‘”First you take the liver out, then you open the rib cage and take the innards out. Then you fill it with hot stones and aromatic herbs …” Ruggero Deodato is explaining how to eat a human being. Not that he’s done it, or has he met anyone who has – but when it comes to cannibalism, the 72-year-old director is still something of an authority. In 1980, Deodato released what is still regarded in many quarters as the most controversial film ever made: Cannibal Holocaust, now being rereleased for home consumption, if that’s the right word.
‘Cannibal Holocaust lived up to its billing in so many ways. The movie follows a team of American film-makers into the Amazon basin in search of a previous expedition, who disappeared investigating cannibal tribes. What we see is supposedly the footage recovered after they themselves disappeared. Cannibalism is just the dessert course. Before we reach the gruesome climax, we’re served up a degrading onslaught of rapes, murders, torture, salacious sex, genocide, castration and even news footage of real-life executions.
‘Most notorious of all was Cannibal Holocaust’s depiction of the slaughter of wild animals. That is the only part of the film Deodato regrets. “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,” he says. “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.” His latest edit cuts out some of these excesses, but still leaves plenty in.
‘More troubling, though, is the treatment of humans in Cannibal Holocaust. Despite Deodato’s avowed support for indigenous peoples (he shot the movie on the border between Colombia and Brazil), none are credited, and there’s little evidence of interest in their actual tribal customs. He is often accused of racism and exploitation, but he insists they were intelligent, co-operative collaborators. “Of course they understood they were being portrayed as cannibals,” he says. “But it’s part of their tradition. It’s an ancestral thing. When they had a battle, the leader of the losing tribe would be killed and eaten by the winners. It’s part of their past. They don’t deny that.”
‘The get-out is that the film-makers in Cannibal Holocaust are the real savages. They are shown goading, raping and even killing to get sensational footage for the media back home. In real life, though, Deodato was doing something suspiciously similar. “My producer in Italy was showing dailies in the film markets and getting an amazing response, so he was ringing me every day in the jungle telling me: ‘Do more! Do more! Keep filming! Kill more people! Don’t worry, your message will come though.'”
‘Deodato, who was assistant director on Sergio Corbucci’s Django, was inspired to make the film after watching violent news reports in Italy with his young son. “It was the time of the Red Brigades. Every night on TV there were very strong images of people being killed or maimed. Not only killings but also some fabrications. They were increasing the sensationalism of the news just to shock people.”
‘As a comment on shock value, Cannibal Holocaust succeeded all too well. Deodato was even put on trial in Italy on suspicion of murdering his actors – an accusation he disproved by bringing one of them to court. He was fined for animal cruelty, and the movie was banned for three years. It was banned in around 40 other countries, too, including the UK until 2001.
‘Whatever its sins, Cannibal Holocaust’s influence has been acknowledged by directors from Oliver Stone to Quentin Tarantino, and across the horror world. Deodato is proud his film created the “found footage” genre. The fact that Cannibal Holocaust’s content has been less imitated than its style can only be good news for humanity, censorship panels, the ecosystem and avant-garde cuisine.’ — Steve Rose
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Stills
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Further
Ruggero Deodato @ IMDb
Entretien avec Ruggero Deodato
RD @ MUBI
Ruggero Deodato @ Twitter
therealdeodato @ instagram
RD @ The Grindhouse Cinema Database
Book: ‘Cannibal Holocaust and the Savage Cinema of Ruggero Deodato’
RD @ Shameless Films
RD @ Letterboxd
The Disturbing Art of Sight and Sound in RuggeroDeodato’s Cannibal Holocaust
Deodato is back with a 2d point and click horror game BORNEO: A Jungle Nightmare
Cannibal Holocaust: ‘Keep filming! Kill more people!’
CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST: INTERVIEW WITH RUGGERO DEODATO
Meet Ruggero Deodato
Interview: Ruggero Deodato
Script to Pieces: Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibals
‘Video nasty’ director Deodato debates censorship
Ruggero Deodato’s Top 10 Genre Films
Deodato Spearheads Corruption with CUT & RUN
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Extras
Deodato’s Cannibal [Switch/PS4/XOne/PC] Video interview with Ruggero Deodato
Borneo: A Jungle Nightmare | Official Video Game Trailer | HD | 2021 | Ruggero Deodato
RUGGERO DEODATO – Interview with his son discussing CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST
Les Maîtres de l’Horreur #6 : Ruggero Deodato
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Interview
After several years of assistantship, you made your official debut as a director with Fenomenal and the Treasure of Tutankhamun in 1968. How did you come to direct it and why did you start on this film?
