Crossing the Line and Then Some: Cannibal

[anogete]

I've seen many, many movies. A good portion of those movies are of the horror/thriller variety because Jason has a soft spot for that genre. The Netflix queue got turned around, and they sent us a couple movies that were not horror, and we were both in the mood for horror since Halloween is in a few days. After dinner on Saturday, we dropped by the video store, hoping they might have something tolerable in their horror section. Jason was intent on a stupid b-movie that involved cannibals or a serial killer movie, and I told him I wasn't exactly in the mood for either. I picked up a 2005 movie called Cannibal and suggested we compromise with a serious cannibal film that doesn't involve a serial killer. We brought it home not expecting too much from it. The back of the box referred to the case a few years ago when a German fellow placed a personal ad, asking for someone to eat. I vaguely remembered the news story, so I thought it would be a neat thing to watch since it was based on actual events and all.

You guys, words cannot describe. I will never be the same after watching that movie, and I don't know if that is a good thing or not. I have a very strong stomach, and I can watch any horror movie with all the blood and guts you can summon and not be the slightest bit squeamish. This, however, was different. This movie made me physically ill; I had to turn away from the screen more than once. Just thinking of it not makes me terribly uncomfortable. I have never, never seen anything like it, and I don't think I ever will.

So, a bit of background is necessary if you're thinking you need to rent this pronto. This is a true story. Several years ago, a German engineer named Armin Meiwes placed an advert on a website asking for a man willing to be "slaughtered and consumed." He received several responses, but only one of them worked out. A man named Bernd Brandes responded, met with Meiwes, and was eventually killed and eaten by him. Their exploits together were filmed by Meiwes and later found by the police when his home was raided. The movie attempts to reenact Meiwes' search for Brandes, the seduction of both men, and the eventual consumption of Brandes. Both Meiwes and Brandes were bisexual, and there is quite a bit of homoerotic behavior and sex in the film. That wasn't the most shocking thing for me, but it appears from my perusal of several reviews that some people found the gay sex to be very objectionable. So, a warning: there is fairly graphic foreplay and sex between two adult men in this movie. Actually a good 30 minutes of the film is spent on this aspect of their brief relationship. After the consummation, Brandes demands that Meiwes bite off his penis. There is a very graphic scene in which Meiwes attempts to do so; he doesn't succeed. Instead, he and Brandes decide he will cut it off with a knife. This is also a very graphic scene, followed by both of them attempting to eat the penis, uncooked and then cooked. Penis is, apparently, very chewy. The blood loss from this is considerable, and Brandes ends up bleeding out in a bathtub while Meiwes waits for him to die. All aspects of the death of a human body are shown, including excrement being expelled while Meiwes carries Brandes's body down the stairs. After a stab in the neck since Brandes wasn't completely dead, the body is hung from a meat hook and Meiwes proceeds to butcher it, pulling out the entrails and organs. This is graphic beyond description and extremely uncomfortable because Meiwes continues to kiss, caress, and lick the body. Of course, he does eat the meat got from the body in the end. In reality, Meiwes did all of these things, some of which were found on the video tape in his house. He was eventually caught months later when he boasted of the slaughter on a message board while asking for another volunteer. By then, he had eaten more than 20kg of Brandes, with the rest being stored in his freezer.

This is not a romantic telling of cannibalism like a Hannibal Lecter movie. It is gritty, disgusting, and very real. It makes me glad I don't eat meat, to tell you the truth. Because if I did, I'm not sure I could for days after watching this. At any rate, if you're in the market for a very different sort of film, then I recommend this just as long as you think you can stomach it. I could never watch it a second time. Once was quite enough for me, thank you. It was definitely an experience, though. I can safely say that you've never seen, nor will you ever see, anything like it.

I'm at a loss to how it arrived and was shelved at our local video store. It is not rated, but if it were rated, it would have to be given an X for sexual themes and extreme violence/gore. If the video store manager/employees knew what it was, it would be pulled from the shelf immediately. So, if you do want to watch it, good luck with finding it. Netflix has it for rent, and I'm sure you can buy it online. Why you'd want to own it is beyond me, though. I'm a fan of horror movies, and this was above and beyond anything I can stomach.

