Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

Director:

Ruggero Deodato

Writer:

Gianfranco Clerici (story)

Release Date:

19 June 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Horror

Tagline:

Ripout! Barbeque! Devour! How long can you take it?

Plot:

An anthropologist heads a rescue party into the South American jungle to find a missing film team making a documentary on cannibal tribes but can only return with their footage, which reveals their crueler intentions.

Plot Keywords:

Tribe | Cannibal | Professor | Jungle | Yacumos

Cast

Robert Kerman	...	Harold Monroe
Francesca Ciardi	...	Faye Daniels
Perry Pirkanen	...	Jack Anders
Luca Barbareschi	...	Mark Tomaso (as Luca Giorgio Barbareschi)
Salvatore Basile	...	Chaco Losojos
Ricardo Fuentes	...	Felipe Ocanya
Carl Gabriel Yorke	...	Alan Yates (as Gabriel Yorke)
Paolo Paoloni	...	Chief NY Executive
Lionello Pio Di Savoia	...	Executive (as Pio Di Savoia)
Luigina Rocchi	...	Native
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lucia Costantini	...	Adulteress (uncredited)
Ruggero Deodato	...	Man Outside University (uncredited)
Edward Mannix	...	Harold Monroe (voice) (uncredited)
Enrico Papa	...	TV Show Host (uncredited)
Gregory Snegoff	...	TV Show Host (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Ruggero Deodato

Writing credits
Gianfranco Clerici		(story and screenplay)

Produced by
Franco Di Nunzio	....	producer
Franco Palaggi	....	producer

Original Music by
Riz Ortolani

Cinematography by
Sergio D'Offizi

Film Editing by
Vincenzo Tomassi

Production Design by
Massimo Antonello Geleng

Makeup Department
Nicola Catalani	....	assistant makeup artist
Massimo Giustini	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Giovanni Masini	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Salvatore Basile	....	assistant director
Lamberto Bava	....	assistant director (unconfirmed)

Art Department
Rodolfo Ruzza	....	property master

Sound Department
Gianni D'Amico	....	sound mixer
Bruno Longobardo	....	sound mixer
Raul Montesanti	....	sound engineer
Umberto Montesanti	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Aldo Gasparri	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Ennio Brizzolari	....	key grip
Paolo Cavicchioli	....	still photographer (as Paolo Maria Cavicchioli)
Roberto Forges Davanzati	....	camera operator
Enrico Maggi	....	assistant camera
Luigi Pasqualini	....	chief electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lucia Costantini	....	wardrober

Editorial Department
Rita Antonelli	....	assistant editor
Luciano Vittori	....	color consultant

Other crew
Vito Di Bari	....	production secretary
Armando Pace	....	cutting room assistant
Rossana Rocchi	....	continuity

Production Companies

• F.D. Cinematografica

Distributors

• United Artists (1980) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Grindhouse Releasing (2006) (USA) (all media) (restored) (uncut) (copyright holder)
• Transcontinental (1985) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Alan Young Pictures (2002) (Italy) (DVD)
• Another World Entertainment (2006) (Norway) (DVD)
• Astro Distribution (1998) (Germany) (VHS)
• Astro Video (2000) (Germany) (DVD)
• Blackest Heart Media
• Cult Epics (1993-2000) (worldwide) (VHS)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (video)
• Dansk Video Distribution (DVD) (????) (Denmark) (VHS)
• EC Entertainment (2000) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Go Video (1982) (UK) (VHS)
• Go Video (1982) (UK) (video) (Betamax)
• JPV Austria (????) (Austria) (VHS)
• Laser Paradise (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Manga Films (2002) (Spain) (DVD)
• Mangpong (2000) (Thailand) (video)
• Media Suits (2002-2003) (Japan) (DVD)
• Opening Distribution (2004) (France) (DVD)
• Parc Video (1998) (Ireland) (video) (as "Cosa Nostra") (uncut version)
• Rex Films Home Video
• Roma Lusa (????) (Portugal) (VHS)
• SBP (Argentina) (video)
• Shochiku CBS/Fox Video (SCF) (????) (Japan) (VHS)
• Siren Visual Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (DVD)
• Spike Adventure (2001) (Japan) (DVD)
• Substance Video (2000) (Canada) (DVD)
• Ultra Film (2006) (Hungary) (DVD)
• VL Video (????) (Germany) (VHS)
• Video Instant Picture Company (VIPCO) (2001) (UK) (video)
• Video Invest AB (????) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Viking Video (2004) (Russia) (DVD)
• marketing-film (????) (Germany) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