(laughs) I wanted to quit working as an assistant and I was offered to go into directing. I was scared because there were a lot of good directors at the time. So a producer asked me if I wanted to do Fenomenal . It was a commercial film that I didn’t have to sign with my name (Roger Rockfeller being the surname that appears in the credits). I said ok because it allowed me to go to Paris and Tunis. And it was the opportunity to have a first experience as a director, which I really wanted. It was an opportunity.
Among your first films, I really like Una ondata di piacere (1975).
The movie came later. I shot a lot of comedies before then I got married to an actress (Silvia Dionisio) who was quickly in great demand. I got tired of doing movies because when my agent called me, it wasn’t just for me, but also to get my wife. Finally, I went to Milan to do commercials. Then two years later, I was offered Una ondata di piacere. The film was to be shot in Sicily. It was a thriller with erotic elements. I wanted to accept, but my wife said to me: “ No, you cannot do it, or so with me. (laughs) She managed to shoot it, despite her star status. She said: ” It doesn’t matter, I’m doing it for a small fee because otherwise you can’t do it! (laughs) At the time, I hated this film because it featured my wife naked for the first time on screen, but when I watch it now, I think it’s not bad in its erotic and criminal atmosphere.
Is it difficult to film on a boat?
Terrible! The captain, like the boat, were English. Every day, we left with the sun, from Palermo – we filmed in Cefalu – and the captain said: “ We are going to have a storm in ten minutes !”. It was never true, it was a blazing sun! (laughs) But the film was very hard to make.
Do you remember the actors John Steiner and Al Cliver?
I made many other films with John Steiner afterwards. With Al Cliver no, because…
he had a handsome face, but he wasn’t a great actor. I saw him again two months ago at a convention in Germany, he no longer has a voice ( Al Cliver has throat cancer). (laughs) It’s sad.
Live like a cop, die like a man, which you did right after, left me quite perplexed. The film is very entertaining, but we still see police officers shooting without warning on thugs before they even enter the bank they have planned to attack!
It’s a kind of western (laughs). With bounty hunters. I really like this movie because it was a big success and thanks to this success my real career started. A producer called me to do The Last Cannibal World. Tarantino told me he thought the motorcycle chase was fantastic. It was filmed in the middle of town. It was possible then, but it wouldn’t be today. I also like it a lot because it’s my first film that was made with the Deodato style. By putting soft music on a cruel scene, for example. For me, this is my real career start.
When you see the Italian films of the time – and in particular the thrillers – there are the right-wing films, directed by Stelvio Massi or Umberto Lenzi, which justify the violent methods of the police; and left-wing films, such as those by Sergio Sollima or Lucio Fulci, which question government and civilization. On most of your films – especially your cannibal films, which ask a lot of questions about society – I had the feeling that you belonged more to the second category, but ahead of Live like a cop, die like a man … (Deodato laughs) How do you compare to that? Because there is the fun side, with nice and funny cop characters, but we still see one of them breaking the neck of a wounded and disarmed gangster! We inevitably ask ourselves questions when we see this.
Yes… This is perhaps the most right-wing film in my filmography. But… At the time, there were a lot of very violent gangsters in Italy. I was in contact with gang leaders to make the film. To get permission to shoot. I met a guy like that. He was small and without charisma. I asked him how he could have become a great gangster. He replied, “ It’s because I have the strength to say, ‘Go kill him!'”. So, I figured it takes a similar strength to fight a man like that (laughs). He was the one who explained to me how gangsters traveled with buses and trams. I also imitated Serpico a bitfor the characters… But at the time, I was not very politicized. Me, I’m more of an anarchist, I never think about politics.
There is an element of social criticism in The Last Cannibal World or in Cannibal holocaust .
