The Green Inferno (2015)

Nothing makes a film more desirable to see than having it unreleased, shelved indefinitely, or even banned.  In the Horror genre, this has worked out quite well, generating a buzz that almost ensures fans will be there once a film finally sees the light of day.  The most recent examples of this would obviously be Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses (filmed in 2000, dropped by Universal, picked up by MGM and then subsequently dropped, only to be finally released by Lionsgate -- and make them a ton of money -- in 2003) and All The Boys Love Mandy Lane (filmed in 2006 and finally released in 2013).  In terms of being banned, pictures like Faces of Death and Make Them Die Slowly ("Banned in 31 Countries!" as its poster swore) played up that angle which certainly helped put butts in theater seats and definitely made me want to see them on video back in the day! 

In short, it all goes back to that primitive instinct of wanting to experience something that's been deemed forbidden.

When Eli Roth announced that he was making a film that was essentially a love letter to the Italian Cannibal subgenre of such classics as Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust and Umberto Lenzi's Cannibal Ferox (the aforementioned Make Them Die Slowly has many titles depending on which country you're in), there was immediate buzz.  Personally, I was interested to see a film like those listed actually playing at one of the mega movie theater chains in the US...I didn't think it was possible!  When the film encountered distribution woes, its buzz only increased.

Filmed in 2013 and finally just released this past weekend, Roth's The Green Inferno tells the story of Justine (expertly played by Roth's real life wife, Lorenza Izzo), a college Freshman seemingly trying to fit in with the local group of political activists on-campus. The basic plot is that the group of activists blindly follow a charismatic leader who fancies himself as the next Che Guevara (though he's more Jim Jones than anything) literally right into the line of fire to expose big industry's murderous effect on primitive, indigenous tribes in the Amazon.  The kids in this film aren't so much "tree huggers" as they're "cause huggers". 

Naturally, that's only the first half of the film; things soon spiral out of control as members of the group are captured by an indigenous tribe, where they're forced to stay for dinner...and breakfast...and lunch.  Sorry, the pun had to go somewhere!  

Roth famously cast a real-life Peruvian tribe that had never been filmed or photographed -- this only added to the maddening realism of the film, coupled with the fact that most of the trained actors are relative new faces.  While Cannibal Holocaust had its pseudo-documentary style benefiting its believability and strengthening its impact, Inferno's most effective strengths lie in its casting decisions.  It would have been much more difficult to believe someone like Brad Pitt was being eaten alive by a cannibal tribe, ya know?

Special effects duties are masterfully handled by Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger, expertly portraying the on-screen carnage.  Not gonna lie...there are some truly brutal and nasty bits in this film, although seeing Nicotero and Berger's names in the opening credits made it a little easier to separate the onscreen carnage as fictional, whereas both films from Deodato and Lenzi surely had shoestring budgets, making their gore all that more impressive and shocking ("did they really just kill that actor?"). 

Also, like any Eli Roth film, there is an abundance of his trademark black humor . . . several hilarious bits and one-liners carefully break the tension during some of the most disturbing sequences!  In fact, one particular kill even treads levels of absurdity reached previously by Monty Python & The Holy Grail!  In terms of the film's violence, as brutal as it is, it's difficult to take seriously and be offended by because it's so over the top.  Truthfully, the most shocking moment in the film -- which genuinely made me jump -- occurs near the end and recalls Carrie and Friday the 13th.

Another interesting element in line with the film's humor is its constant poking and prodding of social justice warriors and the need to find a cause to rage against on college campuses.  As someone who was bored to tears by the on-campus activists while attending Rutgers, I found this angle to be extra humorous!  In fact, this is where one of The Green Inferno's most terrifying ideas comes into play; never mind the rampant cannibalism and savage blood-letting, the scariest part is how easily some people can forget their principles, no matter how much their gut is telling them they're making a bad decision...they still blindly follow and make that bad decision, all in the name of an attractive person or some radical cause.  The entire first half of the film before the kids get to Peru has that sense of dread in the form of a knot in the stomach screaming "this is not going to end well!"

If you're an Eli Roth fan already, you will love this film.  If you've never seen an Italian Cannibal film and had no desire to, this probably won't change your mind.  If you're a Horror fan though, your curiosity surely has to be piqued.  See it!