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Cannibal Holocaust - Deluxe Edition [R0] |
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Written by Eric P
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Wednesday, 11 January 2006 |
Cannibal Holocaust - Deluxe Edition
A Review By Eric_P
R0, NTSC, USA
1979, Uncut / Unrated, 95 Minutes
Anamorphic Widescreen 1:85:1
Publisher: Grindhouse Releasing
This review is sponsored by Diabolik DVD:
Introduction
When director Ruggero Deodato took a film crew and four unknown actors into the remote jungles of Columbia to make a horror film about cannibals, he had no idea that the end product would be one of the most infamous horror films ever made, a true cult classic that continues to attract fans (and repulse animal rights activists) more than 25 years later.
Cannibal Holocaust is considered the founding father of the cannibal subgenre of horror films. It was followed by other cannibal films including Cannibal Ferox, Cannibal Apocalypse, Jungle Holocaust, Lost Cannibal World, Slave Of The Cannibal God, and even Emmanuelle And The Last Cannibals.
The producers of The Blair Witch Project would later steal Cannibal Holocaust's premise of filmmakers gone missing and their horrifying footage being recovered and screened.
Filled with misanthropy, gore, extreme violence, and scenes of real animal slaughter, Cannibal Holocaust still holds the record for being banned in more countries than any other motion picture - 60 countries, to be specific. The movie was heavily cut in other countries.
In the U.S., the MPAA required a few minutes of cuts to avoid an X-rating. In the UK, after being banned for years as one of the top "Video Nasties," the BBFC recently passed the film, requiring approximately 6 minutes of cuts to remove scenes of animal slaughter and sexual violence.
In Ruggero Deodato's native Italy, ten days after its Milan premiere, (where it played in a packed theater every night) Cannibal Holocaust was seized by an overzealous judge who accused Deodato of not only animal cruelty, but of making a snuff film as well! The special effects were so well done that the judge was sure that Deodato had filmed the real deaths of his actors! Deodato had to bring the actors to court prove they were still alive. He was still fined $300.
And now, thanks to Grindhouse Releasing, Cannibal Holocaust has come to DVD, fully uncut, in an incredible 2-disc collector's set!
The Movie
Cannibal Holocaust opens with a news story about four documentary filmmakers - director Alan Yates (Gabriel Yorke), his assistant Faye Daniels (Francesca Ciardi) and two cameramen, Jack Anders (Perry Pirkanen) and Mark Tomaso (Luca Barbareschi) - who went into the jungles of South America to make a film about the last cannibal tribe known to exist. Alas, the whole crew has disappeared mysteriously.
Cut to the remote Columbian jungle near the Amazon river. A group of native tribesmen are suddenly and cruelly massacred by machine-gun toting Columbian soldiers. The soldiers are escorting an American professor (Robert Kerman) and his search party, who are looking for the missing filmmakers.
The soldiers happen upon another native tribesman and watch him tie his wife to a tree trunk and administer the tribal penalty for her adultery - he savagely rapes her with a nasty looking, phallic shaped wooden object, then bludgeons her to death with a rock. Then he breaks down and cries, and we learn that if he hadn't killed her, the tribe would have killed them both.
The search party moves on. Later, the Professor makes friends with some tribeswomen by shedding his clothes and skinny dipping with them in the river. He playfully chases them around, and the women stumble onto a horrific sight: the skeletal remains of four people mixed in with motion picture camera parts. The Professor has found his missing filmmakers.
There is no trace of the footage they shot, so the Professor decides to look for the missing film. He and his party encounter a tribe called the Tree People, and make friends with them. Their chief leads him to a set of film canisters dangling from a tree branch.
Back in New York City, the Professor leads a team in restoring and reconstructing the doomed filmmakers' footage. The Professor is approached by some sleazy media types who want to exploit the footage for the purpose of sensationalism. He arranges a private screening that changes their minds.
At this screening, we finally learn the fate of the filmmakers. The sleazy, nasty director Alan Yates decided to exploit the native tribe for kicks and sensationalism. Yates and the others terrorized the natives by burning their homes, torturing them, raping their women, and shooting guns. Finally, the natives were pushed too far and struck back, killing Yates and his crew and eating their flesh.
Yates's bitchy assistant Faye Daniels is saved for last. She gets stripped naked, gang raped by the tribesmen, killed, and eaten. The tribesmen wave her severed head around in victory. The media people at the screening decide not to use the footage and the Professor wonders who the real cannibals were, the native tribesmen or the so-called civilized white men and woman who abused and exploited them.
