1976 saw the theatrical release of notorious 'nasty' Snuff, a film that was proudly promoted by its enterprising distributor Allan Shackleton as depicting genuine footage of a woman being brutally butchered for the sake of entertainment. Although common sense dictated that the claim was pure hokum, cinema-goers still came flocking out of morbid curiosity.
What audiences saw was a forgettable 1971 exploitation flick originally titled The Slaughter, rounded off with a new, gory, movie-within-a-movie ending in which the cameras continue to roll as one of the actresses is murdered. Although exposed as a hoax soon after its release, rumours about the authenticity of the film's final scene persisted, guaranteeing the film the notoriety its makers were banking on; the banning of the video in the UK during the 80s 'video nasty' campaign later served to heighten its already legendary status.
Given its unusual heritage and reputation, this pioneer of the 'faux snuff'/found footage genre is interesting viewing for all serious horror fans, but those who decide to watch the film in its entirety, rather than skipping straight to the 'good stuff' at the end, be warned: the going is hard at times... The Slaughter didn't sit on the shelf gathering dust for five years for no good reason!
Viewers opting for the full Snuff experience are faced with 70 or so minutes of cheap, Charlie Manson-inspired nonsense about an evil cult leader, appropriately named Satan, and his all-female hippy biker acolytes, who plot to murder the unborn child of an aspiring actress as part of a ritual (at least that's what I think it is about—it's all very disjointed).
This trashy, tasteless (at times being a little too similar to the Tate/LaBianca murders for comfort), and sometimes unintentionally funny garbage comes complete with really bad dubbing, terrible dialogue (Pig! Filthiest of all animals! I will cut your heart from your body and feed it to the dogs!), the dreadful use of stock footage in a futile effort to convince viewers that certain scenes are taking place at a carnival, a couple of poorly executed stabbings and shootings, and plenty of boobs, before finally arriving at the infamous murder, in all of its finger snipping, hand slicing, intestine yanking glory.
I rate this film 3 out of 10 for everything leading up to end, and 6 out of 10 for the mean-spirited snuff stuff—an average of 4.5, which I will round up to 5 for IMDb.
What audiences saw was a forgettable 1971 exploitation flick originally titled The Slaughter, rounded off with a new, gory, movie-within-a-movie ending in which the cameras continue to roll as one of the actresses is murdered. Although exposed as a hoax soon after its release, rumours about the authenticity of the film's final scene persisted, guaranteeing the film the notoriety its makers were banking on; the banning of the video in the UK during the 80s 'video nasty' campaign later served to heighten its already legendary status.
Given its unusual heritage and reputation, this pioneer of the 'faux snuff'/found footage genre is interesting viewing for all serious horror fans, but those who decide to watch the film in its entirety, rather than skipping straight to the 'good stuff' at the end, be warned: the going is hard at times... The Slaughter didn't sit on the shelf gathering dust for five years for no good reason!
Viewers opting for the full Snuff experience are faced with 70 or so minutes of cheap, Charlie Manson-inspired nonsense about an evil cult leader, appropriately named Satan, and his all-female hippy biker acolytes, who plot to murder the unborn child of an aspiring actress as part of a ritual (at least that's what I think it is about—it's all very disjointed).
This trashy, tasteless (at times being a little too similar to the Tate/LaBianca murders for comfort), and sometimes unintentionally funny garbage comes complete with really bad dubbing, terrible dialogue (Pig! Filthiest of all animals! I will cut your heart from your body and feed it to the dogs!), the dreadful use of stock footage in a futile effort to convince viewers that certain scenes are taking place at a carnival, a couple of poorly executed stabbings and shootings, and plenty of boobs, before finally arriving at the infamous murder, in all of its finger snipping, hand slicing, intestine yanking glory.
I rate this film 3 out of 10 for everything leading up to end, and 6 out of 10 for the mean-spirited snuff stuff—an average of 4.5, which I will round up to 5 for IMDb.