I thought I had seen this already…except as Cannibal Ferox, released in the USA as Make Them Die Slowly. It turns out that, although they are very similar in the basic story and several scenes, the two films are not the same. I watched Make Them Die Slowlyyears ago when it was released on VHS (that was during the same time all the Faces of Death videos were hugely popular and I was fascinated with the ultra-violent, truly sickening movies that were lining the shelves of the video stores at that time) and then watched it again not so awful long ago because I didn't remember much about it. Neither film is worth watching, as a "story". I have to confess that I was surprised at the infamous "turtle" scene here in Cannibal Holocaust that so many expressed their discomfort and squeamishness about. I didn't particularly enjoy seeing an animal being killed and cooked but hey, that's what we do. (HINT: If you're a vegetarian, don't watch anything remotely resembling these films.) I saw (that particular scene) as nothing more than a bunch of hunters that found a source of food. In my opinion, the movie semi-glorified the killing of an animal, and went overboard on the butchering scene. It added nothing to the story and only served as "Hey let's see how gross we can make this..." fodder. All in all, I wouldn't recommend either of these films - Cannibal HolocaustorCannibal Ferox to anyone because there's simply no story. It's just a bunch of supposed "found footage" reels of white people infesting the jungles of South America, brutalizing the native tribes, and getting their just rewards. Although the "gore factor" was considerably high, it was (for the most part) ineffective because it served no purpose other than shocking the viewer. To reiterate, watch either of these (they really are virtually the same movie with only slight changes) only if you're into shock factor gross movies. If you're expecting a real "story" with a bunch of horrific scenes, you won't find that here.
UPDATE 10/06/2023 Just watched it again (why do I do this to myself?!!!) just because I was really bored and wanted to watch something that I halfway "knew". (I've wasted a LOT of my time recently on movies that I've not watched before, and sadly been hugely disappointed in most of them. I watched this one again simply because I knew going in what to expect.) Again, this was piss-poor in all regards. Even by today's standards, the "gore" is mostly tame as it's more "implied" than actualized. The animal killing is very real, so if you've got a hangup with that (it will make some people squeamish) then don't waste your time on this. The "people" killing and violence is mild compared to what CGI and special effects can do today. Granted, this is not "tame" by any stretch, but it's (again) far more "implied" violence rather than actually seen. As a tradeoff for the incredibly awful acting, dialogue, storyline, etc there's absolutely no tradeoff value whatsoever. The script is terrible, the acting is awful, and the dialogue is even worse. There is absolutely no reason AT ALL to waste 92 minutes of your life on this. It was "fun" (shockingly, "oh my god I can't believe this movie!!!!"-type, wide-eyed, never-been-to-the-movies-in-my-life "fun") back in the mid-1980s when I discovered it in a video store (anyone else remember those?) but by today's standards... what an utter waste of time.
PS: You can read my review of this film's "successor" (not a sequel, not a prequel, and in no way related to this film) Cannibal Ferox here: https://trakt.tv/comments/606293
Review by ShubesBlockedParent2022-05-30T03:18:40Z— updated 2023-10-08T22:46:43Z
I thought I had seen this already…except as Cannibal Ferox, released in the USA as Make Them Die Slowly. It turns out that, although they are very similar in the basic story and several scenes, the two films are not the same. I watched Make Them Die Slowly years ago when it was released on VHS (that was during the same time all the Faces of Death videos were hugely popular and I was fascinated with the ultra-violent, truly sickening movies that were lining the shelves of the video stores at that time) and then watched it again not so awful long ago because I didn't remember much about it. Neither film is worth watching, as a "story". I have to confess that I was surprised at the infamous "turtle" scene here in Cannibal Holocaust that so many expressed their discomfort and squeamishness about. I didn't particularly enjoy seeing an animal being killed and cooked but hey, that's what we do. (HINT: If you're a vegetarian, don't watch anything remotely resembling these films.) I saw (that particular scene) as nothing more than a bunch of hunters that found a source of food. In my opinion, the movie semi-glorified the killing of an animal, and went overboard on the butchering scene. It added nothing to the story and only served as "Hey let's see how gross we can make this..." fodder. All in all, I wouldn't recommend either of these films - Cannibal Holocaust or Cannibal Ferox to anyone because there's simply no story. It's just a bunch of supposed "found footage" reels of white people infesting the jungles of South America, brutalizing the native tribes, and getting their just rewards. Although the "gore factor" was considerably high, it was (for the most part) ineffective because it served no purpose other than shocking the viewer. To reiterate, watch either of these (they really are virtually the same movie with only slight changes) only if you're into shock factor gross movies. If you're expecting a real "story" with a bunch of horrific scenes, you won't find that here.
UPDATE 10/06/2023 Just watched it again (why do I do this to myself?!!!) just because I was really bored and wanted to watch something that I halfway "knew". (I've wasted a LOT of my time recently on movies that I've not watched before, and sadly been hugely disappointed in most of them. I watched this one again simply because I knew going in what to expect.) Again, this was piss-poor in all regards. Even by today's standards, the "gore" is mostly tame as it's more "implied" than actualized. The animal killing is very real, so if you've got a hangup with that (it will make some people squeamish) then don't waste your time on this. The "people" killing and violence is mild compared to what CGI and special effects can do today. Granted, this is not "tame" by any stretch, but it's (again) far more "implied" violence rather than actually seen. As a tradeoff for the incredibly awful acting, dialogue, storyline, etc there's absolutely no tradeoff value whatsoever. The script is terrible, the acting is awful, and the dialogue is even worse. There is absolutely no reason AT ALL to waste 92 minutes of your life on this. It was "fun" (shockingly, "oh my god I can't believe this movie!!!!"-type, wide-eyed, never-been-to-the-movies-in-my-life "fun") back in the mid-1980s when I discovered it in a video store (anyone else remember those?) but by today's standards... what an utter waste of time.
PS: You can read my review of this film's "successor" (not a sequel, not a prequel, and in no way related to this film) Cannibal Ferox here: https://trakt.tv/comments/606293