subject: Snuff Films: Are They Real? [print this page] Snuff Films: Are They Real? Snuff Films: Are They Real?
Snuff films, over the years, have been a subject of controversy. Much has been said and written about snuff films being real or not. Many people still do not know what these actually are, although they may have watched some so called snuff films. You can even find people's personal notions about snuff films on the internet. Most of them believe that these are unreal and mere publicity gimmicks and notorious acts of playing with public's emotions and fantasies. It is believed that there are some filmmakers who exploit the idea of snuff films to make money.
A snuff film is said to be a film that depicts actual actresses being brutally murdered, basically stabbed or shot in the head, without the use of any special effects. Supposedly, some people find these films extremely thrilling. Whether these acts are real or not, these are given a life like depiction on screen influencing the intrinsic desire of a group of people to watch violent scenes. Many snuff films also depict extreme sexual violence ending with the purported murder of the submissive. It is, however, important to note that many filmmakers claim to have made snuff films but the evidence backing the claim is still lacking. This leads to the idea that the whole thing is urban legend and no such movie was ever made.
The concept of snuff films came to light in 1976 when a film with the same name was released. The film was made by Michael and Roberta Findlay and remained a subject of debate for a long time as to whether the acts shown in the film were real or fake. The film was later resurrected by Allan Shackelton who named it Slaughter'. Taking advantage of the earnestness among general public, he retooled the film by imparting it a new look and by adding provocative ending shots to it. He even hired actors to stage protest against the film to raise people's curiosity about the content of the film. The film got mixed response with many people rushing to cinema halls to watch it while others denounced it completely.
A number of slasher movies were later made by filmmakers who wanted to explore the idea of snuff films. Many documentary films also came up showing footages of accidental deaths and real executions. However, these typically may not be called snuff films on the basis of their definition.
Many people strongly believe that snuff films have been made and are still made in the underbelly of the porn industry. On the other hand, disbelievers maintain that these are nothing but hoaxes as found out during various investigations conducted by law enforcement agencies for many such films. However, there have been instances when some people, mainly terrorist bodies, have put up videos on the Internet showing themselves actually beheading their victims. In another incident, Leonard Lake and Charles Ng are said to have recorded torture being inflicted by them on some women that were later killed by them as shown in the video.