Yes, but at the time of Cannibal holocaust, the media did not understand it and attacked me a lot: “But you are right! A fascist!”. 20 years later, it was the opposite, but at the time, all the media were against me, because they were on the right! In Italy there are still many people who divide the world in two: you are fascist or you are partisan. After 60 years! If your parents weren’t partisan at the time, you’re on the right (laughs). If you had fascists in your family, so are you. It’s awful. I think the Italians are very cunning. They say to themselves: “ Where would I eat best today? With the left or with the right? “. They want to eat as well as possible.
I have to say that I prefer The Last Cannibal World to Cannibal Holocaust, because the viewer involvement is much stronger. We are really immersed in the tribe of cannibals with the main character.
I, too, prefer The Last Cannibal World because I suffered to make it. I shot it in the real jungle, with real Indians and in fantastic settings. I really like this movie. It’s a shame it doesn’t render on DVD. I saw it again at the Cinémathèque in Paris and the whole public preferred it to Cannibal holocaust, even if it was the latter which had the most success. But for Cannibal holocaust, I must say that there is the idea (of the film within the film) which is fantastic. And the technique. Afterwards, there were many films that imitated him.
Anyway, today, I tell myself that if the public preferred to go see Cannibal holocaust, that’s fine with me.
Shooting this film, for me, was very easy. Very very easy. Creatively. “ Today I do this, tomorrow I impale a girl… ” Simple as that. Day by day. The last cannibal world no. It was much harder. There is also a better worked atmosphere and decorations, like the cave…
I chose the filming locations based on photos seen in National Geographic. It’s also my first experience in the jungle… I have much stronger memories of that film. It was released in a very large number of theaters in New York.
You made a third film in the cannibal series, but which is a much more mainstream adventure film: Amazonia: the white jungle (1985).
There were more famous actors in it so it was hard to keep my mind. I had actors who wanted a caravan, who needed to sleep in 5 star hotels… It was more difficult.
The movie is not bad. There are fantastic natural settings. I did what I wanted, but I had a lot of problems with the actors. We shot in Canaima National Park, where you can find the highest waterfall in the world (les Saut de l’ange). I slept there, but the actors refused: they came from Caracas every day by plane.
It doesn’t look like the previous two, it’s more American-style. You can see it cost money and it’s not badly made, but it’s not in the spirit of what I like.
There’s another one of your films – which you shot for Cannon – that I like a lot, it’s The Barbarians .
I love it so much. I completely changed the scenario. La Cannon called me to do a movie like Conan. Very difficult. After all, I had done Cannibal holocaust. But when I met the twins (Peter and David Paul), they were so funny in life… If one started to drink, the other had to snatch his glass from his hands… They were always at to argue. So I changed everything to make it a comedy. When Golan and Globus, the producers, came to Rome to see the film, they were scared.“ Ruggero, we heard you changed the movie! “. So, we projected it to them and they were delighted. They arrived angry because they had just watched Sinbad (a terrible flop with Lou Ferrigno. Enzo G. Castellari, Luigi Cozzi and Tim Kincaid followed one another behind the camera), which was not good. They arrived furious, but they exclaimed “Bravo! Cheer!” at the end of the screening. This is the film on which I had the most fun in my life.
Now, the question which will perhaps a little annoy: how do you view Dial help (1988) and Washing machine (1993)?
I had fun on Dial help because the actress Charlotte Lewis (the Maria-Dolores of Polanski’s Pirates) was very “bitchy”! She was very funny. She said to me, “Ruggero, I’ll show you some breasts if you’re going to buy me something I saw via Condotti. (one of the most luxurious shopping streets in Rome). And I was like, ” Okay, Charlotte, we’ll go tomorrow!” (laughs). It was always like that. She was cute and I had a lot of fun.
The other, Washing machine … I like the Budapest decor a lot, but the film… I don’t know. There is something wrong. Maybe the story. She comes from a play where the main actress held three roles. But I don’t know what is. Maybe the actors are not good. I don’t like the movie.
How did you come to direct Les petits canailles (1992), which is a bit unusual in your career?
(laughs) The movie comes from a story I wrote after Cannibal holocaust . I wanted to make a film called Les gamins. A story of young boys in Bogotta. I wrote a very hard story, but I didn’t manage to put the project together. Years later, a French producer, my friend André Koob, asked me if I would have a story to shoot in Caracas. I adapted the story. I softened it. It was fun to do. He won a prize in Berlin and another in Israel. It’s not really my style, but it’s still me who wrote it. It’s a pity that I couldn’t do Les gamins, that would have been great.
