As taboos go, cannibalism is, if not king, at least a member of the royal family. As a result, though there are no shortage of exploitation films featuring cannibals and cannibalism (Thanks, Italy!), they have for the most been part relegated to the grindhouse. But occasionally this most taboo of activities has crept in from the cult fringe and a bit closer to mainstream consciousness. To salute the recent release of We Are What We Are, Jim Mickle’s remake of Jorge Michel Grau’s 2010 film, Somos lo que hay, Paste presents a roundup of those films in which a little (or a lot of) anthropophagy managed to make its way onto the plate of the average filmgoer.
1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Any list of cannibalism-consciousness-raising films is bound to sport a few that are basically just exploitation films whose production values, cast and/or execution helped them break free of the straight-to-DVD constraints of later-day grindhouse to achieve a level of box office success (and with it, the implied mainstream splash). But before there were videos or DVDs, there was Tobe Hooper’s cult masterpiece. Sure, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a seminal event for the horror genre (both in general and with the slasher sub-genre in particular), but it also represented the movie-going audience’s most direct brush with cannibalism than any cauldron full of Italian-born exploitation flics. The original made $30 million (on a negligible budget), the 2003 remake turned $9.5 million into more than $100 million worldwide, and, to this day, Leatherface and family are the poster children for people-eatin’.
2. The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
A remake of Wes Craven’s 1977 cult classic (itself inspired by the quasi-mythical tale of Sawney Bean), The Hills Have Eyes (2006) starred Ted Levine and Emilie de Raven, and more than quadrupled its $15 million budget in worldwide gross. Its featured family owes its hankering for human parts more to radiation-triggered mutation and, to be fair, desperation, than anything else. As for the depravity, well, they come by that honest.
3. Wrong Turn (2003)
While some films cleanly vault over the line between obscure exploitation film and successful genre effort, a few just barely make it past. Though Rob Schmidt’s film made hardly a scratch in its initial theatrical run (basically doubling its $12.6 million budget), it did get a decently wide release, and Eliza Dushku’s efforts to avoid becoming a meal proved profitable enough on DVD that the franchise’s next four installments just went straight there.
4. The 13th Warrior (1999)
Directed by John McTiernan, adapted from Michael Crichton’s 1976 novel, Eaters of the Dead, and starring Antonio Banderas, The 13th Warrior features cannibalism as culture (sort of). The fierce Wendol tribe simply love them some human flesh. That’s not too surprising, given most of the original tale was itself a loose adaptation of Beowulf, but ultimately the film does little to advance anthropophagi awareness, proving such a bomb ($61 million worldwide from a $160 million budget) that it virtually disappeared into the crater it created.
5. Delicatessen (1991)
After radiation and out-of-control incest, filmmakers would have you believe there’s no more common cause of movie cannibalism than apocalyptic dystopias. After all, when times get tough, the tough eat others who, if cooked right, are less tough. Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s 1991 film doesn’t make this list because it made a ton of money—it was a little-seen art house release destined to become cocktail conversation fodder (one possible response to someone who professes a love for 2001’s Amélie). No, as a delivery vehicle of hominid-sourced foodstuffs and the people who prepare them, Delicatessen departs from the horror genre altogether. It turns out a spoonful of surrealistic black comedy does help the horrific practice go down.
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