#20 - The Green Inferno (2013)


(dir. Eli Roth)

A group of college students travel to the rain forest to protest a logging operation that is threatening the village of a remote tribe, but are left stranded in the jungle after their plane crashes.  Unfortunately, the tribesmen happen to be cannibals, and the kids are taken prisoner.  Standard cannibal hijinks ensue.  This is Eli Roth's tribute to the Italian cannibal movies of the 70's and 80's, especially Cannibal Holocaust (The Green Inferno was actually the working title of that film).

This film starts off well enough, but falls off hard about halfway through.  The tone is all over the place - it is mostly meant to be serious and terrifying, but there are odd moments of humor mixed in that mostly don't fit.  There is a scene where the students shove a baggie of weed down the throat of their dead friend, so that the cannibals will get high when they cook and eat her.  This stupid plan actually works a little too well, and a couple of the guards get the munchies, if you know what I mean.  This would probably be a funny sequence in a different film, but here it just felt jarringly out of place.

If you are a fan of the old Italian cannibal movies, or really have a thing for Eli Roth, you might find something to like here.  It does have some pretty excellent special effects, and the acting is strong from the whole cast.  Unfortunately I think the bad outweighs the good, and I was left feeling pretty disappointed.

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