The Green Inferno -2013-
In the landscape of modern horror, few directors are as synonymous with visceral, unapologetic gore as Eli Roth. Following the cult success of Hostel (2005) and its sequel, Roth took nearly a decade to return to the director’s chair for a feature-length project. The result, The Green Inferno, is a brutal, politically charged, and deeply controversial homage to the infamous "cannibal boom" of the late 1970s and early 1980s—most notably Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust (1980).
Released initially on the festival circuit in 2013 before a limited theatrical run in 2015, the film remains a litmus test for hardcore horror fans: a savage journey into the heart of darkness, the Amazon, and the limits of human endurance.
“The Green Inferno” (2013) is a visceral, divisive shock-horror film from director Eli Roth that trades subtlety for spectacle. Designed as both homage and provocation, the movie revives exploitation-horror tropes—gritty survival drama, sensationalized cultural clash, and extreme body horror—while attempting to interrogate Western activism and cinematic voyeurism. The result is a film that many viewers find compellingly bold and others find morally uncomfortable.
The Green Inferno did not start a new cannibal revival (a proposed sequel, The Green Inferno 2, was produced without Roth’s direct involvement and released in 2015 to poor reviews). However, it cemented Eli Roth’s reputation as a preservationist of extreme cinema. By remixing the tropes of Deodato and Umberto Lenzi for a post-9/11, social-media-obsessed audience, Roth forced a new generation to confront the ethical questions of the original cannibal films: Are we any more civilized than the "savages" on screen?
For fans of unrated, uncompromising horror, The Green Inferno is a must-watch—a fever dream of blood, bamboo, and bad decisions. For everyone else, it’s a reminder that some movies are designed not to entertain, but to scar.
Final Verdict: A savage, problematic, and undeniably effective piece of grindhouse horror. Not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.
Rating: R (for aberrant violence, disturbing gore, language, sexual content, and drug use)
Run Time: 100 minutes
Streaming Availability: Often rotates on Shudder, AMC+, and for digital rental.
The Green Inferno (2013): Horror or Social Satire? Directed by Eli Roth, The Green Inferno is a brutal homage to the Italian cannibal films of the late '70s and early '80s, specifically referencing Cannibal Holocaust. Though it premiered at film festivals in 2013, it faced significant distribution delays, finally reaching a wider audience in late 2015. The Plot: "Slacktivism" Meets Survival
The story follows Justine, a naive college freshman who joins a group of student activists. Their mission: fly to the Peruvian Amazon to protest a petrochemical company that is destroying the rainforest and threatening indigenous tribes. The Green Inferno -2013-
The irony is immediate. After a successful (and recorded-for-social-media) protest, their plane crash-lands in the jungle. The very tribe they were trying to save captures them, leading to a gore-soaked nightmare where the "protectors" become the prey. Key Themes & Controversy
Eli Roth's 'The Green Inferno' Gets Delayed Indefinitely - IMDb
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Revisiting Eli Roth’s The Green Inferno (2013)
If there is one thing Eli Roth knows how to do, it is making an audience squirm. Released in 2013 (though delayed for wide release until 2015), The Green Inferno is Roth's blood-soaked love letter to the "cannibal boom" of the late ’70s and early ’80s. It’s a film that doesn't just want to scare you; it wants to turn your stomach. The Plot: Activism Meets the Abattoir
The story follows Justine (Lorenza Izzo), a naive college freshman who joins a group of student activists. Their mission? To travel from New York to the Amazon rainforest to protest a logging company threatening an indigenous tribe.
