Probably the best known of the 70's Cannibal flicks, here released in its full uncut widescreen glory. Although full of gory scenes it has other values than that of shock. It's the most interesting and intelligent film in the Jungle Cannibal subgenre. The film opens with a note; ''For the sake of autenticity some sequences have been retained in their entirety''. In reality it means nothing, but it does set the mood.
A documentary TV team has disdappeared in a South American jungle known as the Green Inferno and a search party is sent out to find them. Led by Professor Monroe (played by porn veteran turned cannibal veteran Roberto Bolla, who's also in Cannibal Ferox) the search team finds the TV team's mutilated bodies and, more important, the film they've been shooting.
We learn that the TV team had previously made some dubious documentaries through the screening of a film-within-the-film called The Last Road To Hell. This is infact real news footage from some African and Asian dictatorships. Men, women and children being gunned down. Dead bodies in the streets. It's obvious to us, the viewers, that this is real, but Monroe says it's fake, turning things on their head.
The Green Inferno footage then shows us how the team tortures, rapes and kills a number of natives. Finally they're captured by the tribe and dismembered in all sorts of ways, with their cameras still filming everything. In this, the second film-within-the-film, director Ruggero Deodato has used shaky, hand held cameras that ads a lot to the feeling of autenticity. This part of Holocaust also has the best acting and the crew's clowning and squabbling seems genuine. At a closer examination Green Inferno is of course not real, but the previous showing of The Last Road To Hell and some unpleasant footage of animals being mutilated has already convinced us that we're watching the real thing. Very clever.
To top things off the end credits says that the Green Inferno film was smuggled out by a projectionist who since have been fined 10 000 USD and recieved a two months suspended scentence for illegal appropriation of film material.
Deodato ended up in court in Italy 'cause of this movie and it's treatment of animals (and humans). Many critics also fell for the 'real footage' scam and the film is still listed as a Snuff movie in some books, even though the director won the court case in 1983.
The only Jungle Cannibal film you need. A masterpiece of viewer manipulation.
The second most famous Jungle Cannibal movie. This is now also available uncut and in widescreen.
Umberto Lenzi more or less invented the genre with his 1972 movie Deep River Savages. He also did Eaten Alive in 1979 and this film Cannibal Ferox in 1980.
In many ways very simular to Holocaust, with a woman student going in to the Columbian jungle to disprove rumours of cannibalism, but here the rest of the expedition is a lot less scientifically oriented, consisting after a while of drug dealers and prostitutes. This film suffers a bit from having obvious studio and archive footage in it as well as a somewhat weak script, but compared to some cannibal pics this is a high-budget, well-acted production.
Just as in Holocaust, Ferox puts the blame of the tribe's violence and cannibalism on the white people who terrorise them. The ''who are the true savages?'' theme is something of a cliché in these movies. Usually nothing but a poor excuse to torture and kill a number of natives and then let them return the favour. Ferox is no exception. Led by drug dealer Mike, some of the white intruders kill a few members of the tribe and the whole group of americans are then captured, tortured and eaten. The film is most famous for the scene in which Mike gets his dick cut off and eaten and one of the girls is hung in meat hooks through her tits. Leaving very little to the imagination.
Very violent. As Holocaust it's full of cruelty to animals that is not fake footage. Banned in many countries. A second rate Cannibal Holocaust without the twist, but still superior to many others in this genre.
This one was originally released as a 16mm film in 1979. Mindaugis Bagdon of San Francisco punk mag Search And Destroy filmed the bands playing a benefit gig for striking Kentucky coal miners on March 21 1978 at the Mabuhay Gardens.
The bands included here are UXA (Death From Above), The Dils (Citizen), Avengers (The American In Me), Sleepers (Sister Little) and Mutants (Insect Lounge, New Dark Ages). I have never liked the Sleepers, and the Mutants were too much of a New Wave/joke band. Five million members and silly costumes. No threat, no energy. Everything that was wrong with the original California scene. The first three bands make up for it though, they're all great, both here and on records. The Dils' (guitarist Chip Kinman is interviewed on this site) song is hard to find elsewhere and it's one of their best. A studio version of The American In me by the Avengers came out on a 12'' ep in 1979, produced by Steve Jones. It's been re-issued on several compilations since. This live version is a little faster and seeing the band ads a lot to it too. The picture quality is really good, as you would expect from something shot on real 16mm film instead of video.
This video has been out for more than a decade and is still available. I'm only reviewing it now 'cause I think you should a) know about it, and b) get it. Only available on NTSC system.
V/Search Publications / 20 Romolo #B / San Francisco, CA 94133 / USA
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