Love it or hate it, it makes you think

Arguably the most controversial film ever made, Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust is the daddy of all cannibal horror films; not the first, but the most significant. The 'four missing filmmakers and their found footage' device was of course later immortalised by The Blair Witch Project, but here it was a novelty. When I first watched this in 1983 I saw it as just a gory, controversial horror film. Watching it now I see it as more than that. Deodato went on record as saying he 'just wanted to make a cannibal film'. Maybe so, but it also serves as a searing commentary on journalistic integrity, double-standard morality, and human nature (and at the end of the day I'm one of those who believes it's not what an artist puts into their work, so much as what we take from it). The film does a good job of showcasing the deplorable actions that some people are capable of justifying (with its theme of 'Who are the true savages?' - old hat now, but not at the time), whilst showing the parallel of the TV network's willingness to turn a blind eye to those same actions for the sake of financial and critical reward (something of course that Deodato himself was accused of).

The effects are mostly good (and in the case of the famous impaling scene, so beautifully simple). The haunting score is used to great effect, with sweeping 'Hollywood strings' playing behind scenes of the most dreadful cruelty, mirroring how some people will attempt to sell the worst things as being something 'worthy' (another criticism that some might make of Deodato). The real animal killings are a no-no for many people as far as watching this is concerned, and I can understand that. But I do agree with those who consider this an important film. Not a great film, but an important one. It pushed the envelope, and if you're able to get past 'outrage' it makes you think. And I'm all for that. 7/10