People Who Eat PeopleThere are killers, and then there are those who cross all lines of human decency by consuming the flesh of their victims. Here are the grisly details.
January 19, 2023 3.6K votes 1.3K voters 216.1K views
Over 1.3K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of 18 Underrated Movies About Cannibalism
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Vote up the cannibalism movies that deserve another bite.
Cannibalism is one of the oldest and strongest cultural taboos we possess - and as such, it has been a ripe subject for storytelling and filmmaking for as long as stories have been told and films have been made. The cannibalism subgenre has given rise to plenty of classic films and long-running franchises, from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to the debonair cannibal antagonist of The Silence of the Lambs, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and everything in between. The cannibal clan of The Hills Have Eyes, possibly inspired by the real-life stories of Sawney Bean, have been the basis of two separate franchises, while the hillbilly cannibals of Wrong Turn have kept their franchise going strong for a half-dozen films or more. Italian filmmakers have turned this particular subgenre into a cottage industry, with flicks like Cannibal Holocaust so notorious that they need no introduction.
Alongside these well-known classics, however, there are plenty of other movies about cannibalism that are less famous but no less deserving of attention. Vote up the human-eating films that you think are worthy of a second course.
S. Craig Zahler's horror Western directorial debut may tread some problematic ground with its cannibalistic villains, but it also provides plenty of grisly set pieces and classic Western staples, supported by starring turns from Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, and others.
While Zahler had written plenty of screenplays and novels previously, the word-of-mouth generated by Bone Tomahawk helped propel him to a number of other film projects, including Brawl in Cell Block 99, a rebooted Puppet Master, and 2018's Dragged Across Concrete.
Antonia Bird's cult favorite from 1999 combines elements of the Donner Party and the story of real-life “Colorado Cannibal” Alferd Packer, along with a soupcon of wendigo myth to create a bizarre, disturbing, and often darkly comic portrait of frontier life, Manifest Destiny, and, of course, snowbound cannibalism.
With a surprisingly robust cast including Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, David Arquette, Jeffrey Jones, and others, Ravenous received a less-than-salutary release, but has benefitted from word of mouth ever since.
The 2010 Mexican horror flick about a cannibal family We Are What We Are took the horror world by storm for a brief moment, but for many, Jim Mickle's 2013 remake, which moves the action from Mexico to the Catskills, is actually the superior version of the story. It follows a deeply religious and isolated family who practice a sort of ritual cannibalism that is maybe also a genetic prerequisite for their continued survival, as the family is challenged and threatened both from within and from without.
By the time Motel Hell hit theaters in 1980 (and home video several years later), this story of a brother and sister duo whose hotel is stocked with smoked meats made from human travelers was seen as a satire of films like Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. According to Roger Ebert, “What Motel Hell brings to this genre is the refreshing sound of laughter.”
While it wasn't the first satirical cannibalism movie and it wouldn't be the last, its combo of gruesome subject matter and tongue-in-cheek are well worth a taste.
As kids, we all have suspicions or fears, at one time or another, that our parents are not what they seem. It only makes sense. After all, we're pretty much entirely reliant on them and at their mercy, yet what do we really know about their lives? It's these childhood fears that take center stage in Parents, in which a young boy comes to suspect that his seemingly perfect suburban parents are, in fact, dangerous cannibals.
Directed by legendary actor Bob Balaban, this horror comedy has become a satirical cult classic in the years since its release, and is certainly worthy of a second course.
This black comedy was a feature debut and breakout film for director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie, Alien: Resurrection) and received plenty of acclaim when it was first released. However, it has often been buried in the years since beneath the surrealist director's subsequent works.
Set in an apartment building in post-apocalyptic France, Delicatessen follows the various adventures and misadventures of the building's inhabitants as they acquire meat from a rather unscrupulous source - the butcher shop-owning landlord, who lures in targets and sells their meat to his residents.
