Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Cannibal Holocaust (1979)
Director: Ruggero Deodato
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
A young film crew vanishes in the Colombian rainforest while shooting an anthropology documentary. Their footage, boldly retrieved by a university prof (Kerman), reveals the horrible truth behind their disappearance. Slightly foreshadowing Blair Witch then, but here the evils wrought by - and significantly upon - a barbaric tribe of cannibals are not left to the imagination. Despite poor dubbing, this is a more interesting and unusual film than its schlock-horror title and subject matter might suggest. The intense climax is approached with excellent cinematography and editing, as savage cruelty is eerily juxtaposed with beautiful scenery and Riz Ortolani's terrific score. Its pointed attack on exploitative film-making seems somewhat rich in the circumstances, but this is well made, uniquely unpleasant and almost deserving of its huge cult status.Author: DCo
User reviews of this film
-
- Joseph said...
- Posted on Oct 11 2009 08:19 While this film is grotesque (you will certainly be disturbed), it also has something important to say about media, and sensationalism. It questions who are the real cannibals. It considers our society, specifically the media as being the savages, rather than the cannibals themselves. It is thought provoking, and a powerful visceral experience, but definitely not a film for everyone.
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Ruggero Deodato
Producer: Franco Di Nunzio, Franco Palaggi
Cast: Robert Kerman, Francesca Ciardi, Perry Pirkanen, Luca Barbareschi, Salvatore Basile, Ricardo Fuentes, Gabriel Yorke, Paolo Paolini full cast
Duration: 98 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now