Jungle Madness: A Conversation with Cannibal Holocoust’s Ruggero Deodato

One of film history's most controversial films, "Cannibal Holocoust" (1980) has been banned in over fifty countries, making it the most banned film of all time, and landed director Ruggero Deodato behind bars upon its release.

Ruggero Deodato’s film Cannibal Holocaust has a reputation that precedes itself.  An air of uneasiness and intimidation surrounds the film preventing many who know of the film’s reputation from viewing it.  However, those brave enough to watch it hail it as one of the most thought provoking horror films in the history of the genre.  A predecessor of modern ultra-violent films such as Hostel, Saw and House of 1000 Corpses, the world wasn’t ready for Cannibal Holocaust when it was released in 1980, and nearly thirty years later, it is questionable if the world is ready for it now.

Growing up amongst the film sets of Rome, Ruggero Deodato started his career in films as an assistant to notable Italian directors Roberto Rosellini and Sergio Corbucci.  In the 1960’s and early 70’s Deodato directed a number of films, but it wasn’t until 1977 that he gained attention with horror fans when he recreated the dormant cannibal film genre with the first of his jungle pictures, Jungle Holocaust.  Jungle Holocaust was a minor success, putting Deodato on the maps with horror fans.  However it would be his follow up film, Cannibal Holocaust, which would make him a legend.

"Cannibal Holocoust" director Ruggero Deodato circa 1980

While watching Italian media coverage of the Red Brigade terrorist group, Deodato began to notice that the media was willing to disregard journalistic integrity over capturing graphic scenes of violence.  Deodato decided to work the media’s savagery into his next cannibal picture. Cannibal Holocaust is Deodato’s story of a New York film crew who enter the Amazon jungle in order to film a documentary on two warring tribes of cannibals but never returns.  Months later an anthropologist reenters the jungle and finds the crews lost footage.  However, it is when the footage is viewed back in New York that the horror really starts, and the question of who are the real savages, the cannibals or the “civilized” film crew, is pondered.  In a realistic hand held film style preceding modern horror films such as The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield, Deodato presents unforgettable and mind numbing scenes of rape, torture, murder, animal mutilation, madness and death in a way that is not only horrendous, but intelligent.  Cannibal Holocaust is a film experience that you never forget.  It’s one of those films that kicks you right in the gut, and leaves a mark that lasts forever.

"Cannibal Holocoust's" iconic impaled girl. The film was so realistic that "Cannibal Holocoust" was rumoured to be a snuff film upon its release.

Cannibal Holocaust was released in Milan in February 1980 to critical praise.  However, ten days after its release the film was seized by Italian officials and Deodato was arrested for decency charges and murder.  Upon the release of the film a rumor broke out that Cannibal Holocaust was actually a snuff film and that Deodato had killed five actors on screen for the film, including his four American stars and the film’s icon, an impaled teenage girl.  Facing the threat of life in prison, Deodato was forced to bring his American actors to Italy and presented to the court to prove they were alive.  However, location of the teenage girl, who was recruited on location in the Amazon, proved more difficult, but Deodato was able to clear his name by revealing the special effects secrets to her iconic performance.  Deodato was cleared, but the film would not be released to him until 1984.  Upon being released, Cannibal Holocaust proceeded to be banned in numerous countries, and heavily censored and edited in others in order to be released.  Still banned in a number of countries today, the film is still the record holder of the most banned film in movie history.  Ruggero  Deodato continued to make films throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s in various genres, including horror, comedies, thrillers and even at least one family film.  However, nothing has been able to bring him the same level of fame as the legendary Cannibal Holocaust.

Ruggero Deodato today

Meeting fabled directors like Ruggero Deodato is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  I was thrilled to meet Ruggero Deodato when he was in Toronto during the summer of 2008 promoting his next film, Cannibals, which will be his first jungle film since 1985’s Cut and Run and is to be released in 2009. Ruggero Deodato is a small man who has aged considerably in the last number of years.  He has a demeanor which is not as intimidating as his reputation.  However, deep in his eyes is a kind of certain intensity and fire that is unmistakenable.  There is no doubt that Deodato is the kind of man who can lead a film crew into the deepest darkest jungles and look madness in the face, and come back to tell the tale.

