Eli Roth totes buckets of blood to the Peruvian Amazon.
Suffice to say, Eli Roth movies are not for the faint of heart. If you’ve seen Cabin Fever or Hostels I and II, then you know what you’re getting into with the filmmaker’s latest gore-fest The Green Inferno. But for fans of Roth’s distinct — dare we say, gleeful — brand of torture porn, the film’s onslaught of skin-flaying, eye-gouging and dismemberment come in no small measure, although it takes some time in getting there.
While not a direct response to the infamous Kony 2012 video, The Green Inferno does play with that idea of modern “slacktivism” — the well-meaning but ultimately pointless social media reaction to global catastrophes. Here, the story follows a group of college students who travel to the Amazon to save the rainforest and protect a local tribe from being driven out of their homes. However, the the trip quickly turns deadly when the students’ plane crashes near the tribe’s settlement. As punishment for “invading” their land, the survivors are captured and locked away in a cage to be eaten by the tribespeople, one by one.
We want to hear it.
Like Roth’s previous work, The Green Inferno doesn’t shy away from genre conventions. In fact, it embraces them. Very early on, we’re able to peg who’s who in the roster: you have Justine (Lorenza Izzo) the wide-eyed idealist (read: the virgin), Jonah (Aaron Burns) the all-around “nice guy,” Lars (Daryl Sabara) the stoner dude, Amy (Kirby Bliss Blanton) the worrywart; and Alejandro (Ariel Levy) the de facto leader/would-be Jason Russell. All of these archetypes are played to perfection by their respective performers, and horror fans will no doubt get a kick out of their zany, do-or-die attempts to “out-smart” the cannibals.
We want to hear it.
That said, it’s a good 45 minutes or so before the students arrive at the tribal village. Prior to that, we follow Justine through her entire transformation from an apathetic college freshman to a bleeding-heart advocate for change. This is a chore to watch at times, particularly early on as Justine weighs the pros and cons of joining Alejandro on his trip. Granted, there’s some good social commentary here, but The Green Inferno spends way too much time explaining its points rather than showing them. Honestly, the trailer does a better job of setting up the story in an effective way. So there’s a lot of “fat to trim,” so to speak.
But if there’s one thing Roth is a master at, it’s stirring up regret. “If only we hadn’t come to this cabin!” “If only we hadn’t gone backpacking through Europe!” “If only we hadn’t decided to help this indigenous tribe of cannibals!” But despite the group’s naiveté and first-world vanity, you really do feel for Justine and her merry band of slacktivists, who, at the end of the day, were only just trying to help. As such, the kills are often hard to watch, both in terms of their graphic violence and the fact that, “Hey, I kind of liked what’s-his-name!”
We want to hear it.
Beyond that, the visuals are really great. The film was shot on-location in Peru and Chile, which definitely adds to the isolation and hopelessness. But while there are tons of hair-raising moments and fun set pieces, the ending does leave something to be desired. Without giving anything away, it’s kind of like the ending of Hostel II, where the tables are turned in a way that isn’t totally convincing. But I guess that makes sense given that Green Inferno is described as the third installment of Roth’s “Travel Trilogy.” There’s also a hint at a potential sequel during the credits, which could potentially pick up on that final thread.
The Green Inferno won’t be changing any minds about Eli Roth, but fans of his work will feel right at home squirming through another one of his blood-soaked frenzies. In addition to offering plenty of good kills, the film’s social commentary is particularly timely, given our culture’s ever-increasing dependence on social media and smartphones. While The Green Inferno is sluggish to start, it’s non-stop thrills after first blood.
