Cannibal Holocaust (2000): Ruggero Deodato’s Gory Horror Tale, Starring Robert Kerman, Carl Gabriel Yorke, Francesca Ciardi, Luca Barbareschi, Perry Pirkanen

Directed by Ruggero Deodato, the disturbing Cannibal Holocaust centers on a professor who discovers lost footage from a missing documentary crew while on a rescue mission into the Amazonian rainforests.

Cannibal Holocaust
Italian theatrical release poster

An American film crew disappears in the Amazon rainforest while shooting documentary about indigenous cannibal tribes.

The team consists of Alan Yates, the director; Faye Daniels, script writer; and two cameramen, Jack Anders and Mark Tomaso.

Harold Monroe, an anthropologist at NYU, agrees to lead a rescue mission in hopes of finding the missing filmmakers.

Anticipating his arrival, military personnel stationed in the rainforest conduct a raid on the local Yacumo tribe and take a young man hostage in order to negotiate with the natives.

Monroe flies in via floatplane and is introduced to his guides, Chaco and his assistant, Miguel.

After days of trekking through the jungle, the rescue team encounters the Yacumo. They released their hostage in exchange for being taken to the Yacumo village.

Once there, the group is greeted with hostility and learns that the filmmakers had caused great unrest among the people.

Monroe and his guides head deeper into the rainforest to locate two warring endocannibal tribes, the Ya̧nomamö and the Shamatari.

Deodato’s film achieved notoriety due to it gore, explicit sexual assault, and the depiction of animal death.

The horror, though extreme and controversial, provides social commentary on journalism and the exploitation of South American countries.

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