Ruggero Deodato — the Italian film director, screenwriter and actor known best for helming graphic 1980 horror Cannibal Holocaust — has died. Multiple outlets reported Deodato's passing, though a cause of death was not revealed. He was 83.
In his early career, Deodato directed Spaghetti Westerns, comedy, musical and thriller films and television commercials before breaking out with 1976 poliziotteschi crime film Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man. Foreshadowing the filmic future of his gorier productions, Deodato's police flick was censored upon its Italian release due to a scene in which a man's eyeballs are gouged out and crushed underfoot.
Deodato's first foray into cannibal exploitation films was with 1977's Last Cannibal World. After being contacted by West German film distributors to helm a production similar to this title, Deodato began work on what would become Cannibal Holocaust.
Widely regarded as one of the goriest movies of all time, Cannibal Holocaust follows an anthropologist from New York University, leading a rescue team through the Amazon rainforest in search of a missing crew of filmmakers documenting cannibal tribes. Parts of the film are purported to be the footage recovered from the missing film crew's reels, and its shocking depictions of violence, assault, torture and real violence against animals established it as a pioneering example of "found footage" plot structure.
Shortly after its premiere in Italy, Cannibal Holocaust was seized under order of a local magistrate, and Deodato was arrested and charged with obscenity and murder following allegations that deaths in the film were real. Deodato would then prove his innocence in court by breaking down his filmmaking techniques and confirming actors from the film were still very much alive, leading the charges to be dropped.
In 2007, Deodato made a cameo appearance in Eli Roth's Hostel: Part II as a cannibal.
In his early career, Deodato directed Spaghetti Westerns, comedy, musical and thriller films and television commercials before breaking out with 1976 poliziotteschi crime film Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man. Foreshadowing the filmic future of his gorier productions, Deodato's police flick was censored upon its Italian release due to a scene in which a man's eyeballs are gouged out and crushed underfoot.
Deodato's first foray into cannibal exploitation films was with 1977's Last Cannibal World. After being contacted by West German film distributors to helm a production similar to this title, Deodato began work on what would become Cannibal Holocaust.
Widely regarded as one of the goriest movies of all time, Cannibal Holocaust follows an anthropologist from New York University, leading a rescue team through the Amazon rainforest in search of a missing crew of filmmakers documenting cannibal tribes. Parts of the film are purported to be the footage recovered from the missing film crew's reels, and its shocking depictions of violence, assault, torture and real violence against animals established it as a pioneering example of "found footage" plot structure.
Shortly after its premiere in Italy, Cannibal Holocaust was seized under order of a local magistrate, and Deodato was arrested and charged with obscenity and murder following allegations that deaths in the film were real. Deodato would then prove his innocence in court by breaking down his filmmaking techniques and confirming actors from the film were still very much alive, leading the charges to be dropped.
In 2007, Deodato made a cameo appearance in Eli Roth's Hostel: Part II as a cannibal.
