Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera (2008)
Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera (2008)
Review Date: February 22, 2016
Category: Documentary, Sex, Porn
Back Cover Summary:
Feature film examining the existence of films in which people are murdered on camera and the culture surrounding them. Through interviews with former FBI Profilers, Cultural Academics, and Film Historians the documentary delves into the disturbing history and myth of Snuff Films. The FBI claims there is no evidence to prove the existence of Snuff and, therefore, Snuff Films are a myth. This documentary analyzes the relationships between war, cult films, serial killers and pornography to prove whether or not this pervasive myth is, in fact, reality.
Reviewer Comments on Rating:
This is a pretty heavy subject matter and I'll admit it took me some time to be ready to watch this documentary, not knowing how graphic or intense it was going to be. They did place a disclaimer at the beginning of the film for graphic content. Given the intensity of the subject matter, they made some clever decisions in how the information was presented to the viewer. One of the things I thought was great was that they broke the documentary up into chapters and gave you the chapter titles at the beginning. This gives you an idea on what will be covered and what to expect going in. I have seen much more graphic content in other films and online but if you consider watching this documentary, be prepared for some graphic imagery.
Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera goes through a variety of opinions and feelings about what consitutes a snuff film. The official definition of a snuff film is that it is a product made for the specific purpose of financial gain in which someone is murdered on camera. This is a rather strict definition and the documentary interviews various experts in different professions from law enforcement to film makers about media that is widely regarded by many as snuff that does not fit this definition, such as wartime films or serial killers crimes. They also discuss the horror movie industry and how that has impacted how people feel or think about the idea of snuff films. The documentary explores some real cases documentated by law enforcement around the world as well as a personal experience of one of the experts interviewed.
Overall I really enjoyed this documentary as I feel that it was a great overview of the topic. The cinematography was fairly decent and typical of a documentary style movie. The film does end rather abrubtly which I expect that they did for dramatic effect but the way it happened, it left me feeling that it wasn't entirely complete and I expected another scene before the end credits. The only real criticism I would have for this documentary was that while it was a great overview, there was a lot more they could have gone into and explored for the topic. I would have liked to have seen a bit more dialogue getting into the psychology of why people are fascinated by the idea of the snuff film instead of the generalizations they made.