The Last Breath (L’ultimo sapore dell’aria – 1978) was a very sweet film too, very different from my other films. In Japan, the ticket was sold with a handkerchief! The film was very well done. It was the same producer as on The Last Cannibal World. After that film, Japan wanted another film from me and I gave them a film Full of Feelings (laughs), a melodrama.
In my career, I have changed my style a lot. I took part in a six-episode television series called I ragazzi del muretto (1991) which was very successful in Italy. It tells the daily life of a group of high school students. Afterwards, I did another series in six episodes with Bud Spencer (Noi siamo angeli (1997), also with Philip Michael Thomas). I like change.
It’s hard to pinpoint you because of that. You’re best known for your cannibal movies, but when you look at your filmography, you’ve rarely done the same thing twice.
Yes, I’m best known for Cannibal holocaust, but there are also a lot of fans who come to talk to me about The Barbarians, about The House at the Bottom of the Park, which I still find very modern today, or about the Predators of the Future. Perhaps my most anonymous film is Body count …
Which is very Americanized.
Yes, very Americanized. I didn’t have much fun doing it. The VHS won the Gold Cassette Award in England. Yesterday, I saw a film from the competition, with German zombies (Dead snow by Tommy Wirkola), which made me think of Body count. There’s the same spirit, but with more zombies.
In the 60s and 70s, Italian cinema was one of the richest in the world. Today, there is almost nothing left. How do you view current Italian cinema?
Politics may have contributed a great deal to the “catastrophe” of Italian cinema. Because it was (during the 70s, editor’s note) dominated by leftists. And the right-wing government has decided to shoot down the left-wing intelligentsia of Italian cinema. As a reaction, when the left came to power (in 1978), it favored left-wing directors for grants. She gave to the sons of politicians, to the “sons of”… A lot of money was lost like that because the films didn’t work. A lot of movie people have lost their jobs. That’s one thing.
Then television got involved. Before, she bought films. But she began to produce series and TV movies. Television producers began refusing to give money to films that were too violent or unsuitable for them. And we couldn’t do without them. Many young people have started making their films like TV movies. But television is very different from cinema, in terms of framing, for example. Movie actors could no longer shoot.
I hope that will change. Maybe… Maybe because with Berlusconi not giving film funding, directors are starting to learn how to make films without funding. It goes back to how it was before. Anyway, the money comes from the departments. And to whom do the ministries give money? Not to me, anyway. I am no one’s son. I am neither on the right nor on the left. I don’t know any politicians, my films aren’t politicized. There are no messages in my stories…
But I hope something will happen.
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18 of Ruggero Deodato’s 36 films
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Hercules, Prisoner of Evil (1964)
‘This movie is really weird. Hercules is some kind tribal chief in central Asia. He owes his loyalty to the “Great Khan” (edit: In the Italian version he’s called Ursus. Slap the Hercules name on it to trick the rubes!). The plot revolves around a power struggle in which a devious sorceress keeps turning people into werewolf-like monsters by feeding them magic wine. It’s really not as exciting as it sounds: the first hour + change is mostly people poking through bushes and slowly exploring caves. It pops off in the last 15 minutes with a big brawl in a castle but I had lost all goodwill by that point.’ — Philip Decloux
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Fenomenal and the Treasure of Tutankamen (1968)
‘From the director who brought you the infamous Cannibal Holocaust and the nasty House On The Edge Of The Park comes this high kitsch Euro superhero romp. The funerary mask of Tutankhamun has been loaned to a museum in Paris for 2 weeks and is inevitably stolen despite all manner of fancy security. This sets up three questions, (i) who stole it? (ii) will our superhero Phenomenal get it back?, and (iii) why does he dress like the milk tray man and how can he see with a stocking on his head? With plenty of double crossings and foul play all set to a bouncy Bruno Nicolai score this is just about watchable.’ — T GP
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Gungala, the Black Panther Girl (1968)
‘Having apparently lost her outfit, Gungala has to run around completely nude until she finds a torn piece of mesh to wear from the visiting city folks. We then get to see her swing on vines, ride an elephant, and even steal herself a man. I’m a little fuzzy on the plot because I couldn’t find an English version but Gungala can’t understand the characters either so I’m chalking it up to another level of immersion. This silly romp is surprisingly obscure considering it’s by the infamous director of Cannibal Holocaust.’ — Norb
