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Cannibal Holocaust (1980) – IMDb

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via Cannibal Holocaust (1980) – IMDb.

 

It has been a week since I last saw Cannibal Holocaust. Needless to say the horrific images are still buried in my brain. 35 years after it’s initial release, this ‘video nasty’ still shocks viewers and I don’t believe that will end any time soon. Few movies have left me sitting long after the credits. Few movies have left the movie swirling in my head still as I think to myself: Wow, what did I just watch? or Gee, this movie was deeply disturbing, or better, That was a profound experience. Movies like The Living and The Dead, Irreversible, and The Hunt have all left me with this. Cannibal Holocaust will leave you feeling depressed and filthy. Like a tribesman just gutted you and packed you full of mud as you are helplessly tied, then he laughs as you watch him eat the organs he tenderly took away from you.

The reviews and trailers can not prepare you for this. Much like the film crew the movie is based around. The story is centered on a young documentary crew going to the Amazon to film a native cannibal tribe. This cannibal tribe, however, is in unmarked territory. But wait! They brought a guide, so of course they will be safe… They go missing. Another small team is assembled to go search for them. This is mainly how the movie begins. You meet this crew who are on the rescue mission, then meet the tribe and find the film entangled with human bones. After they retrieve the film, they proceed to watch in horror what really happened to the documentarians. The whole structure of Cannibal Holocaust is great. It’s probably my favorite part of the movie, just watching the events unfold and learn the natives’ costumes. Once you reach the ‘film’ it’s shot like a found footage movie. Way before Blair Witch Project there was this, and must say it was handled expertly. But this is much more than a horror movie, more than an exploration in a jungle. It’s a film that explores human beings in a primitive state posed to being civilized. But who is civilized?

Weren’t we once savages? Director Ruggero Deodato makes us ponder many different subjects coursing through the film’s veins. One major controversial question is ‘did the live animals need to be slaughtered on film?’ Maybe it would have garnered more of an audience if not so. The native cannibal tribe did not accept our modern currency so instead Deodato offered them animals. These animals are killed on screen. Most notably the turtle scene, which holds up to its own grotesque rep. Turtles are one of my favorite animals and it was sad to see it butchered on screen. This is probably the worst part about the movie, which keeps you from cheering at the end when the film crew get what they deserved. Yes, the crew deserved their life-sentenced-punishment. It’s not just found in the conclusion while watching the found footage cam; where you see these young people mistreat the natives and disturb the peace. It is shown and understood when you see the rescuers being accepted as visitors; only because they expressed a much more human side and respect, like being bare naked and wearing no fear. In a way, the two storylines are parallel. If you are brave enough, and are not squirmish and can take the pain the movie does so well of inducing, you will see what I mean.

I do think the landscape could have been utilized better. Like I wanted to see more of what the land was like there, above, below, in the trees. But the movie did a good job of making you feel like dirt.  In short, Cannibal Holocaust is a masterpiece. Not just as a horror but a social commentary drama. A much disturbingly, aching, nasty, raw masterpiece, standing on its own pillars. A few things I have learned, in our civilization we are focused on violence, very similar to how this movie is portrayed. Another thing I learned from this movie is that knowledge is pain. When the Professor (part of the rescue team) shows the editors back in the states the film clips that were uncovered, the editors wanted to see more and more of what happened. They wanted to distribute the footage for money, caring little for the lives that were lost. When they came to the end, the editors insisted on watching the rest and sell it to the world to eat up. So, the Professor put it on… Afterwards the editors looked at each other and walked away with out a word. One of them calls up the studio and tells them to get rid of everything. We are left with one final question: Who are the real cannibals?

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014) – IMDb

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via The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014) – IMDb.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown 2014

Just after the war in the 1940s, in a small town in Arkansas called Texarkana (which lies on the border of Texas and Arkansas) is plagued by a mysterious murderer. No one knows who is killing or the motive. This actually happened and lasted for a short time, like a few months, he attacked several teenagers who hid off road trying to get some hoochie before heading home. Most were brutally murdered, some got away but not clean. Then, poof, the hooded phantom vanished. Possibly he got bored and lived with the residents for the remainder of his life? The film The Town That Dreaded Sundown that was made in 1976 covered this; and I’d say fairly well. It had mystery and unexpected comic relief that may have been too silly at times but it was a perfect off-set to the dread mood and murder scenes that I would say were ahead of its time because, for one, they still hold up to this day.

It’s now 2014 and Hollywood is hungry for some money and realize they haven’t made a sequel/remake to The Town that Dreaded Sundown. Now, this movie is no where near the likes of the original. Part remake, part sequel, basically uses the same name but in the present utilizing the awareness of its predecessor. The townsfolk are still warry of the unsolved past, as of now they have an anniversary showing of the movie and play it at a drive-in. The movie shows short clips of the past film as if it is its own pride and glory. This is cool at first but I felt it was kind of a filler. Maybe it was to promote the original? Anyways, I’m here to complain about this dreadful attempt at re-imagining of a forgotten horror gem and how cute Addison Timlin is. Not all will see what kind of movie the original was, it basically started all the slasher flicks. It’s the corner stone, the spine. This ‘sequel’ was just plain unimaginable. It’s as if the writers took the formula from Scream and threw on another title. The police in here, oh man the police! The law enforcement, the big hancho people who need to track the killer down and bring him to justice, were laughable and I could not simply take seriously. For one, I can’t take Anthony Anderson seriously, any drama he’s in I just expect a joke. And I got nada, actually, I don’t remember any comic relief in this. It was all pretty dreary and not in a good way. The movie pace was too fast, I couldn’t feel for any of the characters, zero tension throughout the whole film. I never zeroed in on a character and was like: Don’t Die. Given the original had some pretty creative deaths, although full of tension and dread, it was realistic. Yes, you could tell when something bad was going to happen but the tension IS there. In this present film, the deaths were uncreative, what they did was recreate a couple and had little to no shock value. But then again, horror successfully scares me once in a blue moon, perhaps every couple blue moons if movies like this are going to continue.

Alright, the movie isn’t all bad, I feel I’ve been hitting the Town that Dreaded Sundown a little harsh. Well, the direction by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is a nice save. He had a couple good shots peppered throughout. I can see his name popping up on few more movies. Some of the acting was decent, I especially liked the eye catching Addison Timlin. She is not well known, and apparently is just starting her career. And she will go far. Recently I watched Odd Thomas and she played the girlfriend of Odd; interesting movie with a better twist(check it out on a rainy day). I will most definitely be watching for her in upcoming films. A couple other people you’ll see like the hey-it’s-that-one-guy from Twin Peaks and recently The Judge. The movie did good on messing with your head on the ‘who dunnit’ bit. It swings your perception from one person to the next, is it him? Or him? It also brought in the religious aspect, which I love in horror movies, cause that s*** is scary. There isn’t much dwelling on it, though, but it did have to do with the past, which is pretty much the basis of most, if not all horror.

So, if you have not seen the Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014) you may like it depending on what you look for in a movie. Some other reviewers did, I’m just one who was dissatisfied. I’ll stick to the original, which was cool because I like the documentary feel and the moody murder sequences; really felt like I was solving a mystery. I felt this movie was more for a paycheck than to add on a legacy.