9. Apocalypse Now - Buffalo Decapitation
There's many horrors to see on Captain Willard's river journey in Francis Ford Coppola's take on Conrad's
Heart of Darkness. As the protagonist's boat winds it's way up river, the scenery becomes ever-more unpleasant, decorated at first with the hanging bodies of American servicemen, or severed heads on sticks. When the boat arrives at the ancient temple housing mad Colonel Kurtz - the mission's quarry - they are intercepted by a scary tribal cult. There's been plenty along the way that you could describe as horrific, and while Willard is held captive at the temple, more horrors are to come. There's plenty of arresting imagery in this depiction of war and the film does leave a lasting impression. But there's one scene above all others I personally wish I could unsee. It's a sacrificial rite, carried out on a buffalo by local tribesmen. As a crescendo of drumming builds, we see a frightened looking beast pulled into the scene: as the tension builds, a priest raises a big machete, dropping it in one swift movement onto the back of the animals neck. The decapitation is swift and death is instant as the creature buckles under its own weight. Then you realise you just saw an actual slaughter without effects - permissible only because Coppola filmed an actual ceremony, allowable in a documentary context. Considering Coppola also made
The Godfather - remember that real horses head? - and you see how the guy gets a kick out of throwing dead animal heads at us. I really wish he didn't (and hadn't) done that.