Cannibal Holocaust (1980): How Bad is the Animal Cruelty?

[darkdetective]

I recently saw Eli Roth's The Green Inferno. Decent film. Got me in the mood to watch a couple of cannibal movies.

Obviously the most famous is Cannibal Holocaust. I kinda wanna watch it, known about it for years and I haven't sat down to watch it for one reason....
The animal cruelty!!

Now, I'm fine with gore in movies. Heads exploding and skins flayed, all that stuff I'm fine with. Mostly because I know it's fake but I heard that the animal cruelty in Cannibal Holocaust was real.
For people who've seen it, how bad, graphic and long are these scenes?

I don't really feel like watching a movie were animals are killed for my "entertainment".
Is the rest of the film good enough to sit through the animal cruelty???
::wink::

[Sculpt]

I recently saw Eli Roth's The Green Inferno. Decent film. Got me in the mood to watch a couple of cannibal movies.

Obviously the most famous is Cannibal Holocaust. I kinda wanna watch it, known about it for years and I haven't sat down to watch it for one reason....
The animal cruelty!!

Now, I'm fine with gore in movies. Heads exploding and skins flayed, all that stuff I'm fine with. Mostly because I know it's fake but I heard that the animal cruelty in Cannibal Holocaust was real.
For people who've seen it, how bad, graphic and long are these scenes?

I don't really feel like watching a movie were animals are killed for my "entertainment".
Is the rest of the film good enough to sit through the animal cruelty???
::wink::

I watched some of Cannibal Holocaust, and yes, real animals are killed for your viewing entertainment. One in particular was a knifed little coatimundi varmint, which was unnecessary - wasn't required for food. There were 6 real animals killed on camera. The scenes are about "average length of time", I don't think their duration will matter, rather their inclusion. I'd suggest you can live quite well without seeing the film. As I haven't sat through the whole thing, I can't be definitive, except that it seemed a rather murky feature.

[Anthropophagus]

The animal cruelty is vile,i would happily love to watch the film without it.The turtle scene especially is haunting and anyone who thinks it is fine needs to see a quack,it isn't.

The film itself is very good in my opinion,the music unsettling and for most part the actors believable,though some of the human kills by the cannibals are exaggerated but what would you expect from natives.

Overall a good movie to watch,just fast forward the unnecessary animal stuff,that's what i do.I don't need to see such stuff to enjoy a movie.

[favabeans]

There are versions of the film with the animal cruelty parts cut out floating around, if that would satisfy.

[Dead Bad Things]

I feel that's tha kinda thing that makes that flick iconic, next level horror.
Is it right? Is it humane to toture and kill other living creatures for our entertainment? No...... To me it's acceptable tho....Don't be callin' ALF on me!
Animals are used for lots of stuff...I mean where's line?

[sfear]

Won't watch the movie because of the animal cruelty.

[Giganticface]

**SPOILERS**

Don't read this if you want to watch the film and get the full, shocking effect. A film like this, you can only experience once for the first time.

...

No animals are really tortured, but several are killed, although you could make a case that the tortoise didn't suffer the quickest of deaths.

One is a snake slowly squeezing a small mammal to death -- something you might see on Animal Planet. Another is a little monkey thing gets the top of its head chopped off and a native slurps the brains out. (Two were actually killed in the shooting of the scene.) The tortoise scene is the most infamous, where natives dissect a giant tortoise and eat its guts. I think there might also be a giant lizard killed and eaten, but I might be thinking of a different cannibal film.

None of these bothered me too much from a moral standpoint because they all represented natural occurrences, or natives killing animals to eat. I'm not a vegetarian, and I accept the fact that animals kill other animals. However, they were pretty gross, the tortoise scene being downright nauseating. The actress in the scene seems quite affected, and as it turns out, she was pretty traumatized.

The one animal death that I did find shocking was when one of the actors playing a documentarian shot a pig for no reason while going on a rampage. This was shocking because it was not a documentary-like capture of an animal death for the purpose of eating, but rather a story element written into the narrative. (However, I'd be surprised if the natives didn't eat the animal off camera, as it's clearly one of their livestock raised for food.) I also found it unsettling that it involved an actor waving around a loaded gun, and actually firing it, and actually killing something. Regardless of what you think of the animal death, this is exactly the type of scene that makes this film so effective, and at times you start considering the possibility that other parts of the film are real.

Everyone always points out the animal deaths as being the most exploitative and unnecessary part of this film. However, there is a scene where video footage of *real human deaths* is being viewed, but in the script, the video is described as fake (which isn't true). This is actually part of the brilliance of the film. The viewer never knows for sure what's real and what's fake, and the overall effect is unnerving.

If you are interested in being shocked, I recommend seeing this film. All the other Italian cannibal films have similar animal death scenes, but this one is so much better than the rest in its writing, acting, social commentary, and effective, purposeful use of exploitation. It's also perhaps the first film that explores a found footage technique.

[darkdetective]

**SPOILERS**

Don't read this if you want to watch the film and get the full, shocking effect. A film like this, you can only experience once for the first time.

...

No animals are really tortured, but several are killed, although you could make a case that the tortoise didn't suffer the quickest of deaths.

