Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

westsideschl I too was torn between giving an eight and one star rating so somewhere in-between. Yes, the visuals are excessive, i.e. forcing people to eat fecal stuff (actually chocolate - phew); physical torture; full nudity (male & female); some sex including a bit out of the mainstream, but camera angles were such that nothing was shown (left to imagination, etc.). There actually was a thematic point to the film's visceral story, illustrated by the following comments: We see the relationship of power using sex to treat others like a commodity. The anarchy of power can be seen in fascism. Power can do what it wants, and what it wants is completely arbitrary. It is dictated by its eccentric needs which elude common logic. Power people are enamored with their own identity. For a film over 40 years old it strangely has some current applicability, i.e. I kept being reminded of a present day U.S. political leader.

DerekB Salo manages to portray human depravity in a terrifyingly realistic manor that I've never seen in any other film. It's very well made in that regard, but doesn't have much substance beyond that.If you can't handle seeing or hearing about bizarre acts of sex and violence, then I can't recommend this movie. That said, I think most other people (especially fans of film) could get some enjoyment out of Salo if for no other reason than the experience of witnessing true evil.

wpkrip There are some good qualities about Salo:the opening (outdoor) scenes contained quite a bit of action and tension; the costumes were original and unique; the cinematography and music were excellent and set a sort of elegant tone, which contrasted starkly with all the cruel, perverse and disgusting proceedings.But ultimately, on a technical level, there is far more bad than good in this film.The adult antagonists ( the judge,the president,the bishop and the duke plus the madams and the pianist did a reasonably good acting job but the victims did a terrible job.It was as if, even when they were being yelled at and menaced they were indifferent or even laughing.The plot barely moves forward.It's basically a constant succession of scenes of torture and humiliation, and it quickly becomes monotonous and repetitive.There is some variation in that, at one point,several of the victims betray one another to try to save their own skins and occasionally the 4 men humiliate themselves.The scenes of torture near the end - in the circle of blood segment- are extremely grisly and hard to watch.Overall, I found this movie to be a somewhat interesting curio- very unique and unusual- but excessively vulgar, often sloppily executed and ultimately tedious and boring.The ending was one of the worst I have ever seen- abrupt and inconclusive.

Angelika_New_York Hey there! Guess what?! You're not going to believe that I have actually watched this film. I have not heard of it until late 2010 when it had been recommended to me here on IMDb because of my interest in Gaspar Noe's Irreversible. I really am into film, however I would like to state that I would never, ever watch Cannibal Holocaust, really. No thanks. Supposedly there are similarities, but I must say that this is about as far as I am likely to go in regards to watching a disturbing film.Initially I was ignoring the recommendation. I disregarded it as being some obscure film that had come out in the 70's. I had never heard of Pier Paolo Pasolini. I am not going into his demise as you probably have your theories. Besides this is basically a film review.Let me tell you: for a long time I felt I just was not ready to watch this; unsure if I ever would be. The reason being is that after everything I have read about it, (which you probably should do also, if you are seriously thinking about watching this) I was hesitant that I could really sit through it. My main concern was that it could be too graphic considering the subject matter. On and off I have contemplated it for three years. Yes, three years wondering whether or not to watch a movie! By the final year, I have thought about it more and more. So you want to know how I watched this? From Netflix. And you want to know something else? I watched it…a couple of times…in like six weeks maybe. That was it really. I just wanted to watch it a second time to get a little more familiar with it from the first time. Actually speaking of the first time; afterwards like the next day, I remember actually feeling a bit queasy from even thinking about what I had watched. Since I recoiled during the explicit scenes, it was a brief feeling of mental disturbance. I wouldn't say I was absolutely ready for my first viewing, although I was as ready as I ever could have been, I was a little more composed on the second viewing. I still could not watch the really graphic parts.It doesn't take either side of right or wrong. It is not a dramatic film. It isn't really all that violent either, not by horror movie standards. The DVD/Blu-Ray cover showing the side of a long blonde haired naked girl on her knees with her face in her hands is misleading. There is not a scene in the film that shows that. I was expecting something like the scene showing Marilyn Burns freaking out with her hands tied to a chair at the one end of a dining table towards the ending of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) but there wasn't a scene that was like that, although there are moments in the film where I had to look away, such as: A scene when one nude victim wearing only a dog collar is fed a piece of cake with small razor blades in it.In addition, a young woman is forced to eat human feces, the seven minute scene where everybody eats human feces at a dinner event, some are smiling and loving it while others are disgusted. The ending when a young man's tongue is cut off and a young person's eye is cut out with a knife.It is a rather talky film. I remember thinking after I made it up to the 42:00 mark that it really was not all that bad.It is best to research the film before viewing it. The homosexuality aspect of it makes it interesting. What made it even more compelling is that I found myself attracted to Paolo Bonacelli, even although he plays one of the fascist libertines.