In a cruel twist of irony, their plane crash-lands in the jungle, and the survivors are captured by the very tribe they were trying to save. What follows is a brutal game of survival where the "civilized" world meets a society with very different culinary habits. A Homage to Horror History The Green Inferno EN – FEFFS
Released at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, Eli Roth’s The Green Inferno is a polarizing homage to the Italian cannibal exploitation boom of the late 1970s. After a two-year delay due to distribution challenges, it finally reached mainstream audiences in 2015, sparking fierce debate over its graphic gore and portrayal of indigenous cultures. Plot Summary: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
The film centers on Justine (Lorenza Izzo), a college freshman in New York who joins a group of student activists led by the charismatic but manipulative Alejandro (Ariel Levy). The group travels to the Peruvian Amazon to stage a protest against a petrochemical company that is clearing rainforest and displacing local tribes. In the landscape of modern horror, few directors
While their initial livestreamed protest is a success, their return flight ends in a catastrophic plane crash deep in the jungle. The survivors are soon captured by the very tribe they were trying to "save"—a group that practices ritualistic cannibalism. The activists are imprisoned in cages and subjected to horrifying violence, beginning with the brutal dismemberment and consumption of their peer, Jonah. Production and Inspirations
Director Eli Roth, known for his "torture porn" hits like Hostel, specifically cited Cannibal Holocaust (1980) as a primary inspiration. In a notable piece of production trivia, the film was shot on location in a remote Peruvian village where the inhabitants had never seen a movie. To explain the concept of filmmaking, Roth reportedly showed them a copy of Cannibal Holocaust, which the villagers apparently found to be a comedy.
Unlike its 1970s predecessors, The Green Inferno avoided real animal cruelty—a staple of the original subgenre—opting instead for high-end practical effects by Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger. Critical Reception and Themes
The film received a "Rotten" score of roughly 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics often divided between praising its visceral thrills and condemning its thin characters. However, it received high praise from horror legend Stephen King, who called it a "glorious throwback". Key themes explored in the film include:
Eli Roth’s The Green Inferno (2013) is a modern revitalization of the Italian "cannibal boom" of the late 1970s, specifically paying homage to Ruggero Deodato’s infamous Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
. Below is a developed essay outline and analysis focusing on its themes of "slacktivism," cultural clashing, and visceral horror.
Essay Title: The Price of Performance: "Slacktivism" and Savage Irony in The Green Inferno I. Introduction: The Return to the Jungle The Premise
: A group of idealistic student activists travels from New York to the Amazon to protect a vanishing tribe from a petrochemical company, only to be captured by the very people they intended to "save". The Homage : The film serves as a meticulous callback To understand the texture of The Green Inferno
to the "Mondo" horror style, utilizing realistic gore and remote locations to challenge the audience's comfort. The Green Inferno
uses the "cannibal" trope not just for shock value, but as a scathing critique of modern "slacktivism"—the shallow, performance-based activism that prioritizes social media validation over genuine cultural understanding. II. The Critique of "Slacktivism" Performative Activism
: The protagonist, Justine, and her peers are motivated as much by a desire for digital clout as by environmental justice. Roth highlights this by including the Twitter handles
of the cast in the credits, mirroring the characters' reliance on satellite phones and GPS to "map" their righteousness. The Leader as Charlatan
: Alejandro, the group’s charismatic leader, is eventually revealed to be a cynical manipulator. His "activism" is a front for corporate-funded sabotage, exposing the corruption that can hide behind modern social justice movements. III. Cultural Disconnect and Deconstruction
Filmed in a single, shaky long take, the crash sequence is genuinely disorienting. Roth uses sound design—screaming engines, snapping bones, the roar of the jungle—to create immediate chaos.
Critics panned it as gratuitous torture porn, missing the satire. Audiences expecting Hostel’s gritty realism found cartoonish gore (a penis bitten off, ants eating a tied-up man). But that tonal clash is intentional—Roth makes the violence so over-the-top that the “serious” activist dialogue becomes absurd. The film is a rage comedy about liberal guilt, not a horror movie about Amazonian dangers.
To understand the texture of The Green Inferno -2013-, one must look at director Eli Roth’s production process. Roth (famous for Hostel and Cabin Fever) has never hidden his love for the 1970s and 80s Italian cannibal genre. He conceived The Green Inferno as the third film in an unofficial trilogy of "survival horror" alongside Hostel (torture tourism) and The Last Exorcism.
The title itself is a direct nod to the fictional documentary within Ruggero Deodato’s infamous Cannibal Holocaust (1980), where the lost filmmakers are found in the "Green Inferno."
“The Green Inferno” is not subtle, and it was never meant to be. It confronts viewers with the uglier layers of activism, representation, and the cinematic appetite for spectacle. Whether it succeeds as moral critique or fails as re-inscription of harmful tropes depends largely on the viewer’s tolerance for shock and willingness to engage with uncomfortable questions. As a piece of modern exploitation cinema, it’s a blunt instrument—crude, confrontational, and impossible to ignore.