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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.
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.
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