cinema history class: cannibal holocaust (1980)

The session: "Ten-Year Anniversary Celebration"
The four of us who have been in the class since the beginning (or nearly so) each pick a favorite to revisit

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Week 1: Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
                    (my pick)
Directed by Rugerro Deodato

My Impressions Going In:

I have vivid memories of this movie from our 2017 screening of this film. This time I knew exactly what to expect. But, since it was my pick, that makes sense.

Plot:

After a crew of documentarians disappears in the Amazon rainforest, an anthropologist goes in search of clues. And what he finds makes his skin crawl.

Reaction and Other Folderol:

We first saw CH in 2017 when Scott (who has since left the class) chose it for Bring Your Own Movie Month. At the time, I found it deeply disturbing. Its graphic depiction of violence and cruelty was well beyond what I was used to seeing. It says something that director, Rugerro Deodato, was arrested for the murder of his cast, and only acquitted when he was able to produce them, still alive, for the courts.

But that doesn't explain why I chose the film as the one I want to revisit.

I wanted to bring a movie that I considered to be a legitimately great film. Cannibal Holocaust can be criticized for its disturbing nature -- and I'll be the first to admit that it's not for everybody. But it accomplished what it set out to do, and in that sense it's a great movie.

I also wanted something that was unique. To explain, let me cite Burnt Offerings, which we saw in 2019. Everyone in the room gave it a 10, and we agreed that it was a great movie. But when it comes down to it, it was just another haunted house movie. CH was something more. It was groundbreaking, essentially inventing the found footage genre.*

Finally, I wanted to bring in a film that spoke to me. Freaks from 1932 (the first movie Keith showed us) was a great movie and it was groundbreaking. But it didn't speak to me the say CH did. CH, made in 1980, has the style that I grew up with and grew comfortable with. So I can immediately warm up to it in a way that I can't warm up to movies -- even great movies -- from other eras.

It's important to note that I didn't immediately love CH. The first time we saw it it grossed me out. I recognized its greatness (even gave it a perfect 10) while still being disturbed by it and wanting a shower. But I couldn't stop thinking about it afterwards. And I revisited it. I'd watch the trailer, and assorted clips. I read about the production. I found the complete film on the interwebs. I even watched it with Sharon on a Saturday morning during the pandemic -- when we couldn't have our usual Saturday breakfast at a diner. And, as much as I find it disturbing, I adore this film.

When I think back on the ten years in Keith's basement and the hundreds of movies we've seen, and try to focus on movies that stood out and that stuck with me, there really wasn't any choice that came close to Cannibal Holocaust.

Ratings

Because we all saw this years ago, we decided not to rerate it. Since Bob-O wasn't around when Keith first showed it to us, he gets to rate it now.

Bob-O: 6.5

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*As a side note, during this past semester, the professor in Sharon's 2-D design class asked if anyone had seen or heard of CH. Sharon was the only one who had, The professor asked her what it's famous for, stylistically. She said that it's known for its early use of found footage.