Cannibal Holocaust
Cannibal Holocaust
Theatrical poster
Directed by
Ruggero Deodato
Produced by
Franco Di Nunzio
Franco Palaggi
Written by
Gianfranco Clerici
Starring
Robert Kerman
Carl Gabriel Yorke
Francesca Ciardi
Perry Pirkanen
Luca Barbareschi
Music by
Riz Ortolani
Cinematography Sergio D’Offizi
Editing by
Vincenzo Tomassi
Distributed by
Grindhouse Releasing
(USA)
Release date(s)
Italy:
February 7, 1980
United States:
June 19, 1984
Running time
95 minutes
Country
Italy
Language
English / Spanish
Budget
US$200,000[1] (estimated)
Cannibal Holocaust (1980) is a controver-
sial exploitation film directed by Ruggero
Deodato from a screenplay by Gianfranco
Clerici. Filmed in the Amazon Rainforest, the
movie tells the story of four documentarians
who journey deep into the jungle to film indi-
genous tribes. Two months later, after they
fail to return, famous anthropologist Harold
Monroe travels on a rescue mission to find
the group. Eventually, he recovers and views
their lost cans of film, which reveal the miss-
ing filmmakers’ fate. The film stars Robert
Kerman as Monroe, Carl Gabriel Yorke as dir-
ector Alan Yates, Francesca Ciardi as Alan’s
girlfriend Faye, Perry Pirkanen as camera-
man Jack Anders, and Luca Barbareschi as
fellow cameraman Mark Tomaso.
Cannibal Holocaust is a well known ex-
ploitation film because of the controversy fol-
lowing its release. After premiering in Italy,
the film was seized by a local magistrate, and
Deodato was arrested on obscenity charges.
He was later accused of making a snuff film
due to rumors which claimed that certain act-
ors were killed on camera. Although Deodato
was later cleared of these charges, the film
was banned in Italy, the UK, Australia, and
several other countries due to its graphic de-
piction of gore, sexual violence, and because
six animals were killed on camera. Many na-
tions have since revoked the ban, yet the film
is still barred in several countries. This no-
toriety notwithstanding, some critics see
Cannibal Holocaust as a social commentary
about civil