Comments

[okami-no-yume.livejournal.com]

I've heard of this case before, on an episode of Most Evil. I have a rather morbid interest in gruesome crimes and serial killers.

Incidentally,I watched Hannibal Rising last night. I've found it to the most palatable and least disturbing of the Hannibal series, and I thought it was fascinating, because it told the story of how he came to be the warped, twisted individual we knew in Silence of the Lambs. (I've only seen parts of it, I never could sit through the whole thing.) I wouldn't call Hannibal Lector romantic, since he always creeped me the hell out. :p

But then...I guess I'm somewhat squeamish. There are a few horror movies that I can't sit through more than once. House of a Thousand Corpses comes to mind.

I know I could never sit through this movie, because it would make my skin crawl, and likely give me nightmares. I would probably turn it off and not be able to finish it. :p

[anogete.livejournal.com]

I think Hannibal Lecter is very romanticized. Throughout the movies, Clarice has a cat-and-mouse game going on with him that borders on romantic. Hannibal comes across to me (and I think he was meant to come across to everyone) as a very charismatic, smooth, intelligent, dangerous man. There is something appealing about that, and it makes you forget that he's a monster of a man who has killed many. There is also the aspect of honor and dignity. He doesn't just kill anyone, and it doesn't go about it in a haphazard way; he picks and chooses his victims meticulously.

Anyway, you definitely wouldn't like the movie I was talking about. It was far too real when it comes to the violence and gore. I think a great deal of the gore in movies like House of a Thousand Corpses looks silly and laughable. This, however, was above and beyond that. The way it was filmed and presented made it look more atrocious than anything I've ever seen in my life. I wasn't sure whether I should throw up or cry after seeing it all.

[subvers.livejournal.com]

I'm amazed that you managed to sit through it. I might have done the same at your age, but the older I get, the less desire I have to watch truly outrageous things; I can't account for why that's true, I only know that it is.

I hope it doesn't give you horrible nightmares. :(

[anogete.livejournal.com]

Your icon cracks me up. :-) The technical aspects of the film were done beautifully. The camera work and lighting were masterful. The subject matter was rough, that can't be helped, especially if you're setting out to make a realistic film. It has not given me horrible nightmares yet, but it is definitely something that will stick with me for quite some time. Ewww.

[myvacuumsucks.livejournal.com]

It sounds quite interesting, although the concept is always more stimulating to me than the actuality. So I'd probably never want to see this movie. But maybe...

[anogete.livejournal.com]

I don't think my description of the film does any justice to what it actually looked like. The camera work and lighting were done beautifully, and the entire thing came across as very artistic and sensitive toward the subject matter. However, the no-holds-bar approach to making it as realistic as possible really affected me. I guess when I see the Hollywood gore it doesn't seem real to me, so I can disassociate from it. This was uncompromisingly real, and I couldn't keep that distance that I usually do.

[ladymina.livejournal.com]

I got part of the newsfeed at the time it happens - and the outrage when his story sold, because people here - or some people here - think it is wrong that Meiwes could be making a lot of money with his crime in a legal way
I like horror movies, but I wouldn't want to watch this one, I dunno it doesn't sound like something I'd like and I did catch a lot of the newsfeed and stuff when it did happen - so maybe its a bit too real to watch a movie of it

[anogete.livejournal.com]

so maybe its a bit too real to watch a movie of it

That's sort of how I felt. It was just very graphic and too real. If you could be a fly on the wall and watch someone kill and cannibalize another, then it would probably look like that instead of like Hannibal Lecter being all nice and neat with a slice of brain.

[shalanar.livejournal.com]

Ugh. I know the case...I watched some show on Discovery, or Biography, or something, that covered it. I can't imagine sitting through that movie though. Yikes.

[theredzebra1.livejournal.com]

Ick. I'm with Subversa...no way would I finish that movie. Although to be fair, it's not really my thing. Still, couldn't stand to have those images bouncing round my brain. But even laughable zombie movies get to me sometimes, so a serious treatment of true cannibalism...absolutely not.