|
The phenomena of Snuff Films has caused media frenzy ever since the 1970's, with more than two-dozen movies about the topic, and various references in popular culture, music videos and literature!
But what is a Snuff Film? And do they really exist?
There is no clear definition of what counts as a snuff film for that matter. The most agreed upon definition is that a Snuff Film is any video footage showing the actual murder or death of a human being. Others believe that a Snuff Film must be of pornographic nature.
The term was first used in Ed Sanders book 'The Family: The Story of Charles Manson's Dune Buggy Attack Battalion' in which he claims that the Manson Family might have been involved in the making of such a film, or filmed various of their killings. However, those claims were never proven since those alleged tapes were never found.
We all have a crazy friend who claims he saw or knows someone who saw an actual snuff film, but the actual chances are small:
There are thousands of alleged Snuff Movies circulating, which I can guarantee you are all fake.  The most famous cases of films being mistaken for real are the Guinea Pig films, a Japanese series of staged murders and torture made to look as realistic as possible, with the use of shaky cameras to give it an additional amateurish touch. Even though they are fake it is said that at least two were based on actual Snuff movies, and their authenticity even fooled actor Charlie Sheen.
Another example is The August Underground series. Again, like The Guinea Pig films, they are shot with a shaky hand-held camcorder but with expensive special effects to make all the killings look like real "snuffing."
In 1978 a Film called Faces of Death was released, the closest thing to an actual Snuff movie you can legally buy on DVD. Half of the film and most scenes of human death are obviously fake, the other half is real footage of Napalm bombings, the Vietnam war, Holocaust footage, unreleased "too gory for TV" news material and genuine deaths of animals, including seals being clubbed to death and a monkey being killed in a gourmet restaurant.
It was also believed for a time that all the actors in Cannibal Holocaust were slaughtered for the sake of the movie, until the director and cast showed up in court to prove it was all just good special effects!
But it's not just underground films that are doing their best to cash in on realistic looking killings: societies fascination with gore and death has led to a number of sick (yet mostly just plain stupid) Slasher films, resembling Snuff or the basic idea what people imagine Snuff would look like. Some newest examples are The Hostel (2005) and Cinema Newcomer; The Vacancy (2007) starring Rob Wilson who discovers a video camera in his hotel room and quickly realizes he is going to be victim in a Snuff Film
Back to the original question: Do real Snuff Films exist?
The answer is— of course snuff films do exist! Think of the craziest or sickest thing you can imagine and I tell you it has already been put in practice by some sick human being!
Authorities believe that approximately 3000 Snuff Films have been made or attempted to be made. It is however unknown how many copies are circulating at this moment. Snuff is for certain more than just an Urban Legend— only a few years ago two guys were arrested for killing a porn star and filming her death in hope to sell the video. Also, many serial killers were reported to film or take photographs of their killings as a keepsake. Ian Brady and Myra Hindley recorded the death whimpers of their victims and later listened to them while making love.
Snuff sadly does exist, even though those tapes barely leak into the public's eye. That you can't find anything when you Google "Snuff" doesn't mean it's all just a phony hype! How hard is it to hide something as small as a videotape? Only the mass publication of Snuff does not exist—so far.
But why would anyone want to see a Snuff Film? Well, why did people go to stadiums to see Gladiators battle till death or go to marketplaces to throw rocks at women?
Cinema has become our modern Gladiator Stadium, but for some, actors pretending to be dead just isn't enough.
Snuff in my eyes is not far away from Happy Slapping or bum fights. Maybe it's just our nature: we have lost all morality, or any kind of sympathy for our fellow human beings.
You want to see "the stuff of snuff"… it's everywhere and thanks to the Internet, accessible to nearly everyone. Or are you so jaded and ignorant not to see it when it's in front of your eyes? The hanging of Saddam Hussein is a prime example. A human being (no matter how evil he was) is mocked and hung, and the video is sent around as a gag on cell phones and YouTube! The same happened with a Russian soldier who was captured and killed by Chechen rebels in 1996.
For those that haven't seen the video here is the Wikipedia entry:
"The video has become famous from being circulated on the Internet and it has been considered one of the most gruesome videos available, sometimes giving viewers nausea or nightmares. Especially disconcerting is the audio. The screams of the soldier change to an inhuman pitch as his vocal chords are severed. Also the gurgling sound the soldier makes as he is dying, which many viewers are said to remember more than the video component itself.
The question remains—what does this all show us about ourselves? Is it a reflection in a mirror that is severely cracked?
|
