The Green Inferno sees a group of idealistic assholes traveling across the world in an attempt to ‘Save the Amazon’. This is a decision they come to regret when their plane crashes and they are captured and tortured by a tribe of hungry cannibals.
The road to the big screen was a long and arduous one for The Green Inferno. It was pulled from Worldview Entertainment’s release calendar due to an issue with their former CEO’s commitment to provide $3.7 million for Prints and Advertising. Without that funding in place, the fate of The Green Inferno was left hanging in the balance for a very long time. The project was eventually picked up for semi-wide theatrical distribution by team Blumhouse via their newly minted Blumhouse Tilt Label. Was the wait worth it? Well, that depends. I wasn’t dying to see the film in the first place, thus why I waited for a Blu-ray screener rather than hitting up a theatrical screening. And going in with fairly low expectations, I wasn’t entirely disappointed. I got about what I was expecting. I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it. I liked it a bit more than I thought I was going to.
Roth is known for bringing obnoxious characters to the screen and that is no different here. Naturally, some of the reasoning behind that is so we get to cheer as they are killed off but unless their death is absolutely epic, the time we have to spend with these reprehensible assholes really is not worth it. And I have to say that the payoff did not really justify the time we spent with said idiots. There were a couple of characters with redeeming qualities and that made the experience a little more bearable. But I still wish Roth would learn to make a movie with characters that we invest in and care about. That would go a long way in terms of making me a bigger fan of his work.
As far as shock value goes, I was surprised by the fact that the film wasn’t actually more ramped up. This is supposed to be Cannibal Holocaust for the millennial generation and I didn’t really find that it had the same shock value. That’s not really a criticism, more so than a disclaimer. I expected to be more shocked by what I saw. I certainly cringed a lot but I was wasn’t really taken aback in the manner in which I expected to be.
That’s not to say that there isn’t plenty of gore throughout the film because there is. Gore-hounds will find plenty to cheer about here. There is a ton of brutality that transpires during the picture’s runtime. And much of it is quite inventive, even a bit nauseating at times. But, simply put, this does not pack near the same punch as Cannibal Holocaust.
As far as special features, there really isn’t much to speak of. You do get an audio commentary track but I think the lack of features is a major missed opportunity. A featurette chronicling the film’s troubled journey to the big screen would have been a very welcome addition to the film’s home video release.
Overall, I didn’t love The Green Inferno. But this is one that you absolutely must check out for yourself. It has already been extremely divisive, with a lot of people falling firmly on one end of the spectrum or the other. So much of it comes down to personal preference. While it’s not an incredibly well made film or anything that is going to change the landscape of horror, it isn’t totally without merit. The film is gearing up for a Blu-ray and DVD release tomorrow (January 5th). So, you can check it out for yourself and make up your own mind then!
WICKED RATING: 4.5/10
Director(s): Eli Roth
Writer(s): Eli Roth, Guillermo Amoedo
Stars: Lorenzo Izzo, Ariel Levy, Aaron Burns
Release: January 5, 2106
Studio/ Production Co: Blumhouse Tilt, Universal Home Entertainment
Budget: $6 Million (Estimated)
Language: English
Length: 100 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Cannibalistic Shocker
