Francesca Ciardi, Luca Barbareschi, Perry Pirkanen

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67% liked it

19,294 ratings

Critics

67% liked it

9 critics

NC-17, 1 hr. 38 min.

Directed by: Ruggero Deodato

Release Date: January 1, 1979

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DVD Release Date: December 20, 2005

Stats: 2,439 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (2,439)


  • October 5, 2009
    This film is terribly misunderstood. It's actually a culture piece focusing on contrasts within different societies. It also contradicts itself somewhat as we see the 'Sensationalists/Exploiters' being punished for their acts, albeit within a sensationalist/Exploitation film. It'...( read more)s the voice of reason and understanding that survives and actually befriends the cannibals in the end which is a remarkably likeable end to a horrific and shocking film. In my opinion, Cannibal Holocaust is probably the best horror film ever made. It's truly unique, utterly terrifying (without being ridiculous) and rather intelligent. Recommended for those with strong stomachs!
  • June 4, 2009
    A pretty good movie, both laugh and gore was there! For a 1979 movie, this was actually quite good, I did enjoy it, cult film, go rent it ;) unless you're in peta, then don't cause they kill animals... haha
  • April 15, 2009
    A truly remarkable film that absolutely lives up to its reputation as one of the most shocking movies ever made. Of course, 'Cannibal Holocaust' suffers a few minor flaws in its acting and dialogue, but they're more than made up for by the film's overall boldness and intelligenc...( read more)e. Both meaner and smarter than the average splatter flick, 'Cannibal Holocaust' knows no bounds in its display of human suffering. Yet at the same time, it is careful to ensure we never forget the violence of our own society and its unquenchable thirst for blood and sensationalism. While perhaps a little hypocritical, the clear message brings a level of depth to 'Cannibal Holocaust' that other films of this creed simply lack. Overall, this is a classic of horror and exploitation, and is an absolute must-see for fans of the genre.
  • February 26, 2009
    Disgusting, amazing, sickening and poignant
  • October 10, 2008
    Cannibal holocaust is a truly charged viewing experience; in all its 20 years of existence no other non mondo film (until maybe Men behind the sun) had such a reputation to shock, even today it is believed by some at the UKs trading standards to be an actual snuff film. CH is not...( read more) the goriest film ever made, but in terms of themes and narrative its still the cruellest, most fascinatingly harsh piece of filmaking in the horror genre. Ive seen all the Traces of death, the men behind the sun films, and the Guinea pigs and I still think this is king. It is simply so well made, acted, atmospheric and the brilliant score by Riz Ortalani sets the scene so well. The fake documentary style never slips up. But perhaps the most unsettling thing about CH is that it is an exploitation film, and the scenes of animal cruelty (and even human) unsettle because they are being shown to promote a response...should you look away or not?Like I said Cannibal Holocaust is a truly unique experience, not some Gory novelty like Cannibal Ferox, and in this time of increased media coverage of true life atrocity maybe its pertinent? Maybe its just nasty cruelty, maybe it even dissapoints you...you just have to see it to gauge you're own response. For me at least its a classic.
  • November 18, 2009
    Completely original and horrible. This strikes you at the brain and makes you question a lot about society. Who is more evil: The savage who kills to eat or the civilized man who kills the savage? The music is what completely does it for me when watching the film. It is so breath...( read more)takingly painful to listen to. No, it might not be the most graphic movie ever filmed but I don't think it intended to be. The main purpose of this movie was to truly scare you. The thing is, it's not too far off from reality. I think when you look at films like this and Salo, they are a reminder of how fucked up we as humanity can be. How far we are able to go in order to reach a certain pleasure.
  • November 7, 2009
    holy shit this movie is too disgusting and disturbing, really a lot of the things in this movie were not necessary, in the movie and during the making.......
  • November 5, 2009
    This movie could had been a classic masterpicre for me...with all the inside critic to our sick sansationalist media, its just great...I just wonder why did Ruggero Deodato wanted to use innocent animals in such a cruel way, i know its for more controversy but its just wrong...a...( read more)nd also some scenes lack of acting abilities...but its a must for any horror fan even if you are a vegetarian and animal activist like me ... but it was a different time, so i just cant judge his whole movie, cuz his main idea its good...lets just erase the violent images with animals and the movie is great
  • November 2, 2009
    Banned in more countries than you have fingers. This movie was extremely controversial. When released, the movie was believed to be real. In fact, Ruggero Deodato (director) was imprisoned for 10 days before he brought forth the actors who were thought to have been killed on film...( read more) to a court hearing when the movie premiered in Italy. Not too many films like that nowadays that have such an impact. PETA would have also been all over this movie. There were 7 animals killed on-screen in this film. This movie pushed the envelope and is definitely worth one look.
  • October 28, 2009
    yeck - heard some horrible things about this one.

