10 Movies With Creepy On-Set Stories

8. Real Animal (And Human) Cruelty - Cannibal Holocaust

Ruggero Deodato's classic 1980 horror flick is infamous less for its scenes of human torture but more for the very real scenes of animal cruelty, causing the film to be both censored and banned in a number of countries, and even director Deodato has stated that " was stupid to introduce animals". Seven animals were killed during the production: a coatimundi, a turtle, a spider, a snake, two monkeys (the scene was shot twice), and a pig, and due to the movie's enduring status as an exploitation film, these deaths are seen as unnecessary, even if the local tribespeople did in fact eat both of the monkeys. As for the humans, Deodato was referred to as a "sadist" by a member of the cast, treating the actors (particularly the natives, who were unpaid for their work) abusively. Several actors were extremely distressed by being asked to kill animals, and Deodato also bullied actress Francesca Ciardi into appearing nude. In addition to all this, Deodato was dragged in front of the Italian courts post-release for the belief of many that Cannibal Holocaust was in fact a snuff film, and only when he produced the four principal actors alive and well were the obscenity and murder charges dropped. Were the animal torture scenes necessary? Not really. Did Deodato's abuse of his cast help intensify the terror? Probably.