Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera (2008)

Just perfect...

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

This really isn't a good documentary about the topic of "Snuff" but is mostly about movies in the open market that has some realistic looking killings on camera. It's interesting though, for the most part but a lot of it seems to be over done. And I did enjoy it talking about real snuff films around the world, particularly about the Russian crime ring tale even if some claim it to be fake and if it is, it's a interesting lie. But as a whole this really isn't a good documentary and you will not gain that much info about snuff but more about realistic killing in certain films that is in the open market like I said, and I do agree with a lot of what the other reviewers are saying, some of the stories in this does sound a bit fishy. Cause they mention a interesting topic they can really get into, but after mentioning it, they never really get into it. The main flaw with this documentary is how it goes way past it's point and not in a good way either, it should of just stuck with the main topic at hand instead of stretching it. So not a good documentary, but interesting to say the least.4.6/10

After seeing the trailer on Youtube, I wanted to track this down and see it for myself; since the subjects and topics like this interest me. And this was pretty good. It doesn't only talk about snuff; but touches on topics of serial killers, war and the media; and includes two parts with Mark Rosen's stories; about a disturbing thing he seen and a case about porn/snuff industry.We have a lot of interesting people taking part in this. Former FBI agents, cinephiles and others that know their sh!t when it comes to the history of snuff films. A few things I noticed that a few things were left out. One of which was Tsutomu Miyazaki,who was a Japanese child murderer who reenacted the dismemberment scenes on his victims. That was never mentioned. Websites like rotten and ogrish were also not mentioned either. And the last thing that could have been included,but wasn't because of the time schedule were the Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs. If you don't know them by name,you'll know of their infamous video thats been mentioned a lot across the internet; which was the "shock" video, 3Guys1Hammer that depicts the violent murder of Sergei Yatzenko.[ From what someone told me,the video found its way to the internet about six months after this was filmed ] If this waited a few months,and got mentioned then it would be the cherry on the top of this bloody sundae. Great documentary on its own.

The question asked by the film is do snuff films really exist. A snuff film as defined by the producers is a film that was made purely to record the death of a person who was killed for the film which was then sold for a profit. The film acknowledges films like Faces of Death and the plethora of real death DVDs and put them into a separate category since they are merely a collection of footage of already existent. The film also examines the videos of serial killers Lake and Ng who kidnapped people and filmed their murders.They also touch on war reporting and the films of terrorists (like the death of Daniel Pearl) The film talks to producers, law enforcement people, film historians and other about the subject. It is a thought provoking and disturbing look at the subject. I don't know how accurate the film is in some regards (some of the discussions of horror films isn't completely correct) but the stories of Mark Rosen about a Philippine film he says he saw and the reports of a Russian gangster who arranged for children to be mutilated and tortured seems to make one think they do exist. The film will make you think about what you watch and why. As one person muses why are we okay with horror films but a real depiction of the same thing would make us ill? If there are any problems with the film it maybe that it seems to wander too far a field, some of the sections seem to end up going on too long. I also found Raymond Whalen too over the top and any points he may have scored for his position the films don't exist are lost in his bothersome insistence he knows all. Problems aside its graphic food for thought, and the sort of thing that will leave you feeling uneasy.

It has to be said from the get-go that this is no proper documentary as it's circumstantial and somewhat manipulative (maybe even insufficiently documented for all I know). But while the case studies it brings about certainly have this feeling of tabloid garbage fed to the masses by the teaspoonful, what it all boils down to at the end of it all is that it manages to raise the question of whether or not snuff cinematography is more than an urban myth (again). The answer it seems to convey is a definitive yes and, knowing human nature as I do, I tend to agree. Sadly though there's just too much beating about the bush. Snuff and mainstream cinematography ('Cannibal Holocaust')? Snuff and war footage? You're missing the point here and stretching the concept way past the rupture point. That said, if you happen to have a chance to watch this and can put up with its violent content, do not hesitate. And I mean really, really violent 'Saw'-has-nothing-on-this kind of content.