95 min | UK:89 min (heavily cut) | USA:90 min (animal cruelty-free version) | Canada:86 min (Québec)

Country:

Italy

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System) | Dolby Digital (2001 re-release)

Certification:

Norway:18 (re-rating: 2005) (uncut) | Singapore:(Banned) | Australia:(Banned) (1984-2005) | Norway:(Banned) (1984-2005) | Italy:VM18 (re-rating: 1984) | Finland:(Banned) (1984-2001) | Hong Kong:III | Japan:R-18 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Sweden:18 (video rating, cut) | UK:18 (re-rating: 2001) (heavily cut) | UK:X (self applied: 1981) | Philippines:(Banned) | New Zealand:(Banned) (2006) | Denmark:16 | Brazil:18 | Mexico:D | France:-16 (original rating) | Australia:R (re-rating: 2005) (uncut) | Germany:18 (heavily cut) | Ireland:18 (re-rating: 2006) | Ireland:(Banned) (1984-2006) | Finland:K-18 (re-rating: 2001) | South Africa:18 | France:-16 | France:-18 (DVD) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) (re-rating, uncut) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Sweden:15 (uncut DVD version) | Germany:Not Rated (uncut DVD version) | Italy:VM18 (1980, cut) | Chile:18 (X-Rated) | Iceland:(Banned) | Netherlands:16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | UK:(Banned) (1984-2001) | USA:Open (rating surrendered: 1985) | USA:X | West Germany:(Banned) | Canada:R | Italy:(Banned) (1980-1984) | USA:Unrated | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Amazon Rainforest, Colombia

Company:

F.D. Cinematografica

Trivia:

The iconic image for the film shows a "cannibal" girl impaled on a stick. Upon being summoned to court in order to assert that no actors were harmed during production, Deodato explained that the girl simply sat on a bicycle seat attached to the pole's base, while holding a small pointed balsa wood piece in her mouth. The fake blood was then added. Deodato commented that the girl had an unusually calm temperament to be able to remain so still during the filming.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The "muskrat" Miguel kills in the film is not a muskrat at all. It's a coatimundi, a type of animal closely related to the raccoons.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Reporter: Man is omnipotent; nothing is impossible for him. What seemed like unthinkable undertakings yesterday are history today. The conquest of the moon for example: who talks about it anymore? Today we are already on the threshold of conquering our galaxy, and in a not too distant tomorrow, we'll be considering the conquest of the universe, and yet man seems to ignore the fact that on this very planet there are still people living in the stone age and practicing cannibalism.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Evil Aliens (2005)

this frightened me more than anything ever had

What can I say ... I would like to rate this movie a 20 out of 10 for the pure horrofying, shocking, heart devouring impact it had on me and a 50 out of 10 for its attempt to approach the reality of a documentary - because at first that's what I thought it was - but then I read somewhere that in the making of this movie the animals were actually tortured and that this part was no SE work. In total six animals are brutally killed on screen: - A large, screaming coatimundi (often mistaken as a muskrat) is stabbed multiple times in the neck by an actor. - A large turtle (about three feet long) is captured in the water and dragged to shore, where it is then decapitated and its limbs and shell removed. The actors proceed to cook and eat the turtle. - A large spider is killed with a machete. - A snake is killed with a machete. - A squirrel monkey is captured by a native actor portraying a tribesman, who cuts the monkey's face off with a machete while it is struggling and then eats the brains. - A pig is kicked and then killed with a rifle when shot in the head by an actor.

Although I'm the kinda guy that likes to be shocked now and then and have his blood being pumped faster through his veins by a film, this is not quite what I'm looking for when I consult the horror section.

When I found out a couple of years ago that CH was not a real documentary of people molesting, hammer smashing, killing and eating each other, that was a relieving thought and a weight of my chest and heart. However I will not support any film that includes the intentional harming of a creature in order to capture its screamings in pain on tape! Sickening - NO THANKS!