19 Years Before The Blair Witch Project, Cannibal Holocaust Launched the Found Footage Trend

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Certain films are shockingly violent and disturbing, making it hard to believe they were ever created and shown in cinemas. Cannibal Holocaust is a prime example. Directed by Ruggero Deodato, this Italian film isn’t known for its plot, but for the extreme and unsettling content it displays. The production involved harming real animals, and the film contains numerous other potentially upsetting elements, including sexual assault, graphic gore, prejudiced depictions of other cultures, and intense violence. Its found footage style makes everything feel incredibly realistic, adding to the discomfort of watching. Cannibal Holocaust is definitely not a film to watch lightly with friends. While designed to shock, the movie does have a story: a New York anthropologist, Harold Monroe (Robert Kerman), ventures into the harsh Amazon rainforest to locate a missing American documentary crew. They disappeared while filming a movie called The Green Inferno, and Monroe eventually discovers footage revealing their fate at the hands of a cruel, cannibalistic tribe.

While many people think The Blair Witch Project started the trend of “found footage” movies, that honor actually belongs to Cannibal Holocaust, released in 1980 – almost two decades earlier. The reason Blair Witch became a huge success while Cannibal Holocaust remains relatively unknown is disturbing. Director Ruggero Deodato filmed the actual deaths of seven animals on screen, including a coati, turtle, monkeys, a tarantula, a snake, and a pig, which was shot at close range. This led to animal cruelty charges and even the arrest of Deodato, as some viewers believed actors had been killed for real. He was later cleared when he proved the actors were alive. Unsurprisingly, Cannibal Holocaust was banned in many countries, but it has since developed a controversial, though dedicated, fanbase and is now recognized by some as the true originator of the found footage horror genre.

Cannibal Holocaust Kicked Off the Found Footage Trend

Found footage horror movies are among the most frightening in the genre. They use a close, immersive camera style, putting viewers face-to-face with ghosts, monsters, and demons. The goal is to make everything feel authentic – as if you’re experiencing the events firsthand. Unlike traditional films, these movies often feature shaky camera work and unpolished dialogue, creating a raw and realistic feel because the characters aren’t professional filmmakers.

What makes Cannibal Holocaust so disturbing is its realism within the found footage genre. Typically, viewers remember they’re watching a movie, even when it’s presented as real. However, real animals died during the filming of this movie, which blurred the line between fiction and reality. This made everything on screen feel shockingly authentic, almost like watching a real snuff film – a truly unsettling experience for most viewers.

Director Ruggero Deodato was determined to make his film, Cannibal Holocaust, feel incredibly authentic. While he went too far in showing animal deaths, he did pioneer filmmaking techniques still used today. Notably, he favored using a camera held on the shoulder instead of a steadicam, giving viewers a more immersive and realistic experience. Many scenes were also filmed with a handheld camera to enhance this effect. Cinematographer Sergio D’Offizi expertly chose filming locations in Colombia, and the contrast between the film’s violence and the beauty of the rainforest creates a powerful atmosphere, almost making the rainforest a character itself.

Cannibal Holocaust isn’t polished or glamorous; it’s a gritty and disturbing film. It uses the ‘found footage’ style to really unsettle viewers. The movie has been highly influential, and horror director Eli Roth even created a similar film called The Green Inferno in 2013.

The Controversial Film Paved the Way For Movies Like The Blair Witch Project

Almost two decades after its release, Cannibal Holocaust remains a chilling film. Surprisingly, it was filmed entirely on location at Seneca Creek State Park in Maryland. The dense, shadowy woods themselves became a character, creating a sense of dread and effectively standing in for the unseen antagonist, the witch.

Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, the creators of The Blair Witch Project, shared a filmmaking philosophy with Ruggero Deodato, director of Cannibal Holocaust. They all believed that using the “found footage” style made their stories more frightening because it felt authentic. To enhance this realism, they used unknown actors, and Deodato even had his actors sign agreements to remain out of the public eye for a year after filming, preserving the illusion that the events were real.

That’s where the comparisons between The Blair Witch Project and Cannibal Holocaust stop. The two films are quite distinct. According to an interview with Filmmaker Magazine, Eduardo Sánchez drew inspiration for The Blair Witch Project from reality shows focusing on topics like Bigfoot, UFOs, and other mysterious creatures. Ruggero Deodato, however, was influenced to create Cannibal Holocaust by shocking news stories, specifically reports about the Red Brigades, a violent terrorist group. He explained this in an interview with Starburst.

I often wonder why movies get age restrictions for violence when the news is full of even more graphic images. It seems a bit inconsistent.

Unlike The Blair Witch Project, which aimed simply to entertain through scares, Cannibal Holocaust deliberately tries to shock audiences and make them think. This film, for better or worse, challenges viewers to consider why they’re comfortable watching violence on the news but feel differently about seeing it in a movie. It creates a moral dilemma, intentionally making people feel conflicted and disturbed. Unfortunately, the question of how we perceive real-world violence compared to fictional violence remains important today.

People Are Still Talking About Cannibal Holocaust to This Day

Recommending Cannibal Holocaust is tough. It’s a relentlessly graphic film filled with exploitative nudity and gore, and it’s definitely not enjoyable to watch. In fact, most viewers either dislike or strongly dislike it. Critics haven’t been kind either: it has a 65% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 5.8/10 on IMDb, and a very low 22 on Metacritic. Entertainment Weekly even included it on their list of the most controversial movies ever made. Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine offered this perspective on the film:

Cannibal Holocaust is skillfully made enough to warrant thoughtful discussion, but it’s also deeply disturbing and might make you question why you’re even watching it.

Regardless of what you think of him personally, Ruggero Deodato certainly made a shocking film. Watching it is deeply disturbing, especially the scenes with real animal deaths. Even the fake violence against humans is unsettling. The fact that people believed it might be a real ‘snuff film’ highlights just how extreme and shocking the movie was.

Even though his work was often debated, Ruggero Deodato was a pioneer in using the “found footage” technique. His innovations likely paved the way for films like The Blair Witch Project and significantly shaped the entire genre.

The film Cannibal Holocaust sparked important discussions, as director Ruggero Deodato noted – any debate about cinema benefits the art form. The controversy surrounding the film led to improved standards for on-set safety and animal welfare. It also challenged audiences to consider their own reactions to violence, both in fiction and in real-life news. This kind of debate often grabs people’s attention, and the impact of Cannibal Holocaust continues to be felt today, decades after its release in the 1980s.

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2025-10-25 02:41