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Donne… botte e bersaglieri (1968)
‘Tony and some friends put together a rock band to do concerts and earn some money.’ –– IMDb
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Waves of Lust (1975)
‘Seduction at sea in this sleazy erotic EuroTrash drama from Ruggero Deodato. Upside down. Waterskiing. J&B Scotch. Footsie. P-Diddy’s yacht. Dress up. Caviar. Bitch-slap. Yummy nipples! Icky eel. Wetsuit kissy-kissy. Skinny dippin’. Aphrodisiac. Sex on the beach. Scuba diving. Erotic first-aid. Toe sucking. Creepy painting. Life preserver. Paranoia. Nude sunbathing. Body-shots. A beautiful gift. Shag carpet. Speargun. Overboard. Hallucinations. Asshole motherfuckers don’t fuckin’ float. Two hotties that stay naked for almost the entire film. The lovely Silvia Dionisio is extra smokin’ all fuckin’ natural hot. Hull from Zombie Flesh Eaters is kinda goofy but I’m still a fan. John Steiner is one creepy motherfucker and plays the creepy fuck almost too good.’ — Todd Gaines
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Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man (1976)
‘Director Ruggero Deodato has a legacy that is better associated with his mental masterwork “Cannibal Holocaust.” He brings the same macabre spirit to “Die Like a Man,” which features two protagonists who are so psychopathic that they fail as: cops, men, and generally just as human beings.
‘Screenwriter Fernando Di Leo’s earlier works, “Caliber 9” and “The Italian Connection,” star antiheroes trapped in a system corrupted beyond hope of repair or even partial remedy. Here, he pens two of the type of figures that are the metaphorical thick black tar gumming up the functioning gears of society – that is; two members of the Italian police.
‘The excess of swagger when it comes to content matter doesn’t save “Die Like a Man” from a lifetime sentence’s worth of shoddy cinema tricks so gregarious that they must at least me termed individual felonies.
‘But – Deodato does have a contribution to the genre to make here. Just as the gangsters and robbers had to hustle for their daily existence, so too must the ‘right’ side of the law scrimp and pilfer to tell their half of the story. Same hustle. Different dudes. But only by a badge or so.’ — theriverjordan
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Last Cannibal World (1977)
‘A few years before Ruggero Deodato made his horror masterpiece, Cannibal Holocaust (1980), he directed Last Cannibal World (known just as well as Ultimo Mondo Cannibale and Jungle Holocaust; it wouldn’t be Italian horror without at least a few other titles). This flick was originally supposed to be helmed by Umberto Lenzi as the sequel to the film that started the whole Italian cannibal cycle, Man from Deep River (1972). But instead, we have Deodato testing out some of the depraved shit he’d perfect down the line.
‘Last Cannibal World has a simple story, despite being written by three people: Robert and his pal Rolf are two oil prospectors flying to meet up with their team on the island of Mindanao. Their plane is damaged during a rough landing, and they’re forced to venture out for help, finding a cannibal tribe instead. Robert is captured and subjected to all sorts of runtime-draining stuff for the amusement of the natives, including being stripped, having his peen tugged repeatedly, getting a handjob, getting pissed on, receiving multiple beatings with rocks, eating rotted meat, and watching the obligatory on-screen killings of live animals.
‘This is a brutal film and easily one of the hardest in the cannibal canon to sit through. It’s pretty light on human-on-human gore, but Deodato and crew more than make up for that with excessive atrocities of a different sort. Though Last Cannibal World doesn’t offer the astute social observations of Cannibal Holocaust and relies on the usual arsenal of sensory battery — including gratuitous physical and sexual violence, imperialist racism, the previously mentioned animal snuff, and a slew of other stomach-churning sights — it differentiates itself from a bunch of other depraved exploitation joints is its craftsmanship and dedication to mining the particularly exquisite darkness of the jungle.’ — Justin Burning
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SOS Concorde (1979)
‘Concorde Affaire ’79, also known as SOS Concorde, is a 1979 Italian action thriller directed by Ruggero Deodato and written by Ernesto Gastaldi and Renzo Genta. Released in the same year as The Concorde … Airport ’79 and featuring actor Joseph Cotten, who appeared in Airport ’77, the film was an attempt by producers to take advantage of the success of the “Airport” film franchise of the 1970s.’ — IMDb
Trailer (French)
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Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
‘The 1980 Italian cannibal exploitation movie “Cannibal Holocaust” has become the stuff of legend. It’s a gruesome fake documentary that features some very real on-screen animal death and very convincing human kills. It was so convincing, in fact, that director Ruggero Deodato was arrested and charged with murder.
