The Top 10 Best Cannibalism Movies
These Cannibalism Movies Might Kill Your Appetite.
After the great COVID-19 self-isolation of 2020, I wouldn’t blame you if you thought your roommate started to look a bit tasty after week 3. That’s why I’ve decided to pull together a list of the best cannibalism movies to hopefully convince you not to eat them, no matter how much they look like a walking-talking hot dog. Consuming human flesh (or long pig as some people call it) is considered taboo, which is probably why cannibalism movies are always so disturbing. Seriously, try to think of one family-friendly cannibalism movie you’ve ever seen. Spoiler alert: There are none, and you won’t find one on the list below. The only rule for the films on this list is they had to either show someone actually consuming human flesh or specifically refer to someone as a cannibal, and it has to have an impact on the plot as well (oh, and zombies don’t count). So, no offhandedly calling someone a cannibal and then never coming back to it again. With that, I bid you Bon appetite before you dive into this week’s top 10 list!
10. Alive
I’m going to ease into the man munching of this list by kicking it off with the iconic survival film, Alive. The movie is based on the true story of a rugby team whose plane crashes in the Andes mountain. They try to hold out as long as they can but, trapped on a mountain in freezing conditions, things aren’t looking good for them. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they barely have any food, and it looks like help won’t be coming anytime soon. Luckily, they’ve got two dead pilots just sitting there looking like a couple of snacks. After a long debate, they decide to have some captain and co-captain tartare in order to gain the strength needed to go for help. This is one of the few times in cinema that cannibalism doesn’t end badly. Still, I wouldn’t recommend it.
9. Sweeny Todd: The Demon Butcher of Fleet Street
I’m pretty sure that this is the only cannibalism movie that also happens to be a musical. Tim Burton brings his two favorite stars (Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter) to tell the tale of a Victorian serial killer who murdered his victims with a straight razor. As luck would have it, he befriends a morally flexible meat pie maker (the English aren’t well known for the cuisine) who offers to help dispose of the bodies. Pretty soon her meat pies are the toast of the town, and people are lining up to get a bite. As gross as it is, I have to applaud their savvy business model. Despite being a dark and twisted musical, Sweeney Todd isn’t the most horrifying musical I’ve seen on the big screen.
8. Ravenous
One of the most infamous cases of cannibalism in the United States was the Donner Party. So it’s no wonder that one of the best cannibalism movies was set during the 1840s in the Sierra Nevadas. It’s a darkly satirical take on the subject as a mysterious stranger shows up at a remote military outpost with his tale of woe as he and his companions were trapped in a blizzard and reduced to cannibalism. Turns out that human flesh is a bit addictive and has supernatural effects on those who consume it turning them into metaphorical beasts (like the legend of the Wendigo). Set in a time before phones and the internet, there’s no way for them to call for help or even know if anyone is who they claim to be. As the body count rises, desperate times soon call for desperate measures.
7. Raw
One of the most used tropes in horror are colorful metaphors for a young woman’s sexual awakening/maturity. Raw is one of the more recently released cannibalism movies on this list and features a vegetarian girl developing a ravenous taste for flesh. It starts off small, as she’s put through a hazing incident that splatters her with blood and forces her to eat meat for the first time in her life. Soon intense cravings hit her, and her desire for meat starts to grow exponentially. It’s only a matter of time before she is eventually driven to take a bite out of someone and then things get really messed up. Raw is clearly a metaphor for college sexual experimentation and budding bi/lesbian feelings finally having a chance to blossom. It’s definitely one of the more tasteful and artistic cannibalism movies on this list.
6. Cannibal Holocaust
This is the granddaddy of all cannibalism movies. Italy was a crazy hotbed of horror activity in the 80s (mostly because they would ignore copyright laws and rip off/ride the coattails of American films to make money). One of the most controversial was Cannibal Holocaust. The film features an anthropologist searching for a team of documentary filmmakers who disappeared in the Amazon. It seems they ran into an undiscovered tribe of cannibals and were promptly eaten. At least, that’s what it looks like at first. Upon review of the footage, the documentarians were staging sadistic incidents with the tribes to get “the money shot.” It’s a grotesque flick that was accused at one point of being a snuff film because of how convincing the gore was. Don’t watch this on a full stomach (especially if you’ve been eating long pig).