Critic Reviews


August 30, 2005
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

The actual savages involved with Cannibal Holocaust are the ones behind the camera. full review

View more Cannibal Holocaust reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • cofilth1950
    April 24, 2009
    Sin duda una película que se ha convertido ya de culto por los fans del genero de horror, no solo por las crudas escenas que presenta, sino por el mensaje que lleva detrás, un punto de vista cruel sobre las aún mas crueles verdades de lo que el ser humano es capáz de hacer.
  • pooglywoogly
    August 9, 2008
    guys!!! this movie is horrible!! they actually kill the animals in real life for the movie!! look it up on wikipedia. some of the actors were actually killed for the movie too! it's disturbing and wrong!! im not kidding around!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibal_Holocaust
  • marcraft
    March 21, 2008
    amazing movie , intense and brutal , a great look at american society and the human psyche. shows you just what the average human is capable of doing for no reason other then to do it. im a trapper so the animal killings didnt bother me (iv had to do worse before, the turtle scene however was one of the saddest things i have ever seen.) as much as the rape scenes. i downloaded the uncut version without knowing it was the uncut version. the one thing i dont understand is why the cut version shows the snake killing, are snakes okay to kill but not monkeys or turtles? that was the thing that most pissed me off with this movie. the monkey killing was about as humane as a kill can get , as was the snake , but for some reason they think snakes dont deserve the respect other animals are afforded.
  • MovieDude1221
    December 30, 2007
    the animal killings (especially the turtle scene) and the rapes were sick-but overall, i liked every other part of the film
  • TOMZO
    September 3, 2007
    this movie is reli good. ive only seen the cut version but still a reli gd filmbut for a movie that was ment 2 be banned it could of been sicker and more goreyer than it is. yer its got rape and animal cruality on it but still. i dunno if eery thing is real or not on this movie but if it is or not could of been far more disterbing than it is. still a reli gd film and worth waching
  • coreycoyle
    September 3, 2007
    unfortunetly ive got the cut version ive seen the uncut and it was disturbing the turtle scene was sick so was the monkey scene in the cut we still get to see a spider and a snake get killed but the uncut we see 4 more animals get killed this is my favourite film ever i luved it the cut heavily censors the rape scenes which is weird cause i spit on ur grave shows the full rape scenes on that film overall get cannibal holocaust its the best!
  • tomgrejs
    June 30, 2007
    yeaaaah.. if saw, hostel and all other movies like them are sick, this movie is "crazy out of range sick"! wow. not ever gonna argue on that. the only time i would recomend anyone seeing this, is so that person know it would never ever see anything as sick again, caus this is the top, or bottom.. of sickness.
  • exploitation195
    May 31, 2007
    hey waer did dat guy get dat info i saw dis at da IFI in Ireland uncut
  • mjgildea
    May 28, 2007
    Cannibal Holocaust is indeed a very tough watch and contrary to what many people think the animal violence is completely unnecessary--at least showing it is.

    I like animals more than about 93% of people and the animals killed were used for food. At least the movie's plot would have us believe. If I'm in the amazon and I need to eat I would kill an animal (quickly and humanely as possible) if I had no other alternative. I put off watching this movie for so long because of said violence, but there were so many other offensive things going on in Cannibal Holocaust that I forgot about them and fast forwarded through those animal scenes.

    But those scenes really didn't add much to the tone or the plot of the movie and are therefore as unnecessary as they are repulsive. But if you want to watch the movie, the DVD gives you the option to watch an animal cruelty-free version.
  • expiredtranquillity
    April 23, 2007
    The animal killings, however a lil disturbing, are what helped set the tone of this movie. Definately not a film for the feeble minded or those with a weak stomach, but
    I was impressed and even bought it to add to my horror collection.

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Cannibal Holocaust Trivia


  • In 1979 four documentary filmmakers disappeared in the jungles of South America while shooting a film about cannibalism... Six months later, their footage was found  Answer »
  • The movie " Cannibal Holocaust" has gained the title of the most notorious movie of all-time, holding the world record for the movie banned in the most countries. How many countries has the film been banned from?  Answer »
  • What movie was banned from 60 countries.  Answer »
  • In which movie can you heard that song?  Answer »

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