Here are a few stills from the movie:
Tech Specs
Video
Cannibal Holocaust is presented in its original 1:85:1 widescreen aspect ratio, in a stunningly beautiful anamorphic transfer. There are some slight grain issues, but you'll hardly notice them in this near-perfect transfer. Wow!
Audio
The original mono English soundtrack is provided, but you'll want to listen to the earth-shattering Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo remix! A commentary track is also included - see Special Features for details.
Special Features
There are a ton of extras spread over both discs in this set. Disc 2 has most of the extras. Here is the complete list:
Disc 1 Extras:
Commentary Track - a full length commentary track featuring director Ruggero Deodato and star Robert Kerman.
Playback Options - you have the option of watching the full uncut Theatrical Version, an On-Camera Commentary version,(where a skull appears to allow you to access visual commentary on certain scenes by director Ruggero Deodato) and an Animal Cruelty-Free Version where your DVD player skips over the scenes of real animal slaughter.
I'm a vegetarian and a firm believer in animal rights, but I watched the movie uncut. The animal slaughter scenes are hard to watch, but since this film in its entirety is a metaphor for the savagery of humankind, it did not seem gratuitous to me. Ruggero Deodato now regrets having slaughtered animals in this film. Let's hope all animal deaths and injuries in movies continue to be done with special effects and not for real.
Inside The Green Inferno - a profile of the characters in Cannibal Holocaust, plus extended scenes of "The Last Road To Hell," the film-within-a-film by Alan Yates, which features real execution scenes supposedly filmed in Uganda.
Theatrical Trailers - the German, Italian, U.S., and international theatrical trailers for Cannibal Holocaust.
The Complete Shooting Script of Cannibal Holocaust is provided. You can access it via your computer's DVD drive.
Disc 2 Extras
In The Jungle: The Making Of Cannibal Holocaust - an Italian-made 60-minute documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with director Ruggero Deodato, star Robert Kerman, composer Riz Ortolani, and others. Mostly in Italian with English subtitles.
Interviews - nearly 100 minutes of made-for-DVD interviews with star Robert Kerman, composer Riz Ortolani, and co-star Gabriel Yorke. An Easter Egg in the Interviews submenu reveals a featurette where Grindhouse Releasing founders Sage Stallone and Bob Murawski search for Alan Yates, the doomed filmmaker in Cannibal Holocaust.
Still Gallery - a large collection of production stills, behind the scenes photos and publicity materials.
Music Video - a music video of the song Cannibal Holocaust by heavy metal band Necrophagia. The singer sounds like he just gargled shards of broken glass after drinking a quart of whiskey and smoking a carton of cigarettes. But the music is awesome!
Biographies - scroll-through biographies and filmographies of director Ruggero Deodato, star Robert Kerman, and co-star Gabriel Yorke. The filmography section for Ruggero Deodato includes trailers for a couple of his films. There is an Easter Egg in the Robert Kerman filmography that reveals the theatrical trailer for the famous porn film Debbie Does Dallas, which Kerman co-starred in!
Coming Attractions - trailers for seven other Grindhouse Releasing DVD titles including Cannibal Ferox and I Drink Your Blood.
DVD Credits - on the last page of the DVD Credits, there is an Easter Egg featuring footage of the Exhumed Films world premiere of the re-release of Cannibal Holocaust, including an interview with Diabolik DVD online store (sponsor of this review) co-owner Joseph A. Gervasi, along with a glimpse of Diabolik DVD co-owner Jesse Nelson's leg!
Main Menu Easter Egg - an Easter Egg in the main menu reveals 9 minutes of footage of director Ruggero Deodato and star Robert Kerman at the November 11, 2000 Cult-Con 2000 cult film fan convention in Tarrytown NY, answering questions about Cannibal Holocaust and signing autographs.
Included inside the DVD keep case is a four-page insert with liner notes by horror journalist Chas Balun of Deep Red World Headquarters. This insert unfolds to reveal a reprint of the Cannibal Holocaust Italian theater lobby poster on the other side. Great artwork!
The two DVD discs look like the film reels in the movie and are labeled Reel 1 and Reel 2. Cool!
The Report Card
Movie: A+
Video: A+
Audio: A+
Special Features: A+
The Last Word
Finally, one of the greatest cult horror films of all time comes to DVD, fully uncut, with a stunning transfer and tons of extras! Grindhouse Releasing has done an incredible job with this DVD release of Cannibal Holocaust. It belongs on the DVD shelf of every horror and cult film fan out there - buy it now! |
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