Riz Ortolani - Theme from Cannibal Holocaust

The archetypical horror film score is one that sets out to scare, heightening the tension felt by those on-screen as well as in the theatre. John Carpenter’s piano-centric score for Halloween comes to mind, with the quirky 5/4 time signature of the main motif and the incidental music contributing to a slow sense of dread that pays off in a big way at the film’s climax. Other soundtracks, such as Goblin’s work on Dario Argento’s Suspiria (featured here: http://bit.ly/wPkSBb), beat you over the head to a degree, reflecting the action and increasing madness of the film.

Cannibal Holocaust, Ruggero Deodato’s classic of mondo cinema, has a score that bucks the trend. Riz Ortolani (recently featured on the Drive soundtrack), contributes music that instills neither dread nor outright terror, but disquiet instead. The film itself is horrific. Featuring realistic amputations, outstanding gore and make-up direction, and actual animal deaths (a major point of contention for the film’s detractors), the horror is laid out right on the screen. The disquiet comes from the music, featuring heavy-handed synth motifs when things are about to get particularly gruesome. Juxtaposed against that, however, is the main theme, a blend of synthesizers and acoustic guitars seemingly out of place in such a film.

We are introduced to the theme during the film’s opening credits. Consisting of aerial shots of the Amazon River, the scene is one of tranquil greenery, nothing indicative of the “Holocaust” to come. The music seems more befitting a David Attenborough documentary than a noted gore-fest. That’s where the disquiet comes in.

The theme is used, to great effect, several times throughout Cannibal Holocaust. A scene where a group of natives are burned alive by documentarians builds to an intense sonic peak, which then abruptly switches to the main theme. The screams of a tribe being immolated are nearly drowned out by the unsettling beauty of the soundtrack. As the fires choke out signs of life, a cameraman cries with unfettered glee, “It’s BEAUTIFUL” as dozens of so-called “savages” are burned for this so-called documentary. In this moment you forget you’re watching a film, and for a split second, you realize the scene truly is beautiful. The film questions, somewhat heavy handedly, “who the real cannibals are”, but it’s moments like these that make the viewer the savage, at best a morally suspect observer to the slaughter if not outright sharing the jubilance of the main characters.

The film’s notoriety has only grown with time, as has its fan base.  The staged “deaths” of the four leads were deemed to be so life-like that director Deodato was brought to Italian court with his actors to prove that they were not actually murdered for the film.  Having lurked in the shadows for decades, one had to turn to Google Video or find a particularly well-stocked video store to acquire a copy of the film. Recent years have seen high quality DVD and CD releases for the movie and its soundtrack, making it easier than ever to become a Cannibal Holocaust devotee. In any case, give Ortolani’s classic theme a listen (we’ll feature more of Riz’s work in the near future) and for the less squeamish among us, give the flick a try too. I can assure it will stick with you, for better or for worse.