“Cannibal Holocaust” was the shocking Italian cannibal exploitation movie that got banned in many countries around the world. It contained a mix of fake violence involving people and real violence involving animals. Parts of it are done in a documentary style that helped blurred the line between fiction and reality. The director (Ruggero Deodato) was even taken to court amid allegations that it was a snuff movie (charges were dropped when he proved the actors were still alive). Here are of the film’s most shocking moments.
- Eating The Flesh
For a cannibal movie, it’s surprising that the least shocking moment on this list is a moment of cannibalism. I think it’s because we at least know that it’s not real (unlike other parts of the movie). In order to get the reels from the documentary crew, a character has to eat human flesh. It looks pretty darn convincing and it’s sickening.
- The Ritual Rape
Another moment that was at least fake. There’s nothing funny or remotely enjoyable about this scene as a young woman is tied up, penetrated with some sort of object and then repeatedly bashed in the head until she dies.
- Shooting The Pig
This is where we start getting into the real stuff. There are several animals getting killed in this film. The scene where a pig is shot dead is one of the more horrific ones as we see it struggle before it dies.
- The Turtle
If you’re talking about graphic, this might be the most graphic depiction of animal violence (real or fake) that I’ve ever seen in a movie. The fact that it is real just makes it more horrendous. A turtle is decapitated and then it is ripped open with shots lingering on the insides of the poor creature. If you love animals, you’ll despise this scene.
- The Last Road To Hell
Halfway through “Cannibal Holocaust”, we see some footage from the documentary crew’s other work. This sequence includes actual footage of execution from different countries such as Nigeria. While it’s not as gory as the turtle sequence, footage of real people being killed is so traumatic. This was stock footage that was not shot for this movie.