Cannibal horror has been around since the pre-code days of Hollywood with films like Sweeney Todd and Doctor X. Once the Motion Picture Production Code was passed in 1930, the taboo subject was once again off the table. Then, in the 1970s, the subgenre came roaring back to life when Italian film directors cooked up a period in horror, known as the cannibal boom.

Despite any commercial success or artistic merits in filmmaking, many of these movies were exploitation films that took extreme gore and sexual violence to another level. Controversial films like Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox were banned in several countries for scenes depicting bigotry, xenophobia, racism, sexism, sexual violence, and animal cruelty. In fact, not long after its release, Cannibal Holocaust director Ruggero Deodato was arrested on murder charges and accused of making a snuff film. All the actors had to appear in court before the judge to prove they were very much alive, but that did little to save the cast and crew’s reputation, as the public learned many animal killings in the film were real. Shock films are one thing, but ripping the heads of turtles? Human beings can do better. It’s for this reason, I choose to leave these films off my list.

• 1. Raw
• 2. Bones and All*
• 3. Ravenous
• 4. Fresh
• 5. Bone Tomahawk
• 6. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 1974
• 7. Wrong Turn
• 8. Parents*
• 9. Hannibal
• 10. Delicatessen

*These titles reflect February’s theme of cannibals in love.