'Cannibal Holocaust' director Ruggero Deodato passes away at 83

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Italian filmmaker Ruggero Deodato, whose hyper-realistic found-footage horror pic Cannibal Holocaust got him arrested and was banned in more than 50 countries, passed away aged 83 on Thursday.

According to Deadline, a US-based news outlet, no detailed information about his death was given. Over the course of a 60-year career, Deodato produced scores of movies and TV shows in a variety of genres, but none was more infamous, divisive, or under scrutiny than the 1980s Cannibal Holocaust. Many viewers mistakenly thought that the local actors were actually killed off-screen due to the film's severe and realistic-looking gore. Italian police confiscated the movie, and Deodato was eventually taken into custody and put on trial for killing and animal abuse.

As per a report by Deadline, Cannibal Holocaust was a pioneer of the found footage and mockumentary genres. Its plot can be summed up in the intro to its trailer: "In 1979, four documentary filmmakers disappeared in the jungles of South America while shooting a film about cannibalism. Six months later, their footage was found."A professor from New York University who was on a rescue expedition in the Amazon rainforest made the discovery.

The footage contained scenes of horrific torture along with other acts of extreme cruelty. In the UK, Cannibal Holocaust's home video was outlawed in 1984, although it was later released with some portions removed. All of a 2011 video that showed an animal being brutally killed was restored, with the exception of 15 seconds. He was found guilty of animal abuse despite the murder charges being withdrawn after the courtroom appearance of the purportedly dead and ingested actors. Later, the decision was changed.

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Deodato, who was born in Potenza on May 7, 1939, was Robert Rossellini's son's childhood friend and started working as an AD on his films in the late 1950s. Before directing his first picture, 1968's Fenomenal and the Treasure of Tutankamen, which he also scripted, he continued to work on regional films, including comedies, dramas, and spaghetti westerns, including Django (1966).

Through the 1970s and 1980s, he continued to write and/or direct Italian movies and TV shows, frequently making uncredited cameo appearances. Body Count (1986), The Barbarians (1987), and Dial Help (1988), which he also co-wrote, were some of his post-Cannibal Holocaust films.

According to Deadline, Deodato also helmed a pair of Italian TV shows in 1989 before directing the popular local miniseries I Ragazzi del muretto (The Boys of the Wall) in 1993. He went on to direct episodes of series including We Are Angels, Thinking About Africa, Padre Speranza and Incantesmo 8.

Before filming the well-liked local miniseries I Ragazzi del muretto (The Boys of the Wall) in 1993, Deodato had directed a pair of Italian TV episodes in 1989. He continued to direct episodes of shows like We Are Angels, Thinking About Africa, Padre Speranza, and Incantesmo 8.

His final credit was for a segment in the 24-part horror anthology film Deathcember, which explored the darker aspects of the holiday season.

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