by Aly Lalji
There is nothing wrong with sticking with what you know. Eli Roth does what he does best. He sticks to the genre of horror like flies stick to shit (Ed note: is this a telling sign of the film?). The man is the king of directing disgust, gore and torture like no other, proving that The Human Centipede director, Tom Six is the prince that wants to assume Roth’s throne. Here Roth isn’t going anywhere as he maintains his legacy to shock and disturb with his cannibal killer of a film. And if he wants to be like Stanley Kubrick, whose films were also long awaited, ( in this case seven years since his Hostel Part 2,) it better be worth the wait. The good news is The Green Inferno impresses with a great premise, an arc that builds to extreme tension and captivating colourful cinematography of the green Amazon.
There is nothing wrong with sticking with what you know. Eli Roth does what he does best. He sticks to the genre of horror like flies stick to shit (Ed note: is this a telling sign of the film?). The man is the king of directing disgust, gore and torture like no other, proving that The Human Centipede director, Tom Six is the prince that wants to assume Roth’s throne. Here Roth isn’t going anywhere as he maintains his legacy to shock and disturb with his cannibal killer of a film. And if he wants to be like Stanley Kubrick, whose films were also long awaited, ( in this case seven years since his Hostel Part 2,) it better be worth the wait. The good news is The Green Inferno impresses with a great premise, an arc that builds to extreme tension and captivating colourful cinematography of the green Amazon.
Films like Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox had its heyday. It made its mark and created a new Italian cannibal genre. But they are B movies that are dated nonetheless. Roth has revisited this controversial cannibal premise on a $6 million budget and set it in today’s era. And today’s generation need to be reminded that these films delivers to horror fans just like Domininos delivers pizza.
NYC university student Justine (played by Lorenza Izzo) is a political activist and protestor. She is influenced into a campus activist group’s naive plan to travel to Peru. There, they plan to bring to an end the destruction of an endangered tribe by a corrupt construction company intending to drill for oil and wealth. But after a horrific plane crash that leaves half the activists dead, the survivors are caged by the very tribe they were trying to aid. The fun and horror begins, as they discover the tribe are brutal cannibals.
The film grabs the viewer’s attention immediately, engaging us in Roth’s clear influence by Kubrick’s The Shining. The panoramic helicopter opening title sequence presents the beautifully dangerous unmapped green landscape below and carves a pathway of the horror that will soon unfold below.
NYC university student Justine (played by Lorenza Izzo) is a political activist and protestor. She is influenced into a campus activist group’s naive plan to travel to Peru. There, they plan to bring to an end the destruction of an endangered tribe by a corrupt construction company intending to drill for oil and wealth. But after a horrific plane crash that leaves half the activists dead, the survivors are caged by the very tribe they were trying to aid. The fun and horror begins, as they discover the tribe are brutal cannibals.
The film grabs the viewer’s attention immediately, engaging us in Roth’s clear influence by Kubrick’s The Shining. The panoramic helicopter opening title sequence presents the beautifully dangerous unmapped green landscape below and carves a pathway of the horror that will soon unfold below.
As soon as the macabre cannibal violence takes place, the viewer is left with shivers down the spine and nauseousness. The squeamish may require sick bags as they see the queen of the tribe cut out the first victims tongue and munch on it like a rare tender steak. Candidly speaking, horror fans will be challenged too as they watch the graphic hacking off limbs and barbecuing them as the cannibals take pleasure in their feast, whilst the remaining victims watch, caged in agony. Roth’s attempted humour and black comedy is attention-grabbing although doesn’t quite advance the plot. For example, he uses his blonde bimbo captive to accentuate extreme diarrhoea whilst her inmates are yards away from her. This is clearly for the sake of shock value.
All in all, the film delivers determination and disgust. It leaves the viewers the question to peruse. Are the westerners just as dire as the cannibal tribes? Considering we invade their land and rain forest transforming nature to extinction.
Although privileged to be one of the first people to view this film, The Green Inferno will be delayed in its release, not for its extreme horrific violence, but more rather distribution problems from financiers Worldview Entertainment. Promotion and advertising for the film has lacked organisation due to payment from the company not taking place, hence the mainstream public will endure a longer wait. However, patience is a virtue and every horror fan will be impressed by Roth’s come back as he won’t fail them.
All in all, the film delivers determination and disgust. It leaves the viewers the question to peruse. Are the westerners just as dire as the cannibal tribes? Considering we invade their land and rain forest transforming nature to extinction.
Although privileged to be one of the first people to view this film, The Green Inferno will be delayed in its release, not for its extreme horrific violence, but more rather distribution problems from financiers Worldview Entertainment. Promotion and advertising for the film has lacked organisation due to payment from the company not taking place, hence the mainstream public will endure a longer wait. However, patience is a virtue and every horror fan will be impressed by Roth’s come back as he won’t fail them.
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