As a result of Deodato’s busy schedule my time with him was incredibly brief, and I was only able to ask a handful of questions.  However, realizing that an encounter with such a controversial and legendary director like Ruggero Deodato was a once in a lifetime opportunity, even being able to ask a few questions became an honor on its own.  Also, while Deodato is fluent in English, he chose to do our interview with the help of his assistant, Paolo Zelati, acting as translator so he could best express himself.

Come and join me in my encounter with a true cinematic visionary as

CONFESSIONS OF A POP CULTURE ADDICT PRESENTS

JUNGLE MADNESS:

A CONVERSATION WITH CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST’S RUGGERO DEODATO

I spoke with Ruggero Deodato in Toronto, Ontario on August 23^rd, 2008

Sam:  Thanks for taking this time out of your busy schedule to talk with me.  Now, like most North Americans, I am most familiar with The Jungle Trilogy.  These films are criticized a lot because of the use of violence yet the violence used in these films is no worse then what we see on television and in films today.  What do you feel that your films are attacked the way they are?

Ruggero Deodato:  The [reality] of these accusations are not the violence, but that in Cannibal Holocaust I attacked the media.  The persecution was because of my attack on journalism.

Sam:  When Cannibal Holocaust was released and you were arrested for killing your actors, where were you and were you shocked by the allegations?  How long did it take for you to be cleared?

Ruggero:  I was in Italy.  The trial was twenty days long but the [reality] was that Cannibal Holocaust won in the highest level of Italian justice but the movie was banned for four years afterwards.

Sam:  One of the themes of the jungle movies is that the deeper that the characters go in the jungle, the madness takes over them.  This was a very similar theme in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.  Was that book an inspiration for your films?

Ruggero:  No.  I am not connected with that book.  I learn from the jungle itself.  Most of all in shooting Last Cannibal War.  I take inspiration during the shooting form the locations I choose, and do not prepare the inspiration before, but by listening to the environment during the shoot.

Sam:  Did you experience real madness in the jungle amongst the crew or actors, or even yourself?

Ruggero:  Regarding Last Cannibal War, the real problem was that it really brought the crew and the cast into the real jungle so it was a logistic problem.  People get mad in that kind of location.  The environment was not that easy to deal with.  In Cannibal Holocaust the problem came from that that place in the Amazon where we shot was kind of a crossroad for cocaine trafficking so it was dangerous.  In Cut and Run the main problem was that a lot of the crew were abusing drugs so I had a lot of problems with that crew.

Sam:  What do you think of the new ultra violent horror films, such as Saw and Hostel?  Your films are very smart and there is a real social message, but a lot of the more modern films seem to be violence for the sake of violence, and mindless shock value.  Or do you think there is a social message in these new breed of ultra violent films?

Ruggero:  Mainly, the difference is just what you told me.  With Cannibal Holocaust I tried to give a social message.  As I told you before, the movie was against media most of all, more then asking for a shock.  Nowadays it’s very difficult to find a connection between violence, splatter and a real social meaning behind it.

Sam Tweedle interviewing Ruggero Deodato with the aid of translator Paolo Zelati

Cannibal Holocaust isn’t a film for everybody.  It is a brutal film to watch, and even a viewer like myself who is rarely shocked, is forced to look away from the screen a number of times during the film.  However, the film is truly one of the most intelligent horror films ever made.  Despite the scenes of ultra violence, the entire film has a social message running through the story, and makes you question the true nature of mankind.  What becomes far more disturbing isn’t the graphic violence and horror presented on the screen, but the way that the film forces the viewer to think, as well as contemplate the sanity of their own soul.  Furthermore, Cannibal Holocaust is beautifully filmed and imaginatively pieced together, and is a film that sticks with you for the rest of your life.  Cannibal Holocaust will be Ruggero Deodato’s legacy, and despite the controversy and reputation of his film, it will remain to be one of the most important horror films, as well as social commentaries, ever created.

POP CULTURE ADDICT NOTE:  I want to send a special message of gratitude to  Paolo Zelati for his important role in making this interview happen.  Thank you for helping set up this interview, as well as for acting as a translator between myself and Ruggero Deodato.  Your involvement in this interview was essential to it’s success, and I am extremely grateful