you can't enjoy this as mindless fun made by meatheads as you usually would with something like this. You just can't even laugh at it.

    Leave a comment:

  • Bogart
    Senior Member

  • Bogart
    replied
    That might be worse though , if your stash ever got found. Might be better to split them up and pepper them amongst less controversial stuff, that way the eye is not offended by a collection of "perverted" rape-titled movies.

    Leave a comment:

  • enandalusiskhund
    An Andalusian Dog

  • enandalusiskhund
    replied
    I'm nervous for the same reason for some upcoming Synapse releases I really want. Zoom Up: Rape Site and especially White Rose Campus: Then Everybody Gets Raped will really stick out like sore thumbs on the shelf. Maybe I'll have to hide them from the Mrs. even, like a 13 year old hides his dirty magazines from his parents.

    Leave a comment:

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