Snuff (1975 film)
Encyclopedia
Snuff is a 1976 splatter film
, and is most notorious for being marketed as if it were an actual snuff film
. This picture contributed to the urban legend
of snuff film
s, although the concept did not originate with it.
film making team of Michael Findlay
and Roberta Findlay
. Filmed in Argentina
in 1971 on a budget of $30,000 it depicted the actions of a Manson
-esque murder cult
, filmed mainly in silent due to the actors understanding very little English. The film financier Jack Bravman received an out of court settlement from AIP so the latter could use the title for the 1972 Jim Brown film of the same name. The Findlays' film enjoyed a very limited theatrical release.
Independent low-budget distributor and sometime producer Allan Shackleton took the film and shelved it for four years - but was inspired to release it with a new ending, unbeknownst to the original filmmakers, after reading a newspaper article in 1975 on the rumor of snuff films produced in South America and decided to cash on the urban legend. He added a new ending, filmed in a vérité
style by Simon Nuchtern, in which a woman is brutally murdered by a film crew, supposedly the crew of Slaughter. The new footage purportedly showed an actual murder, and was spliced onto the end of Slaughter with an abrupt cut suggesting that the footage was unplanned and the murder authentic. This new version of the film was released under the title Snuff, with the tagline The film that could only be made in South America... where life is CHEAP.
Once the film was released, distributor Shackleton reportedly hired fake protesters to picket movie theater
s showing the film. This soon became moot when Women Against Pornography
began staging real protests, outraged at the film's purported imagery of sexual violence. The group's protest received coverage by such media outlets as the CBS Evening News
.
in Variety
in 1976, it became popular in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Boston.
The rumours persisted that the film showed a real-life murder, and "prompted by complaints and petitions from well-known writers, including Eric Bentley
and Susan Brownmiller
, and legislators", inspired New York District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau
to investigate the circumstances surrounding the films production—who dismissed the supposedly 'real' murder as "nothing more than conventional trick photography—as is evident to anyone who sees the movie" , also reassuring people that the actress being dismembered and killed in the ending of the film "is alive and well", having urged the police to trace her.
Splatter film
A splatter film or gore film is a subgenre of horror film that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of gore and graphic violence. These films, through the use of special effects and excessive blood and guts, tend to display an overt interest in the vulnerability of the human body and the...
, and is most notorious for being marketed as if it were an actual snuff film
Snuff film
A snuff film is a motion picture genre that depicts the actual death or murder of a person or people, without the aid of special effects, for the express purpose of distribution and entertainment or financial exploitation. For-profit snuff films are generally regarded as an urban legend, whose...
. This picture contributed to the urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
of snuff film
Snuff film
A snuff film is a motion picture genre that depicts the actual death or murder of a person or people, without the aid of special effects, for the express purpose of distribution and entertainment or financial exploitation. For-profit snuff films are generally regarded as an urban legend, whose...
s, although the concept did not originate with it.
Production
The film started out as a low-budget gore film titled Slaughter which was written and directed by the husband-and-wife grindhouseGrindhouse
A grindhouse is an American term for a theater that mainly shows exploitation films. It is named after the defunct burlesque theaters located on 42nd Street in New York City, where 'bump n' grind' dancing and striptease were featured.- History :...
film making team of Michael Findlay
Michael Findlay
Michael Findlay, along with his wife Roberta Findlay, directed and produced numerous sexploitation movies. They have been described as "the most notorious filmmakers in the annals of sexploitation"....
and Roberta Findlay
Michael Findlay
Michael Findlay, along with his wife Roberta Findlay, directed and produced numerous sexploitation movies. They have been described as "the most notorious filmmakers in the annals of sexploitation"....
. Filmed in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in 1971 on a budget of $30,000 it depicted the actions of a Manson
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
-esque murder cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
, filmed mainly in silent due to the actors understanding very little English. The film financier Jack Bravman received an out of court settlement from AIP so the latter could use the title for the 1972 Jim Brown film of the same name. The Findlays' film enjoyed a very limited theatrical release.
Independent low-budget distributor and sometime producer Allan Shackleton took the film and shelved it for four years - but was inspired to release it with a new ending, unbeknownst to the original filmmakers, after reading a newspaper article in 1975 on the rumor of snuff films produced in South America and decided to cash on the urban legend. He added a new ending, filmed in a vérité
Cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking, combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.There are subtle yet...
style by Simon Nuchtern, in which a woman is brutally murdered by a film crew, supposedly the crew of Slaughter. The new footage purportedly showed an actual murder, and was spliced onto the end of Slaughter with an abrupt cut suggesting that the footage was unplanned and the murder authentic. This new version of the film was released under the title Snuff, with the tagline The film that could only be made in South America... where life is CHEAP.
Once the film was released, distributor Shackleton reportedly hired fake protesters to picket movie theater
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
s showing the film. This soon became moot when Women Against Pornography
Women Against Pornography
Women Against Pornography was a radical feminist activist group based out of New York City and an influential force in the anti-pornography movement of the late 1970s and the 1980s....
began staging real protests, outraged at the film's purported imagery of sexual violence. The group's protest received coverage by such media outlets as the CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
.
Hoax
Although the film was exposed as a hoaxHoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
in Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
in 1976, it became popular in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Boston.
The rumours persisted that the film showed a real-life murder, and "prompted by complaints and petitions from well-known writers, including Eric Bentley
Eric Bentley
Eric Bentley is a critic, playwright, singer, editor and translator. He became an American citizen in 1948, and currently lives in New York City...
and Susan Brownmiller
Susan Brownmiller
Susan Brownmiller is an American feminist, journalist, author, and activist. She is best known for her pioneering work on the politics of rape in her 1975 book Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape, Brownmiller argues that rape had been hitherto defined by men rather than women; and that men use,...
, and legislators", inspired New York District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau
Robert M. Morgenthau
Robert Morris Morgenthau is an American lawyer. From 1975 until his retirement in 2009, he was the District Attorney for New York County, the borough of Manhattan.-Early life:...
to investigate the circumstances surrounding the films production—who dismissed the supposedly 'real' murder as "nothing more than conventional trick photography—as is evident to anyone who sees the movie" , also reassuring people that the actress being dismembered and killed in the ending of the film "is alive and well", having urged the police to trace her.
Cast
- Margarita Amuchástegui as Angelica
- Ana Carro as Ana
- Liliana Fernández Blanco as Susanna
- Roberta FindlayMichael FindlayMichael Findlay, along with his wife Roberta Findlay, directed and produced numerous sexploitation movies. They have been described as "the most notorious filmmakers in the annals of sexploitation"....
as Carmela - Alfredo Iglesias as Horst's father
- Enrique Larratelli as Satan
- Mirtha Massa as Terry London
- Aldo Mayo as Max Marsh
- Clao Villanueva as Horst Frank
- Michael FindlayMichael FindlayMichael Findlay, along with his wife Roberta Findlay, directed and produced numerous sexploitation movies. They have been described as "the most notorious filmmakers in the annals of sexploitation"....
as Detective (uncredited)
Further reading
- Kerekes, David & Slater, David (1994). Killing For CultureKilling For CultureKilling For Culture: An Illustrated History Of Death Film From Mondo To Snuff is the first book in the Creation Cinema series and deals with death in film and media.-Summary:...
. Creation Books. ISBN 1-871592-20-8 - Johnson, Eithne & Schaefer, Eric. "Soft Core/Hard Gore: Snuff as a Crisis in Meaning," in Journal of Film and Video, University of Illinois Press, (Volume 45, Numbers 2-3, Summer-Fall, 1993): pages 40-59.