​FILMS

the green inferno

2015 review number 146:

The Green Inferno: (Horror): 63 out of 100: Eli Roth specialises in the dark side of human behaviour and he's at it again with his latest offering. If you are familiar with his career, you'll know that he has focused on the horror genre with movies such as Hostel and Cabin Fever. This time around he has a group of college students being eaten by a tribe of Amazonian cannibals. There's a recurring theme in his movies relating to human flesh being diseased or eaten so he obviously takes pleasure in this theme.

 

A group of college students led by Alejandro (Ariel Levy) trek to the depths of the Amazon Rainforest to prevent a corporation from logging for their own benefit. Justine (Lorenza Izzo) is an innocent woman whose father is a lawyer at the United Nations and is hesitant at first to join the expedition. Everyone else in the group is fully committed to the cause. After they prevent the loggers from destroying more trees, they leave the area but are involved in a plane crash where the survivors find that they are not alone in the jungle. They are led to a tribal village where they discover that they are being prepared for their meals.

 

There are scenes that are completely gross featuring the butchering of some of the survivors. Just make sure you are not eating something during viewing. You'll find yourself occasionally looking away in disgust. The members of the tribe are depicted as barbarians desperate for human flesh. Several of the English speaking characters have motives that are not always clear and when they are revealed, you'll feel cheated and ask yourself why they have adopted that mindset even though they are witness to gruesome scenes.

 

There are genuine scenes of terror that are captured well by the actors. The college scenes pre-Amazon are a bit laboured with some average acting. Izzo is the main star of the film and she does a credible job of portraying the virginal Justine.

 

The film's shooting locations of Chile and Peru promote the visual aesthetics of the Amazon. If it wasn't for the cannibals depicted in the story, you'll want to explore this destination immediately after seeing the film.

 

The Green Inferno is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Although there are a couple of humorous scenes to alleviate the tension, most of the movie focuses on cannibalism and there's nothing subtle about the way these scenes are treated by Eli Roth.

 

Starring Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy and Aaron Burns

(100 minutes)

Parental advice: Violence, coarse language, drug use, adult themes and sexual references

Additional scene during or after credits: Yes, during the credits we see a satellite image of a character followed by a phone conversation between two other characters concerning the character we see in the satellite image.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwKeTJ7WMG8 (Movie trailer)

(Reviewed on Wednesday 30th September, 2015)

 

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