‘When “Cannibal Holocaust” came out in 1980, found footage horror wasn’t really a thing yet. Cannibal films, a subgenre under the exploitation umbrella, were popular with many filmmakers because they allowed for lots of gore and cheap shooting locations in tropical locales. Enter Deodato and his frequent collaborator, screenwriter Gianfranco Clerici.
‘Both had previously worked on the cannibal flick “Jungle Holocaust/Last Cannibal World,” and they decided to take a new approach to cannibal horror. They created a framing device that explained that the footage in their movie was real, and had been found after the events depicted. Think “The Blair Witch Project,” but about two decades earlier. Unknown actors were hired, along with lots of Indigenous extras from the depths of the Amazon. It was pure gonzo filmmaking.
‘Deodato also wanted to test out a theory that viewing real violence or death cut together with fake violence would make the fake violence feel more grotesque. There are multiple scenes of animals being killed onscreen. These, unfortunately, are real, and they are extremely graphic. A pig, a spider, a monkey, and a turtle are all killed in brutal ways, though at least the Indigenous people hired as extras ate the animals afterward.
‘The scenes of real violence against animals are juxtaposed with the fake scenes of cannibals killing and eating their victims. Some of these look nearly ridiculous in stills or on their own, but combined with the real footage, they feel real. Your brain is still processing viewing real suffering when the fake stuff happens, and it’s hard to shake. So hard to shake, in fact, that Italian law enforcement arrested Deodato on murder charges because of the film. A little marketing scheme the director had come up with definitely didn’t help matters.’ — Danielle Ryan
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House on the Edge of the Park (1980)
‘One of the outright sleaziest movies to come out of the Italian horror golden years and also one of my favorites. It’s not hard to see why some people hate it because it is a difficult watch, although if I’m totally honest it’s never been as hard for me as it probably should have been? Maybe that’s because all of the abuse is the human kind and not on animals or maybe it’s just because I’m completely dead inside. Who can say?
‘I love a lot of the cast here from other movies, but David Hess is the true standout as an absolute nightmare of a garbage person. Just the absolute worst, beating and raping and yelling his way through a group of people at a party. Although there’s a scene before he goes psycho where a girl invites him into the shower with her and then gets out as soon as he gets in and mind you this is before she’s supposed to know he’s fucking horrible and I’m just thinking I probably would have stayed in that shower? I mean he looks like someone you might not want to run into in a dark alley, but also like someone who knows how to punch a box. Wink.
‘Like all good Italian sleaze, particularly those made by Deodato, the lessons learned by the evildoers are at least as harsh as the things they did if not more so and that’s what makes these movies so great. It’s not just a rape revenge movie, it’s a rape @&%$!! REVENGE movie because this one has one of the most dedicated revenge plans I think I’ve ever seen. Like “yeah sure I’ll let him slice me up with a razor a little bit in order to avenge her death, why not”. That’s commitment, kids. Get you some friends like these or don’t even bother.’ — 1313: Tony the Terror
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The Raiders Of Atlantis (1983)
‘When the lost city of Atlantis resurfaces off the coast of Miami Florida in 1994 Mike and Washington are two scientists working to raise a sunken Russian nuclear submarine to an ocean platform. This Mad Max style movie was not well received by critics being described by science fiction author David Wingrove in his Science Fiction Film Source Book as “Not so much suspension of disbelief as total suspension of all brain activity.”‘ — Grind House Data Base
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Cut and Run (1984)
‘I’m absolutely amazed that this film is streaming on Amazon Prime. Not because of the drugs and violence, not because of the rape, not even because of the inclusion of Richard Lynch as a Green Beret Jonestown Survivor… I’m amazed this hasn’t been nuked off the face of the Earth because Willie “Bibleman” Aames wears an officially licensed Mickey Mouse t-shirt through the entirety of this drug and violence filled ode to jungle rape by the director of “Cannibal Holocaust”. By all rights, this thing should be buried under a rock with “Song of the South” in Goof-toon-amo Bay.’ — Remobo
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Bodycount (1987)
