Video Nasty #25 : Snuff

'Cut & Shut' is a term used to describe a composite automobile that has been created by welding two cars, often write-offs, together. Snuff is a 'Cut & Shut' film, 90% a low budget unsuccessful horror flick, and 10% a freshly shot piece of marketing genius. It's essentially a Lada with the rear end of a Lexus.

In 1971 Roberta and Michael Findlay wrote and directed Slaughter, a low budget horror film inspired by the Manson Family murders and shot in Argentina. The film achieved little distribution and quickly disappeared into the obscurity it probably deserved. Five years later, to the surprise of the Findlay's, Slaughter was re-released in cinemas with a new ending and title - Snuff.

Snuff was the illegitimate child of soft-core film producer Allan Shackleton. After reading lurid tales of real-life murder films shot in South America, Shackleton spotted an opportunity to exploit the outrage and perverse interest in these so-called 'Snuff' movies. He knew that if he could release a film and convince the right people it was a real snuff movie the inevitable moral backlash would create free publicity and an 'event movie' that will have curious punters flocking to their local grindhouse. But Shackleton still needed a film, and how could a mock Snuff movie be dragged out for more than five minutes without the viewer, after the initial burst of adrenaline and curiosity, suddenly realise that what they were watching wasn't only disgusting but, frankly, boring? Shackleton then devised his master stroke - take an existing, preferably cheap film and after ninety minutes insert a new ending, purportedly real footage of the crew killing one of the cast members. The film would keep the audience in the cinema for ninety minutes, eager to see the hyped finale, and most importantly, the whole venture will be extremely cheap. Shackleton choose Slaughter, presumably because it did very little business on its original release and, consistent with the Snuff legend, was shot in South America.

On release Shackleton hired fake protesters to hook the media, which led to legitimate protests from Women Against Pornography. The Findlay's, obviously pissed with the fact Shackleton managed to make good money from their crappy movie, sued and settled out of court. Bizarrely, Michael Findlay later died on top of an NYC skyscraper from lacerations caused by a tipping helicopter's blades.


Slaughter, or what of it is in Snuff, is a badly scripted, badly shot, badly scored, badly dubbed, badly acted, yet bizarrely watchable film. The film follows Satarn (subtle), the male leader of an otherwise all-female cult. His followers will do anything to apease him, which alternates between sadist sexual favours and murder. It's essentially male wish-fulfilment bullshit. The misogyny runs through out the film, a later scene having a nymph explain that her sexual needs are the result of being repeatedly raped as a child, something she partially enjoyed. Despite the moral questionability of the film, it's difficult to be offended by something so poorly put together.

And then Slaughter abruptly and prematurely ends, leading into the newly filmed Snuff footage. Presumably there were only a few minutes of Slaughter left, which annoyed me. Despite it making as much sense as the appeal of colonic irrigation, I actually wanted some closure on the mad storyline.

The new footage is, compared to Slaughter at least, quite convincing. This is aided by the jaring and slightly disorientating sudden cut, dragging the viewer through the fourth wall, with crew and lighting now visible. One of the actresses from Slaughter (not actually the same actress, but lets ignore that) is led to a bed by a crew member and convinced to 'fool around', all under the watchful eye of at least four crew members, one of them still filming. The women is quickly tied down and with the acquiescence of the crew she has a few fingertips snipped, her hand jigsawed and finally her stomach disembowelled. At this point the film seemingly runs out and the screen is left a brilliant white, with the sound of crew members planning their escape fading to silence.


The idea is pretty smart, and the execution (sorry, bad pun) isn't too bad. Unfortunately, there's numerous indicators that give the game away. Ignoring the normal found-footage screw-up of multiple inexplicable camera angles, the effects just aren't good enough. During the disembowelment the woman's chest is ridiculously elongated and where she ends and the special effect stomach begins is blatant. Despite this many swallowed the lie whole, and this inevitably led to its banning in the UK.

Snuff is an intriguing yet ultimately dull film. One has to admire the audacity of Shackleton's plan, and for that the film deserves at least some of its infamy. Much like Faces of Death, the film's legacy is in the camp-fire stories of real snuff films it has perpetuated.