A snuff film, or snuff movie, or snuff video, is a type of film that shows, or purports to show, scenes of actual homicide. The concept of snuff films became known to the general public during the 1970s, when an urban legend alleged that a clandestine industry was producing such films for profit. The rumor was amplified in 1976 by the release of a film called Snuff, which capitalized on the legend through a disingenuous marketing campaign: that film, like others on the topic, relied on special effects to simulate murder. According to the fact-checking site Snopes, there has never been a verified example of a genuine commercially produced snuff film. Videos of actual murders have been made available to the public, generally through the Internet; however, those videos have been made and broadcast by the murderers either for their own gratification or for propaganda purposes, and not for financial gain.
Michael Latham Powell was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a series of classic British films, notably The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Canterbury Tale (1944), I Know Where I'm Going! (1945), A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus (1947), The Red Shoes (1948), and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951). His later controversial 1960 film Peeping Tom, while today considered a classic, and a contender as the first "slasher", was so vilified on first release that his career was seriously damaged.
Snuff is a 1976 splatter film directed by Michael Findlay and Horacio Fredriksson. Originally an exploitation film loosely based on the 1969 murders committed by the Manson Family, it is most notorious for being falsely marketed as if it were an actual snuff film. The controversy about the film was deliberately manufactured to attract publicity: it prompted an investigation by the New York County District Attorney, who determined that the murder shown in the film was fake. This picture contributed to the urban legend of snuff films, although the concept did not originate with it.
Peeping Tom is a 1960 British psychological horror-thriller film directed by Michael Powell, written by Leo Marks, and starring Carl Boehm, Anna Massey, and Moira Shearer. The film revolves around a serial killer who murders women while using a portable film camera to record their dying expressions of terror. Its title derives from the expression "peeping Tom", which describes a voyeur.
Faces of Death is a 1978 American mondo horror film written and directed by John Alan Schwartz, credited under the pseudonyms "Conan Le Cilaire" and "Alan Black" respectively.
Mondo films are a subgenre of exploitation films and documentary films. Many mondo films are made in a way to resemble a pseudo-documentary and usually depicting sensational topics, scenes, or situations. Common traits of mondo films include portrayals of foreign cultures, an emphasis on taboo subjects such as death and sex, and staged sequences presented as genuine documentary footage. Over time, the films have placed increasing emphasis on footage of the dead and dying.
Cannibal films, alternatively known as the cannibal genre or the cannibal boom, are a subgenre of horror films made predominantly by Italian filmmakers during the 1970s and 1980s. This subgenre is a collection of graphically violent movies that usually depict cannibalism by primitive, Stone Age natives deep within the Asian or South American rainforests. While cannibalism is the uniting feature of these films, the general emphasis focuses on various forms of shocking, realistic and graphic violence, typically including torture, rape and genuine cruelty to animals. This subject matter was often used as the main advertising draw of cannibal films in combination with exaggerated or sensational claims regarding the films' reputations.
Michael Findlay was an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Along with his wife Roberta, Findlay created numerous low-budget Z movies in the 1960s and 1970s. They have been described as "the most notorious filmmakers in the annals of sexploitation".
Black Emanuelle is a softcore sexploitation film from 1975 directed by Bitto Albertini. This Africa set film was shot mostly in Kenya. The music was composed by Nico Fidenco. Black Emanuelle was followed by a number of sequels, all revolving around the erotic adventures of Mae Jordan, a globe-trotting, hedonistic investigative journalist and photographer known to her readers as "Emanuelle". Her character has been described as "a strong and independent woman, sexually proactive, at the centre of wealthy young and old white men of power, and involved in any sort of depraved set and situation."
Roberta Findlay is an American film director, cinematographer, producer and actress. She is best known for her work in the exploitation field. Her work has received increasing critical appreciation in recent years.
Ultime grida dalla savana, also known as by its English title Savage Man Savage Beast, is a 1975 mondo documentary film co-produced, co-written, co-edited and co-directed by Antonio Climati and Mario Morra. Filmed all around the world, its central theme focuses on hunting and the interaction between man and animal. Like many mondo films, the filmmakers claim to document real, bizarre and violent behavior and customs, although some scenes were actually staged. It is narrated by the Italian actor and popular dubber Giuseppe Rinaldi and the text was written by Italian novelist Alberto Moravia.
Last House on Dead End Street, originally released as The Fun House, is a 1977 American exploitation horror film written, produced, and directed by Roger Watkins, under the pseudonym Victor Janos. The plot follows a disgruntled ex-convict who takes revenge on society by kidnapping four acquaintances and filming their murders in an abandoned building.
S&Man is a 2006 American pseudo-documentary film that examines the underground subculture of horror films. It contains interviews with indie horror filmmakers and other horror experts, including Erik Marcisak, Bill Zebub, Fred Vogel, Carol J. Clover, and Debbie D., as well as a scripted plot that comes into focus in the film's second half.
The Creation Cinema series from Creation Books is a collection of books dealing with film history and pop culture.
Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals is a 1977 Italian sexploitation cannibal film directed by Joe D'Amato. The film involves photojournalist Emanuelle, who encounters a cannibalistic woman bearing a tattoo of an Amazonian tribe in a mental hospital. Along with Professor Mark Lester, the two travel to the Amazon with a team to discover the source of the long-thought-extinct tribe that still practices cannibalism today.
Dolce e selvaggio (1983) is a Mondo film directed by Antonio Climati and Mario Morra. The title "Sweet and Savage" refers to the juxtaposition of pleasant ("sweet") and violent ("savage") imagery within the film. It is narrated by the producer and long-time Mondo film director Franco Prosperi.
Emmanuelle is the lead character in a series of French erotic films based on the main character in the novel Emmanuelle (1959), created by Emmanuelle Arsan.
Mondo Cane is a 1962 Italian mondo documentary film and directed by the trio of Gualtiero Jacopetti, Paolo Cavara, and Franco E. Prosperi, with narration by Stefano Sibaldi. The film consists of a series of travelogue scenes that provide glimpses into cultural practices around the world with the intention to shock or surprise Western film audiences. These scenes are presented with little continuity, as they are intended as a kaleidoscopic display of shocking content rather than presenting a structured argument. Despite its claims of genuine documentation, certain scenes are either staged or creatively manipulated to enhance this effect.
Emanuelle in Bangkok is an Italian sexploitation film from 1976 starring Laura Gemser and Gabriele Tinti and directed by Joe D'Amato. It is the second in a series of films featuring the investigative journalist Emanuelle.
Women of the World is a 1963 Italian mondo film, also described as a "shockumentary", written and directed by filmmakers Gualtiero Jacopetti, Paolo Cavara and Franco Prosperi. It was rushed into release on 30 January, following the international box-office success achieved by its predecessor, the initial mondo film, Mondo Cane, which premiered in Italy ten months earlier, 30 March 1962. The English language print was narrated by Peter Ustinov.
