Editing Snuff film (section)

==In fiction==
{{see also|:Category:Films about snuff films}}
Since the concept became familiar to the general public, snuff films being made for profit or entertainment have been used as a core plot element or at least mentioned in numerous works of fiction, including the 1979 films ''[[Hardcore (1979 film)|Hardcore]]'' and ''[[Bloodline (1979 film)|Bloodline]]'', and [[Bret Easton Ellis]]'s 1985 novel ''[[Less than Zero (novel)|Less than Zero]]''. The making or discovery of one or several snuff films is the premise of various [[Horror film|horror]], [[Thriller film|thriller]] or [[Crime film|crime]] films, such as ''[[Last House on Dead End Street]]'' (1977),   ''[[Videodrome]]'' (1983), ''[[Tesis]]'' (1996), ''[[8mm (film)|8mm]]'' (1999), ''[[Vacancy (film)|Vacancy]]'' (2007), ''[[Snuff 102]]'' (2007), ''[[A Serbian Film]]'' (2010), ''[[Sinister (film)|Sinister]]'' (2012), ''[[The Counselor (film)|The Counselor]]'' (2013), ''[[Luther: The Fallen Sun]]'' (2023), and the episode "[[The Devil of Christmas]]" (2016) in the [[black comedy]] series ''[[Inside No. 9]]''. The 2003 video game ''[[Manhunt (video game)|Manhunt]]'' sees the main character being forced to participate in a series of snuff films to guarantee his freedom. The 2005 video game ''[[Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories]]'' features a mission titled "Snuff", where the main character kills a few gangsters while unknowingly being filmed for a snuff movie by a third party, which may be a reference to ''[[Manhunt (video game)|Manhunt]]''. Also, pretend snuff porn is sometimes filmed as a [[Sexual fetishism|fetish]].

Several horror films such as ''[[Cannibal Holocaust]]'' (1980) and ''[[August Underground]]'' (2001) have depicted "snuff movie" situations, coupled with [[Found footage (film technique)|found footage]] aesthetics used as a narrative device. Though some of these films have generated controversy as to their nature and content, none were, nor have officially purported to be, actual snuff movies.

===False snuff films===

====''Faces of Death''====
{{main article|Faces of Death}}
The 1978 pseudo-documentary film ''Faces of Death'', which spawned several sequels, is one of the films most commonly associated with the "snuff movie" concept, even though it was not produced by murderers nor clandestinely distributed. Purporting to be an educational film about [[death]], it mixed [[footage]] of actual deadly accidents, suicides, autopsies, or executions, with "outright fake scenes" obtained with the help of special effects.<ref name=snopesApril2021/>

====The ''Guinea Pig'' films====
{{Main article|Guinea Pig (film series)}}
The first two films in the Japanese ''Guinea Pig'' series, ''[[Guinea Pig: Devil's Experiment]]'' and ''[[Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood]]'' (both released in 1985) are designed to look like snuff films; the video is grainy and unsteady, as if recorded by amateurs, and extensive [[practical effects|practical]] and [[special effects]] are used to imitate such features as internal organs and graphic wounds. The sixth film in the series, ''Mermaid in a Manhole'' (1988), allegedly served as an inspiration for Japanese serial killer [[Tsutomu Miyazaki]], who murdered several preschool girls in the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/psychology/movies_made_me_kill/11.html
| title=Serial killer inspired by Guinea Pig films
| access-date=June 17, 2008
| publisher=guineapigfilms.com
| archive-date=February 10, 2015
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210051114/http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/psychology/movies_made_me_kill/11.html
| url-status=dead
}}</ref>

In 1991, actor [[Charlie Sheen]] became convinced that ''Flower of Flesh and Blood'' depicted an actual homicide and contacted the [[FBI]]. The FBI initiated an investigation but closed it after the series'  producers released a "making of" film demonstrating the special effects used to simulate the murders.<ref>{{cite news|author=McDowell, R. |title=Movies to Die For|work= The San Francisco Chronicle|date=August 7, 1994|page= A5}}</ref>

====''Cannibal Holocaust''====
{{Main article|Cannibal Holocaust}}
 
The Italian director [[Ruggero Deodato]] was charged after rumors that the depictions of the killing of the main actors in his film ''[[Cannibal Holocaust]]'' (1980) were real. He was able to clear himself of the charges after the actors made an appearance in court and on television.<ref name="In the Jungle">{{cite AV media | people=Ruggero Deodato (interviewee) |date=2003 | title=In the Jungle: The Making of Cannibal Holocaust | medium=Documentary | location=Italy | publisher=Alan Young Pictures}}</ref>

Other than graphic gore, the film contains several scenes of sexual violence and the genuine deaths of six animals onscreen and one off screen, issues which find ''Cannibal Holocaust'' in the midst of controversy to this day. It has also been claimed that ''Cannibal Holocaust'' is banned in over 50 countries,<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=Cannibal Holocaust 25th Anniversary Edition |orig-date=1980 |others=[[Ruggero Deodato]] |page=back cover |publisher=VIPCO (Video Instant Picture Company) |location=UK |id=VIP666SE |year=2004}}</ref> although this has never been verified. In 2006, ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' magazine named ''Cannibal Holocaust'' as the 20th most controversial film of all time.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1202224.html | title=The 25 Most Controversial Films of All-Time | magazine=Entertainment Weekly | access-date=September 14, 2006 | archive-date=February 14, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214173929/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1202224.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>

====''August Underground'' trilogy====
{{Main article|August Underground|August Underground's Mordum|August Underground's Penance}}
This trilogy of horror films, which depict graphic tortures and murders, is shot as if it were amateur footage made by a serial killer and his accomplices. In 2005, director and lead actor Fred Vogel, who was traveling with copies of the first two films to attend a horror film festival in Canada, was arrested by Canadian customs pending charges of transporting obscene materials into the country. The charges were eventually dropped after Vogel had spent ten hours in custody.<ref name="bzfilminterview">{{cite web |title=Independent filmmaker Fred Vogel: Extreme artists push the boundaries and strive to provoke emotion |url=https://bzfilm.com/talks-interviews/independent-filmmaker-fred-vogel-extreme-artists-push-the-boundaries-and-strive-to-provoke-emotion/ |website=BZFilm.com |date=January 7, 2013 |publisher=BZ Film |accessdate=16 October 2019 |archive-date=October 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016172529/https://bzfilm.com/talks-interviews/independent-filmmaker-fred-vogel-extreme-artists-push-the-boundaries-and-strive-to-provoke-emotion/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>