- Directors:
Michael Findlay ;Roberta Findlay - AMG Rating:
- Genre: Crime
- Movie Type: Sexploitation
- Themes: Filmmaking, Crime Sprees
- Release Year: 1974
- Country: US/AR
- Run Time: 82 minutes
Plot
Director Max Marsh (Aldo Mayo) flies to Argentina to make a sexually explicit film with his girlfriend and star, Terri London (Mirtha Massa). Unbeknownst to Max, Terri has taken a new lover, a rich playboy named Horst (Clao Villanueva), who lives on his father's nearby estate. Terri becomes pregnant by Horst, threatening the production of the film, though the entire shoot is canceled when Max is murdered during a street carnival. Meanwhile, a woman named Angelica (Margarita Amuchástegui), who lives in the mansion with Horst, is in cahoots with a vicious band of female hippies who are in thrall to a Mansonesque leader named Satan (Enrique Larratelli). He preaches that the decadence of the rich must be punished, and plans to start with Horst's family. Angelica's mission was to become pregnant by Horst in order to provide a baby to be sacrificed as the first victim in Satan's war against the wealthy. However, the news that an American film star is carrying the child is even better, and the band of killers bide their time (though they keep busy by swimming naked and murdering innocent shopkeepers). Six months later, the girls return to Horst's estate, where a lascivious, drunken party is in full swing. The guests are murdered, Horst is castrated, and the pregnant Terri is stabbed to death in her bed. At this point in the film, the camera pulls back to reveal the set -- the director of Snuff is seen congratulating the actors for such great performances. He convinces one actress to join him on the bed, where they begin kissing. When she realizes that she's still being filmed, she gets confused, and the director suddenly brandishes a knife. With the help of two production assistants, he cuts off a finger, saws off her hand, and then disembowels her. He holds the entrails in the air and howls with triumph as the film suddenly runs out and members of the crew say, "Ok, we got it, let's get out of here!" ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie GuideReview
This wild, amoral film is one of the most cynical cinematic hoaxes ever pulled on the public, and was, unbelievably, a success. Snuff debuted on screens in 1976 after several weeks of pre-release publicity which suggested that the film's carnage was genuine, real live murders caught on camera in South America, "where life is cheap!" Outraged citizens, staunch feminists, and even law-enforcement officials descended upon theaters that dared to show the picture, but vigorous protests and ongoing investigations only ensured sell-out crowds who had to see for themselves. What the moviegoer got was a barely released 1971 exploitation film (originally known as Slaughter) made by the prolific grindhouse team of Michael and Roberta Findlay. The forgotten footage was dusted off by producer Allan Shackleton and a brief new conclusion was filmed that depicted the "director" of the previous 75 minutes murdering and disembowelling a female cast member. Snuff was presented without credits of any kind to further aid the suggestion that the film was indeed a criminal enterprise, though even the casual viewer will see through the scam. The gore effects of the climax are particularly juicy, but no more convincing than the average splatter opus, and the sequence is professionally edited in a manner that is inconsistent with its claims.What causes genuine discomfort is simply what Snuff is trying to achieve, convincing the audience that everything they've just witnessed is real and that there is pleasure to be gained from that belief. It's a truly ugly notion, though one that gore film buffs might want to ponder for themselves, so for them Snuff is a must-see. Disregarding the bizarre machinations of the Monarch Releasing corporation, the original Findlay footage will entertain sleaze addicts who are already familiar with the strange, sick style of the husband-wife team. Their film (which was indeed lensed in Argentina) is chock-full of hard drugs, brutal sex, casual blasphemy, and even some suggestive cow milking. The action is punctuated with transparently fake, yet still gory murders and a raw psych-rock soundtrack that pulsates with fuzz organ, inept guitar riffing, and bongos. A seriously warped sense of time and post-dubbed dialogue adds an awkward surrealism, and the budget is so low that when the story calls for a scene in a police station, the Findlays just put a desk in the middle of a driveway and carry on as if nothing was amiss. While those with tender hearts should never even get near it, Snuff is compelling degenerate cinema that holds genuine historical interest for its role in helping to spread the urban legend of "snuff films," the existence of which has never been verified and remains in debate. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
