Cannibal Holocaust
Blu-ray
Director: Ruggero Deodato
Screenwriter: Gianfranco Clerici
Cast: Robert Kerman, Gabriel Yorke, Francesca Ciardi, Perry Pirkanen, Luca Barbareschi, Salvatore Basile, Ricardo Fuentes
Grindhouse Releasing
Unrated | 96 Minutes
Release Date: July 1, 2014

You know, it’s pretty damn hard to defend Ruggero Deodato‘s 1980 Italian adventure-horror film, Cannibal Holocaust. There are some truly distressing and repulsive images the director has created to get his point across. There is, however, an underlying message to the film, if you’re able to get past the often unwatchable acts on-screen.

Yes, this is an exploitation film – perhaps the most controversial exploitation film of all time – but it also works as a social commentary on modern civilization and what it means to be “civilized.” Gratuitous scenes of sexual violence and animal cruelty make Cannibal Holocaust hard to stomach, but the most disturbing aspects of the film is what Deodato is saying about modern society, specifically Western culture.