MovieChat Forums > Cannibal Holocaust (1985) Discussion > How Did They Get the Tribe to Act?

How Did They Get the Tribe to Act?


One thing I can't ever figure out or find info on, is these tribal people, who I'm guessing can't really speak english and they really live like that (well probably without the killing etc) but how the heck do they direct these people to act in a movie? It's fascinating to me that they could get them to do that.

reply

I just read an article with Massimo Antonello Geleng, who was the production designer in the film. He said that they filmed in an area called the “Three Frontiers” in a village that was only accessible by boat or plane. He said it was quite hard to even find a generator to have electricity at night.

Apparently most of the extras lived in that village and were paid with food. The famous impalement scene was done using an old seat off of one of the extra’s bicycle. So judging by his interview, the natives lived quite primitively but not to the extent depicted in the film.

reply

I was kind of thinking the same thing, especially for some of the more graphic scenes of brutality. Like I'm kind of hoping that the woman that was gang-raped by the camera crew was not a member of any indigenous tribes, because imagining the filming and directing process of those scenes is a bit unnerving...

reply