One is a snake slowly squeezing a small mammal to death -- something you might see on Animal Planet. Another is a little monkey thing gets the top of its head chopped off and a native slurps the brains out. (Two were actually killed in the shooting of the scene.) The tortoise scene is the most infamous, where natives dissect a giant tortoise and eat its guts. I think there might also be a giant lizard killed and eaten, but I might be thinking of a different cannibal film.

None of these bothered me too much from a moral standpoint because they all represented natural occurrences, or natives killing animals to eat. I'm not a vegetarian, and I accept the fact that animals kill other animals. However, they were pretty gross, the tortoise scene being downright nauseating. The actress in the scene seems quite affected, and as it turns out, she was pretty traumatized.

The one animal death that I did find shocking was when one of the actors playing a documentarian shot a pig for no reason while going on a rampage. This was shocking because it was not a documentary-like capture of an animal death for the purpose of eating, but rather a story element written into the narrative. (However, I'd be surprised if the natives didn't eat the animal off camera, as it's clearly one of their livestock raised for food.) I also found it unsettling that it involved an actor waving around a loaded gun, and actually firing it, and actually killing something. Regardless of what you think of the animal death, this is exactly the type of scene that makes this film so effective, and at times you start considering the possibility that other parts of the film are real.

Everyone always points out the animal deaths as being the most exploitative and unnecessary part of this film. However, there is a scene where video footage of *real human deaths* is being viewed, but in the script, the video is described as fake (which isn't true). This is actually part of the brilliance of the film. The viewer never knows for sure what's real and what's fake, and the overall effect is unnerving.

If you are interested in being shocked, I recommend seeing this film. All the other Italian cannibal films have similar animal death scenes, but this one is so much better than the rest in its writing, acting, social commentary, and effective, purposeful use of exploitation. It's also perhaps the first film that explores a found footage technique.

You make a couple of good points. The natives at least used the animals for food just like I would with a chicken.
Maybe I will watch the movie and if the cruelty seems too much I'll just skip ahead.
I remember a scene towards the end of Apocalypse Now when the natives cut up a cow. I wasn't that upset by that even though I was a little shocked so maybe Cannibal Holocaust won't be so bad.... Maybe!

[Anthropophagus]

I am a meat eater but do not like to see an animal killed.I know it happens but i do not wish to see it.Humans however i couldn't give a shit.::big grin::

[Kat]

I've heard of it and I'm aware of the animal cruelty in it, and that's why I've never watched it. I can't. I'd either be in tears or ill.

[Jessero]

I realize this post is months old, but as this thread pops up in various searches, I thought I would reply

:SPOILERS:

None of the animal killings are slow. Every one lasts just a few seconds. The turtle is not dismembered by natives, its the film makers who do it. He is killed with two chops to the neck. His head is removed and then his body is cut up. I dont know why this is so upsetting to people. Hes dead. There are twitches and leg movements after his head is cut off, but he is not alive any more.

The only one that I found hard to watch was the killing of the "musk rat" (really, a very small coati). He gets stabbed in the throat twice and is screaming a lot. But, again, the scene only lasts a few seconds.

Aside from those two animals, they also kill a small monkey (by cutting his head in half), a snake and a large spider. All deaths happen quickly and are on screen only a few seconds.

The animal killings shouldnt stop you from watching this film. Theyre minor and not particularly graphic. Plus, if youre a meat eater, well... dont be a hypocrite! From what I have read about the film, all the animals killed were eaten. Cept the spider, I imagine!

You SHOULD skip this movie, tho, as its just horrible. The storyline and acting are atrocious. Basically, everyone in the jungle (natives and film makers, alike) are soulless psychopaths who rape and murder everything with zero emotion or feelings. Somehow the director tries to use this as some lame commentary on western society? Its rubbish.

[Ferox13]

Won't watch the movie because of the animal cruelty.

Are you a Vegetarian?

I don't condone killing but its factory farming isn't exactly cruelty free.
I don't like the real killing in the film but it doesn't stop me watching or enjoying it. The turtle I heard was eaten and maybe the musk rat.

[TheUltimateDreamWarrior]

I recently saw Eli Roth's The Green Inferno. Decent film. Got me in the mood to watch a couple of cannibal movies.

Obviously the most famous is Cannibal Holocaust. I kinda wanna watch it, known about it for years and I haven't sat down to watch it for one reason....
The animal cruelty!!

Now, I'm fine with gore in movies. Heads exploding and skins flayed, all that stuff I'm fine with. Mostly because I know it's fake but I heard that the animal cruelty in Cannibal Holocaust was real.
For people who've seen it, how bad, graphic and long are these scenes?

I don't really feel like watching a movie were animals are killed for my "entertainment".
Is the rest of the film good enough to sit through the animal cruelty???
::wink::

The animal cruelty bugs me in that film just because I feel that a director does not need to kill a living being to make a film. It's horrible. Now, I've heard that people die on movie sets by accident, a lot in the film industry. That disturbs me but I think it's even more disturbing when a director condones the actual killing of a living being. The director of Cannibal Holocaust was trying to state a clear message about Vietnam and are we really as civilized as the other guy? He was stating a clear pacifist message, but it kind of defeats the purpose when you murder an animal for a flipping film.

[eezabadboy]

Shameless have released a Blu-ray which has 2 versions of the film. One is the directors new edit with all the animal cruelty removed. It is still uncut in terms of human deaths