Snuff (1976)

Director: Michael Findlay

Starring: Argentines

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: A film that could only be made in South America, where life is CHEAP!

Plot: A so-called "snuff" movie involving the exploits of a cult leader leading a gang of bikers in a series of supposedly real killings on film.

My Rating: 5.5/10

Would I watch it again? It could happen.

#213 on Drive-In Delirium Volume 1 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)

It's called, SNUFF. It's purportedly got real killing in it. It's notorious. It's one of those films you seek out due to its reputation. It's all bullshit but oh, what a brilliant marketing campaign they had. Just watch the trailer.


The story goes that the producers of this film bought a cheap Argentinian slasher film called, THE SLAUGHTER (1971). They tacked on a newly filmed scene at the end and retitled it SNUFF. History was made. For the most part it's so-bad-it's-good. SNUFF opens with the guitar strains of a really good Wild Thing rip-off. I swore it was the real tune until it continued. This over traveling shots of hot chicks on motorcycles, inter cut with a drugged-out hippie broad. The biker chicks get to their destination and the three of them go looking for the missing member who's doped-up and holding out on them. Passed out, they fire a pistol beside her ear to wake her up. OUCH!


Well, it looks like they're all in a cult because their cult leader, Satan (pronounced like "Sahtahn", shows up and he gets Suzanna to start to cuttin' on the toes of the doped-up broad! It must not feel too bad because the girl getting tortured is acting like she's having an orgasm.


Cut to Teri, an actress of some reputation, who flys into town with her man, Max (who's REALLY badly dubbed). Max splits and Teri dials up Horst, a wealthy playboy/boytoy, for a booty call. Well Horst is already bangin' Angelica. She's in the cult, too, but we don't know it yet. OOOPS! Spoilers! Horst treats her like dirt talking about how great it is that Teri's in town.

"Oh, Angelica. You're so frigid."

Teri and Horst go for a boat ride while Satan's getting his hot cult bitches together for some skinny dipping. It's important to point out that his voice over tells of his plan to have Angelica have a love child of sorts with Horst so he can use it for a sacrifice. But with Teri in the way this could prove difficult. Who cares. There's naked girls frolicking in the river.


Some guy ends up dead and the detective on the case is questioning Teri. Horst's pop shows up and it seems Horst has a problem with how his family's obtained their wealth. Oh, please. The money's great 'cause it's gettin' you laid but you have to show some kind of moral high ground in front of the chick you're bangin'?

OK, so Angelica isn't in the cult just yet but she desperately wants to be. She must submit to Satan to complete the initiation while the girls watch. Naturally. I'm gonna start my own fucking cult. If this film isn't incentive enough I don't know what is.


Hmmmm...what to do next...let's kill some people!

They start by offing the folks at a gas station, including a kid!!!! AWESOME! All of this behind that great guitar Wild Thing ripoff from the beginning.


WTF? We're treated to a flashback moment from one of the girls about her abusive past. I guess this is thrown in for us to get some justification on why she feels the need to be a part of this cult or something.


Then it's back to killing folks. They make their way to Horst's family estate where the butler meets the girls at the front gate. He's knifed and now they're inside.




Horst is getting to know Teri while some creepy guy watches from above...


WHACK! Teri's dead and then the peeping tom snuffs it....





Horst breaks loose with the Ginsu Gals in hot pursuit...


He must've been slow as fuck 'cause the very next scene has him tied to a tree...to be whipped!


OK so he's presumed done. They run upstairs to the father's bedroom and knife torture his pregger wife...


He freaks out and has a heart attack...caused by the sudden onset of lead!






OK, so now we're one hour and fourteen minutes into this one hour and twenty minute movie and I've yet to see anything remotely close to being anything like a snuff film. That's when we get this...


It seems we've been watching a movie being made but didn't know it. So then you've got one of the camera crew telling another how that gory scene really turned him on and she reciprocates. We've got some classic dialogue here.


Dude: That was dynamite. That was a gory scene. That really turned me on.
Chick: Really?
Dude: Yeah!
Chick: It turned me on, too.
Dude: Did it really?
Chick: Yeah
Dude: I tell ya...listen. Why don't...why don't you and I go over to the bed and we'll get turned on, turn each other on, huh?
Chick: With all these people watching?
Dude: In just a minute they're going to be gone.
Chick: But they're still here.
Dude: Aw, come on.
Chick: Naw.
Dude: Come on.


Smooching commences. You'll notice he's got a knife in his left hand. When she realizes they're filming it she starts to struggle. Game's over kind of thing. Geez if I had a nickel...




You can hear the cameraman say, "Hold her down" and whatnot, adding to the realism. Then we're treated to the 'cutting O the finger'...




Then the jigsaw handjob...



(nice touch having the fingers twitch, btw)

Hey, look! Her severed finger from her left hand is back on!


And just when she's gutted, the film runs out and you hear a voice say, "Shit! We've run out of film. Shit!" and another voice chimes in with, "Did'ya get it? Did ya get it all?" with the first voice back with, "We got it all. Let's get outta here." leaving with some heavy breathing for a second or two.






OK, now this ending was pretty fucking cool and it, naturally, takes you out of the film as it's completely unexpected. Major points there but where they had a truly great exploitative grindhouse-ian idea, they didn't go far enough. They should have used a single camera instead of at least two, as there are coverage shots, and they should've done a little better job of hiding the phoniness of some of the gore scenes. They were so close. You will watch this and know it's not real. That's probably because we're 34 years removed from it (and have seen so much since) but then it's also because they didn't do a good enough job of covering it up. Had they gone those extra few steps it would have been vastly improved. But then what the fuck do I know? They're marketing campaign succeeded. My nitpicking wouldn't have made a bit of difference or have sold one more ticket.

Overall it's lame but if you're into the Charles Manson type murder pictures or just for curiosity's sake, check it out. It's not nearly as bad as the IMDB rating of 2.6 suggests. You get some bad acting, worse dubbing and some topless cult honeys tossed with a bit of torture, kills and gore. Do you really need more of a reason despite it's lack of living up to its reputation?