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‘Cannibal Holocaust’ Director Ruggero Deodato dies at 83

The Italian who birthed a new genre into horror

rahul
2 min readDec 29, 2022
IMAGE CREDIT: Olivier Strecker / CC BY-SA 3.0

Italian film director Ruggero Deodato, notable for found-footage cannibal horror, dies at 83 years old, according to a report from writer Matteo Fantozzi of CinemaSerieTV.

His cause of death is undisclosed to the public.

Deodato was known as the “father of cannibals movies,” as his biggest hit “Cannibal Holocaust,” took off in 1980. The film achieved its fame due to the realism in graphic violence portrayed.

“I now have proof that for people this is just entertainment, in one ear, out the other, but it remains in their heart; they grasp the message, they understand what it’s all about,” Deodato stated in a 2011 interview with film critic Ed Whitfield for The Wrap.

He was accused of murdering the actors in “Cannibal Holocaust.” Deodato had to bring in actors in court to prove that they were still alive.

The filmmaker inspired directors such as Eli Roth (“The Green Inferno,” “Hostel”), Oliver Stone (“Platoon,” “JFK”) and Quentin Tarantino (“Kill Bill,” “Django Unchained”), according to an article by assistant features editor Steve Rose of The Guardian. Notably, Deodato played a role as a cannibal in Roth’s second feature film “Hostel: Part II.” Roth went on to direct his own cannibal horror “The Green Inferno,” similar in-spirit to Deodato’s 80’s vision.

Correction: Inclusion of “in court” in graph five, to provide further context

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rahul

original reportage @rahulklal (now non-accessible)