Cannibal Holocaust

There's no doubt about it. If there is a more renowned and reviled and legendary movie, I don't know what it is. This sucker has been banned from about 80 different countries, some even till this very day for it's gruesome content and real animal slayings. Yeah, it's only a turtle, a pig and a muskrat but it's still pretty vicious. Aside from being gross and sought out among gore afficianados, the movie is also a rather poignant statement about the world that we live in, blurring the lines between what civilization and savagery is and poking a well deserved stick at the journalistic media. Don't worry about all that stuff though, it's still a fun ride through hell and back that will have you either laughing or vomiting.

The basic story follows a professor who is investigating the disappearance of a documentary film crew that ventured deep into the heart of the Amazon basin where bad things live. He wants to see if they're still alive or at the very least, find out what happened to them. Along the way he encounters various tribes that seem preturbed to him and overly distrustful of the white man. After bathing naked with some cannibals and wowing them with his tape recorder, the professor manages to retrieve the film canisters of the missing crew members and brings them back to the states.

Here's where it starts to pick up even more.

After cutting a deal with a news station, the professor starts to edit together and examine the footage he has retrieved with the intent of showing it to the world. As he views more and more of it, he enters a world of horror and violence that shakes him to his core as he discovers the final fate of the missing people.

This is a real fun movie with some wooden acting, lots of breasts and lots of blood. The soundtrack is inappropriate but oddly fitting at times with a serene track that instills introspectiveness more than dread. It's worth a view to the hardcore horror fans uncut though if you're curious and not fazed by much, you might seek it out as well. It's a fine and well publicized entry into the Italian cannibal movie that deserves to be seen in all it's grindhouse glory. If you have the stomach, check it out, otherwise you may be better just reading about it or trying to track down the edited version that cuts out most of the gore.