‘A group of teenagers travel to a campsite built on an Indian burial ground which is believed to be haunted by a shaman. What more do you even need? Perfect set up if you ask me. The kill scenes don’t disappoint and what you expect from the director of Cannibal Holocaust, axes through heads, throats stabbed, fingers cut off, meat hooks to heads, impalings etc etc. Lot’s gratuitous nudity including a fat guy getting tricked into thinking he was going to an orgy when in reality he was greeted by David Heiss instead. There is nothing particularly original about this it borrows heavily from other summer camp set slashers such as Friday the 13th but it makes good use of the remote location and the cinematography is solid. It all goes a bit scooby doo in the finale but i still found myself enjoying it quite a bit as it is never boring and there is just another violent death around the corner.’ — BeardofTsu
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The Barbarians (1987)
‘Orphaned brothers Kutchek and Gore are adopted by a tribe led by Canary the owner of a powerful jewel. The evil Kadar wants both Canary and the jewel. Attacking the tribe he kidnaps Canary but the stone eludes him. The brothers are taken to be trained as gladiators and years later have grown to be VERY big. They escape and set off on a quest to find the jewel and rescue Canary.’ — Letterboxd
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Phantom Of Death (1988)
‘Michael York (AUSTIN POWERS) stars as piano virtuoso Robert Dominici who suddenly contracts a devastating disease that ages him rapidly. With death closing in fast a decaying Robert abandons tinkling the ivories to instead embark on an arpeggio of vicious slaughter upon anyone who finds out about his impending gruesome fate! Closing in fast to try and end this crescendo of violence is Police Inspector Datti, played by the seasoned psychopath chasing Donald Pleasence (HALLOWEEN). Will he solve this mystery? Not before you’ve enjoyed a long and lingering symphony of superbly gory set pieces!’ — Shameless Films
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Dial: Help (1988)
‘A British model is being terrorized by an evil psychic force that uses the telephone as a way to harass people. Chaos ensues, supernatural shennanigans are at an all time high. People become possessed, pelted to death by killer change machines, strangled by telephone wires, and a lot of glass breaking. So much shattering glass.
‘Being 1988 this film is ultra 80s. The hilarious and swanky dance parties, wild fashion and 80s guitar driven score are all highlights. It’s a fairly stylish film with detailed camera work and lighting. There are some longer stretches of slow parts and dialogue that weigh the film down a bit. It also doesn’t get quite as wacky as I hoped for and dials it up to about a 6 instead of an 11 as I had hoped. Even the ending is pretty underwhelming. Despite this theres still enough weird Italian charm and stylish aspects to make this a fun film.’ — belial_carboni
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The Washing Machine (1993)
‘Three sisters – voluptuous Vida, Maria (nicknamed “Sissy”), and Ludmilla – live together in a run-down apartment building in Budapest. The sisters all vie for the attentions of Yuri Petkov, a dubious middle-aged pimp who plays them off against each other. One evening, Ludmilla claims to have found Yuri’s body stuffed into their washing machine, but when Inspector Stacev arrives to investigate the body has disappeared. The good-looking young inspector attempts to discover the truth but in doing so becomes drawn into the sisters’ bizarre sex games…’ — Letterboxd
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Ballad in Blood (2016)
‘Over the top with its sleazy nihilistic violence, Deodato returns with a whodunit murder jam loaded with torture sex parties, drug use, rando orgy scenes, and blood—even if it’s a bit silly this time around there’s still plenty to offend everyone… Deodato being Deodato if you will. A bit of a slog at times despite so much depravity happening, but that’s the difference between shocking people and trying to shock people.’ — Ian West
Trailer
Behind the Scenes
