Four Stars or Less – ‘The Green Inferno’: a horror film that failed

Shane Freeman

“The Green Inferno” is about a group of college students who are activists against the destruction of the Amazon rain forest. On the students’ trip to protest against bulldozing, something goes wrong with the plane, and they crash in the middle of the forest. The bad start worsens when forest natives knock out all the students and take them back to a village to eat them. This all happens during the first half of the film, which sucks because it gets boring quickly, but if you can sit through it to the plane crash, then the movie might be worth a view.

The director, Eli Roth, is known for his horror films and especially for his lack of good characters and actors. This film lives up to that reputation, but it dwindles to a side thought when the audience meets the cannibal natives, who steal the show. They don’t give great performances, but the costume design is intricate and fascinating.

Costumes aside, this film survives on tension and gore, which doesn’t appeal to everyone. Roth is known for excessive gore. In some cases during this film, it’s almost too disgusting to watch. The tension leading up to these gore scenes is great, but instead of heightening the tension, the violence only diminishes it. Some scenes were simply repulsive. Some didn’t make sense at all.

If you love Roth’s films, then you will probably love this film too. His unique style doesn’t appeal to everyone, but fans who like it will probably enjoy this movie. I’m not one of them. “The Green Inferno” is definitely a film you can avoid.

My Score: 2/4