Green Inferno, The : Movie Review


The Green Inferno (2013) - Movie Poster
"The Green Inferno," Eli Roth's first feature directorial effort since 2007's "Hostel Part II," has navigated rocky terrain on its way to being viewed by a wide audience. Shot in the fall of 2012 and premiering the following year at the Toronto Film Festival, the film saw its planned theatrical release in September 2014 crumble when original distributor Open Road Films abruptly yanked it from their schedule due to production company Worldview Entertainment's financial difficulties. On the shelf for a few months before producer Jason Blum picked it up, the picture was finally positioned as the inaugural release of Blumhouse Productions' multi-platform arm Blumhouse Tilt (nurturing more extreme, less conventionally mainstream titles). Now, three years after going before the cameras, "The Green Inferno" is finally seeing the light of day through new distributor Universal Pictures.

If 2006's gripping, largely misunderstood "Hostel" served as a lacerating comment on Ugly Americanism and fears of the unknown, balancing unthinkably horrific situations with perverse satire and astutely written characters, "The Green Inferno" is simply appallingly xenophobic. It poses as satire but falls on the side of smarmy, distasteful caricature. The grossly entitled, strictly one-note characters are insufferable to a fault. The exotic location lensing in Peru and Chile by cinematographer Antonio Quercio elevates the film's production values, but regrettably serves a script from Roth and Guillermo Amoedo doused in ignorance and flippancy. Even the acting is grating and amateurish, a far cry from the shattering performances from Derek Richardson in "Hostel" and Heather Matarazzo in "Hostel Part II."

See Dustin Putman, TheFilmFile.com. for full review

Author : Dustin Putman, TheFilmFile.com.