The director who got arrested for his controversial flick shared the one “regret” he had with the movie.
Back in 1980, Cannibal Holocaust shocked the world upon its release. Packed full of gore and graphic images, the horror film was subsequently banned in many countries, including Italy, the UK and Australia.
Using “found footage” the movie follows a group of anthropologists from New York who venture into the Amazon rainforest in search of a missing documentary film crew. But things take a dramatic turn when they make a series of grim discoveries after finding footage.
READ MORE: Actress loved watching cinema-goers ‘throw up’ over her new gory horror flick
READ MORE: Click for more brilliant Daily Star TV stories
The film contains a multitude of graphic moments. Scenes involving gruesome murder and rape depictions are shown on screen, as well as the slaughter of seven animals on set.
(Image: Ronald Grant Archive)
One gory scene from the flick – directed by Ruggero Deodato, sees a tribeswoman impaled on a spike. In another scene, a tribesman can be seen eating a monkey’s brains.
In fact, the film was so realistic that the director Ruggero was famously charged with murdering several members of the cast. He had previously convinced them to disappear in order for the full to be seen as authentic.
When Ruggero was accused of making a snuff film, and killing his actors, he was quick to prove his innocence. He had to stand in front of a court to explain that people weren’t killed or eaten for the sake of entertainment. He even had to re-create one of his most convincing scenes of a woman being impaled.
With Ruggero facing 30 years in jail, all actors from the movie also had to show up in court to testify and prove they didn’t die – as well as testify to the special effects methods used to create the gory and realistic violence scenes.
Despite the movie ruffling plenty of feathers, director Ruggero didn’t have any regrets about the flick – apart from one thing. Speaking in 2011, he revealed his regret over the slaughter of the wild animals.
“In my youth, growing up, I spent a lot of time in the country close to animals and therefore often seeing the moment of their death,” the director told The Guardian.
“The death of the animals, although unbearable – especially in a present-day urban mindset – always happened in order to feed the film’s characters or the crew, both in the story and in reality.”
Two monkeys were killed so a scene in the film could be filmed from different angles. And the real-life beheading and disembowelment of a turtle also features. Three decades after the films initial release, an updated edit of the film was released with Ruggero cutting out some of these scenes.
In 2018, it was confirmed that Ruggero had died aged 71 on December 27. Reports claimed the director died from complications of pneumonia, kidney failure, and liver failure.
Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletter.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
