The Green Inferno (2015)

*****CONTAINS NO SPOILERS*****

SouthSide has a simple request.

She wants a t-shirt ...a "I just saw Eli Roth's The Green Inferno and survived" t-shirt ...autographed by the director of Hostel and Cabin Fever himself.

Only because she saw this movie alone as in no one else was in the movie theatre (for the first showing) with her. Just SouthSide and her root beer soda and popcorn ...alone in the semi-darkness viewing one of the most terrifying sadistic Eli Roth films to date. In a nutshell, blogspot readers, The Green Inferno makes Hostel look like a pacifying cakewalk. It will take raw nerves of steel, a strong stomach and a weird fascination for cannibalism to behold the intense scenes when our stranded bunch of good-doing, "Don't think, act!" activists from a New York City university find themselves on the other side of the dinner menu.

So don't expect any "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", blogspot readers. Yet, do expect plenty of "who's going to be next" on the menu moments throughout the second half of the movie.

Basically, The Green Inferno opens with two strong socio-political messages. First, the greed of modern civilization to find new sources of natural energy is destroying indigenous native tribes and their way of life. Second, many of the millennial generation could care less about socio-political issues OR fake their concern. Just remember, blogspot readers, not all of the world's problems can be solved by hiring an army of lawyers and attorneys.

At the beginning of Eli's movie, we meet a wide-eyed and very impressionable freshman named Justine (Lorenza Izzo), whose father just happens to be a lawyer for the United Nations, who joins the local activist group in hopes of saving an indigenous tribe from being bulldozed out of the rain forest by a greedy corporation for the abundant supply of hidden natural resources in that particular area of the jungle. Everything seems to go according to the group leader's (Alejandro played by Ariel Levy) plan upon their arrival to Peru. He has their course of action of how to stop the bulldozers and armed militia down to a science ...or so Justine thought when used as a pawn during terrifying confrontation with militia leader and his 9 mm pointed directly at her head.

Hooray, for the good guy activists! They "win" making their point to save the rain forest by blasting their mobile cam films on social media. However since this is an Eli Roth film ...there will be no real happy ending. Not in The Green Inferno because disaster unexpectedly strikes which strands a few of the activists deep within the heart of the Peruvian rain forest ...where they "meet" an indigenous tribe they're trying to save from the greedy corporation and the bulldozers. Their rescuers from an impending doom of large insects, wild creatures and such these carefully clothed (to hide female and male anatomy body parts) are not. And if what's seen as they are welcome into the tribe's village was any indication of the activists' fate ...well, let's just say, it doesn't look good for any of them surviving beyond the night, blogspot readers.

Who will outwit, outlast, and survive Eli Roth's sadistic menu plan? SouthSide would say but of course won't.

Oh, do stay for the credits ...a couple if interesting surprises come at the end of the movie.

The Green Inferno is Eli Roth's homage to not only another infamous cannibal movie - Cannibal Holocaust, but to others like Cannibal Apocalypse, White Slave, Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (SouthSide remembers viewing that movie ...oops porn before), Faces of Death, Eaten Alive and many more. Yet, in this reviewer's opinion, Eli was mostly inspired by the Italian film - Cannibal Holocaust especially during the intense horrifying cannibalistic scenes of beheading and disembowelment. Talk about SouthSide hiding behind her notebook when watching an activist named Jonah (Aaron Burns) become unlucky dinner victim number one as he's gouged and then hacked to pieces while alive and screaming. 

And good call to use an actual Peruvian indio tribe (especially the woman leader of the tribe and the bald head hunter - creepy as you know what) as part of the movie. They truly portrayed their cannibalistic roles with such expertise and believable personas, blogspot readers. Though it's said there aren't any cannibalistic tribes in the Amazon rain forest, just watching them dine on their hapless victims made this reviewer believe wholeheartedly there were. Found an interesting about this tribe. They thought Cannibal Holocaust was funny after Eli showed them the movie ...they had never seen one (a movie) before. 

Yep, he spares no expense on the blood and intensity of each cannibalistic scene, blogspot readers. At one point, he makes you want to root for the cannibal tribe to pick Alejandro as the next dinner item after he tells the remaining survivors what really happened after their social media stunt against the corporation. Actually, SouthSide knew there was something quite suspicious about Alejandro's friend, Carlos (Matias Lopez) when introduced to the other naive activists. 

Besides cannibalism and the modern world's destruction of the rain forests and indigenous tribes, Eli also touches briefly on female genitalia mutilation and how it's not just done in certain African tribes but also within the Muslim religion and this particular native Peruvian indio tribe.The subject might make you a little squeamish but it's a known fact that when done on young girls (as young as 12 or younger ...depending on the age of getting the first menstrual cycle) that they're crudely cut and bound to allow the wounds to heal.

The Green Inferno - see it ...definitely worth the price of the ticket...

Until next time, support your local scene, blogspot readers,

SouthSide