We love a good horror film to watch on Halloween as much as anyone – but there are limits.
One film was so gory and graphic it was subsequently banned in many countries, including Italy, the UK and Australia.
The “found footage” film was in fact so realistic the director was charged with murder in Italy.
Cannibal Holocaust is an Italian horror film released in 1980, directed by Ruggero Deodato.
The film follows a group of anthropologists from New York University who venture into the Amazon rainforest in search of a missing documentary film crew.
The remains of the film crew are found, along with several film reels.
Cannibal Holocaust is an Italian film from 1980
The anthropologists learn that the crew had been massacred by a tribe, with their deaths caught on tape.
Some of the scenes in Cannibal Holocaust are so graphic and realistic, audiences and authorities thought the actors were actually being killed.
But when Deodato was charged with making a snuff film, and killing his actors, he was quick to prove his innocence.
Deodato had to stand in front of a court to explain that women weren’t impaled on stakes and people weren’t eaten for the sake of entertainment.
He even had to re-create one of his most convincing scenes of the woman being impaled.
The director had to prove he hadn’t killed the actors
All actors from the movie had to show up in court to testify and prove they didn’t die.
They also testified to the special effects methods used to create the gory and realistic violence scenes.
The murder and snuff film charges against Deodato were dropped, but the film was still banned in many countries throughout the world.
One of the most controversial aspects of Cannibal Holocausts is its onscreen depiction of animal death.
Cannibal Holocaust is banned in many countries
The animals were killed solely for the purposes of film production.
One of the most graphic scenes was the death of a large turtle, but a monkey was also brutally killed.
Although the film is still banned in many places, it has become a cult classic among some horror fans.
It is seen as the precursor to the so-called “found footage” genre, which was later popularised by films such as The Blair Witch Project.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