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p.s. Hey. ** Dominik, Hi!!! It certainly would be extremely difficult to construct a successful emoji-only novel. I think you would need to be able to invent new emojis. I think, if so, it would be very interesting to try to write a emoji-only paragraph as a test. Not interesting enough for me personally to do it, but … When you get your Paris dates, I’ll make the reservation. The only real mystery about Monday is whether he will have raised any money at all. As of last Monday, he hadn’t raised a penny. This after having guaranteed us he would raise at least 100k by Monday. So Monday will really only be about liberating ourselves from the hell of the so-called fundraising period and seeing if we can make the film, albeit with guaranteed great difficulty, with what funds we have raised. But I’ll let you know, sure. And thank you for the good thoughts. I fear that, at least in my case, it would take a very sophisticated self-cleaning system to decide what’s useful and that’s trash in my apartment. But, hey, if love is designing the system, it’s gotta be great, right? Love making everyone in the world fall in love with everyone else in the world for one hour, G. ** Tosh Berman, That wasn’t rambling, sir, that was so true and cogent, and I’m seriously chuffed that the post/she inspired it. The film is actually a family that opens a walkthrough home haunt (haunted house attraction) in their home –another medium I am obsessively interested in. It’s going to be pretty great, yeah, if I don’t say so myself, ha ha. Our funding has come from all over the place, US-included. A couple of foundations, an art institution, and bunch of individuals. Because the film is in English and will be shot in the US, we didn’t qualify for any French govt. funding — although the funds for the post-production can and will come via that route — and govt. film funding in the US is basically non-existent. Thanks, Tosh! ** _Black_Acrylic, It’s a lovely book and her work in general is great. In 3 weeks is in but a mere bat of the eye! Fantastic! I’ll be popping a cork over here when that happens, you can be sure. ** Bill, Hi. Yeah, Oursler makes so much work that it is a bit hit or miss, but I agree that one in the post is pretty special. Oh, please please follow through on that typeface-based piece. I’ve been super excited about ever since you mentioned it. ** Misanthrope, I think people who make pineapple upside down cake need to have faith in the natural tastiness of the pineapple, and my mom sure didn’t. I like when people communicate in emojis only. The Japanese ones are especially interesting because they even look like supersonic words. Yeah, I think there’s only been maybe three semi-colons in all of my books, and they were put there by copy editors. I don’t like what they do to the reader’s eye. It’s disruptive in some way that’s not useful, at least that I’ve ever seen. ** Ian, Hi, Ian. Really happy that the post and her thing spoke to you. Thanks so much! My week proceeds. And yours? ** Steve Erickson, Glad you don’t have the C. I know so many people in the States who have the C right now. Over here, our cases are still very low, but with all these American tourists packing the streets of Paris right now, I’m sure we’re heading for a new surge. I am surprised that some label hasn’t put out a decent overview album of Judy Nylon’s work. I can’t imagine the rights are that difficult to acquire. Mm, I’ve always been most interested in new things and in the unexpected and in observing how things progress. One’s personal past has lots of great stuff in it, but it’s set. You can only reassess and juggle it. That doesn’t interest me so much. If there’s art that dates from the past that you haven’t experienced before, then it exists in the present and can be experienced fully in the now. And I think I try to deprioritise my personal feelings when I approach art. I’m wary of my viewpoint becoming distorted by too much subjectivity. I guess I’m just really into discovering things and being refreshed as a person. Or if it’s something from the past, rediscovering it. And I do just inherently think that everything just becomes more interesting all the time. That’s always seemed true to me for whatever reason. ** Robert, Hi. I was going to say here’s your chance to watch a horror movie today, but I don’t know if Deodato’s films are really horror movies per say. But who’s to judge. Thanks for the fill-in and explanation. That’s super interesting. And, yeah, that makes sense. I don’t know Carra’s ‘The Horsemen of the Apocalypse’, I don’t think, but I’m on it. There’s this cemetery (Forest Lawn) in LA (well, Glendale, technically) that has the largest painting in the world, and it’s of the crucifixion, and they do this show where they ‘reveal’ it in stages and very dramatically, and I don’t know why I brought that up other than to say it might seriously freak you out. Good luck weeding through the contemporary stuff. It can be a bit of a shit show, as I’m sure you know. If you find anything especially exciting or useful or something, clue us/me in. ** David Ehrenstein, I’m sorry for your loss. RIP. ** Okay. If you’ve ever wanted to know more about the guy who made ‘Cannibal Holocaust’ and his other works, today’s your chance. See you tomorrow.
Anne Dufourmantelle Power of Gentleness: Meditations on the Risk of Living
Now available in North America 