The Green Inferno: A gut-wrenching scare, not for the faint-hearted

I AM one of Wes Craven’s fan girl.

I grow up loving gory and horror films like Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre as well as William Friedkin’s Exorcist.

Eli Roth is definitely a figure from this century, who I can add on to the list with his previous offerings: Cabin Fever, Hostel 1 and Hostel 2.

The Green Inferno, which is Roth's latest is highly anticipated by like-minded people. No surprise, here.

But no thanks, to the local censorship board, this much awaited gruesome and gory scenes of Green Inferno are being chopped off, hence my review this time is not all rounded.

The Green Inferno pays homage to 1980’s Italian cannibal exploitation horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato - Cannibal Holocaust.

This film is heavily-induced with gore and blood, contrasted with the breathtaking background of the lush jungle in Chile and Peru – the same location as Cannibal Holocaust.

This movie tells the misadventure of a group of highly-ambitious multi-nationalities college students who are out to save the world by shunning the culprit just at a click of their fingers --- by ‘live’ streaming on social media.

Their plan is to frame loggers and developers responsible in 'invading' the lush jungle of the Amazon and save its people from being homeless and expose their activities to the world with hope that it will halt deforestation.

But what they didn’t know is that there are bigger dangers await them in the unknown world, thousands of miles away from home, the kind that eats human flesh and drink their blood.

As usual, Roth’s work does not steer from his trademark satire. This time, the characters and their stereotypes in the movies of this genre are highly-amplified.

For instance, Roth’s off-screen wife, Lorenza Izzo plays the big, round-eyed idealist and a virgin called Justine, whose father is the main man in the UN. And then, there’s the group leader Alejandro played by Ariel Levy, whose objective with this whole thing is doubtful. There’s also Mr. Nice Guy, played by Aaron Burns as Jonah.

Of course, there must be that comedic pothead in every ideal all-American team and this one is called Lars, acted by Daryl Sabara.

Gore films buffs will definitely get the kick out of the thrill this fare has to offer.

Even if you take the gory and the human eating scenes away, the plot of this film still carries some weight or message to it – and it is timely too, seeing that most of us are highly dependent on our phones and its technologies.

If only Malaysian gore fans have the same chance of watching the uncensored version of The Green Inferno, this movie won’t taste as bad as it was.

Cast: Lorenzo Izzo, Ariel Levy, Daryl Sabara, Aaron Burns.

Directed by: Eli Roth

Written by: Eli Roth, Guillermo Amoedo, Nicolás López

Release date: 24 September, GSC Movies

Watch The Green Inferno trailer here: