Cannibal Holocaust vs. Men Behind The Sun
 

Not too long ago I decided to watch 2 of the more controversial horror films out there; Cannibal Holocaust and Men Behind The Sun.
Before I say anything else, both films feature non-simulated animal killings which I feel crosses the line to unacceptable, so I could never, in good conscience, recommend that anyone buy these films.
Anyway, I'll start with Cannibal Holocaust. This is a very well made film. If the idea of having the real animal killings was to make the rest of it seem more real, then the filmmaker succeeded. There seemed to be a (somewhat) legitimate reason behind why he did what he did, so it wasn't pure exploitation.
Which brings me to Men Behind The Sun. This film is reprehensible on many different levels. I realize the filmmaker was trying to make us aware of the horrors that the Japanese inflicted on the Chinese during WWII, but it was done in such a tasteless, exploitative way that I felt his point was lost. The scene of the cat being devoured by starving rats (which occurred rather late in the film) added nothing to the story, and I swear was only put there for the director's own amusement.
If you can get past the animal killing issue, I would say Cannibal Holocaust was worthwhile, but Men Behind The Sun was just exploitative garbage.

I like both films - CH is head+shoulders above everything else in the genre. I love the whole found fottage concept and the way it manipulates the viewer. Though I don't condone the animal killing I don't see it as a big an issue as alot of people make out and apprently the turtle was eaten afterwards...There is a SUpermarket near me (or House of DEath as I like to call it :-) which is filled with the results of animal cruelty (veal or foie gras anyone) and people don't really bat an eyelid.....

Though MBTS is tcheapand exploitative I still enjoyed it - the cat scene is of course reprehensible (made worse as a cat is in the cute and intelligent list of animals unlike the turtle in CH). The 3rd sequal Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre is actually a better film and not as trashy (if you can put up with the buck teeth and jamjar glasses stereotyping of the Japanese). Forget 2+3 as they made by the wonderfully talented Godfrey Ho....

If you do some research most people actually say that the cat wasnt really killed. I'm not sure either way but there are a lot of people that claim it was just trick shooting. Either way its a pretty fucked up movie.

I use to hate Exploitative movies too, but then I learned that it isn't all bad, infact it can be down right fun sometimes (I.E. The Wizard of Gore, Bad Taste, Dead Alive, and other such movies). To me, the anumal thing is not an issue with me, because I much prefer the idea of an animal being killed on screen than a human (and I don't buy into that whole "CH is a snuff film" stuff).

Either way, with a review like that, I have to watch these movies now haha.

I also enjoyed Bad Taste and Dead Alive; I'm not squeamish about movie violence. There is a huge difference between killing an animal for real and having multiple people simulated being run over with a lawn mower.
I have done research on Men Behind The Sun and the cat scene, and get many conflicting stories. Having watched the movie, I would say it looked pretty real.

I'm definitely with you on both films, WickerFan.

Backed.

.........

Oddly enough, I've never actually sat down and watched all of CH. I'll have to do so in the near future.

As for Men Behind the Sun, I've read a couple of books on Unit 731. The movie is pretty spot on. Is it over the top? Is it absolutely disgusting? Is it beyond what many people would think possible for one human to do to another? Yes. Yes. Yes. But it's pretty much well the truth of what happened. Gore-wise, I don't really see much difference between Men Behind the Sun and something like the torture scenes in Hostel, Saw, etc. The only real difference is that with those movies you know there's no truth behind them. It's all make-believe. With Men Behind the Sun though, you know there's some very solid truth behind it. And not "truth" like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Blair Witch, but actual documented proof. That gives the movie far more weight that can't easily be forgotten.

In regards to the animal violence in each film, it was a different time. Getting overly upset about it now is like getting in a snit about the use of the word "nigger" in Tom Sawyer. Today it's unheard of to use the word so blatantly, but at the time it was a common word that didn't have near the connotations and history that it does now. Would I support a movie made now that had real killing of live animals? No. Absolutely not. Will I watch a movie made decades ago that does? Sure. It's not like I payed anything to have a copy of either Cannibal Holocaust or Men Behind the Sun anyway.

And like Ferox13 alluded to, if you eat or use animal products, you really have no ground to stand on when it comes to opposing the death of animals in film. You can't have it both ways. You can't realistically sit there eating a bacon double-cheeseburger and also complain about an animal being killed for a movie.

As I said, I thought Cannibal Holocaust was a very well made film. As horrific as it was to watch the animal killings, there was motive and logic behind their use. The cat killing in Men Behind The Sun just seemed gratuitous.

There are lots of films about past war atrocities some good, some bad. Men Behind The Sun falls in the latter category.

The thing is though, I don't think that a movie specifically about Unit 731 could be made and be nearly as effective without going to extremes. It's kind of a sad thing, but for quite a few people out there pain and suffering inflicted upon humans is quite tolerable. Inflict that same pain and suffering upon a cute animal and all hell breaks loose. So the cat scene in Men Behind the Sun isn't really that gratuitous. For the people who watch the film and maybe aren't that fazed by what's being done to the humans, possibly the scene with the cat will reinforce just how cruel the Japanese were. Many people can accept people being tortured in the name of war, but cute fuzzy animals? No way. A soldier torturing an enemy can be viewed as just doing his job as a soldier. A soldier torturing a cute fuzzy cat can typically only be seen as a sadist. That scene again, just a reinforcement of what kind of people Unit 731 were. Is it over the top? For sure, but I wouldn't call it unnecessary or out of place at all in the film.