Film

The Green Inferno

Name: The Green Inferno
Genre: Adventure, Horror
Released: 2014
Cast: Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy, Sky Ferreira, Ramón Llao, Daryl Sabara

Horror
Very dark

Eli Roth's love letter to Italian cannibal films, filtered through modern activism. A plane crashes deep in the Amazon and what follows is visceral, darkly funny, and genuinely uncomfortable—a film that knows exactly what it is and commits without apology. For viewers who want horror that earns its transgression.

TMDb rating

2.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you have a taste for grimy 1970s Italian jungle horror and enjoy a bleak joke about activists whose good intentions curdle fast.

Skip it if you flinch at graphic gore or find the satire too blunt, since the first act drags through earnest activist talk before the mood turns.

What it asks of you: A lean hundred minutes, with a slow, talky setup that gives way to sustained, unflinching violence and gross-out set pieces you need a strong stomach to sit through.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Hostel2006

Roth's earlier masterclass in tourist vulnerability and escalating dread. Same director, same willingness to make you squirm, but with a different geography and a tighter premise.

But It's a torture film first and foremost. The setup matters less than the suffering, which some find exploitative rather than purposeful.

Cannibal Holocaust1980

The direct ancestor The Green Inferno openly reveres. A shocking found-footage film that raises real questions about colonialism and documentary ethics while being genuinely disturbing.

But It's genuinely animal violence, not simulated. Made in a different era with different standards. Morally and aesthetically very difficult.

Apocalypto2006

Gibson's jungle chase film with genuine stakes, momentum, and aesthetic mastery. Long action sequences in a hostile environment, told with minimal dialogue and maximum sensory detail.

But It's a lengthy, grueling endurance test with graphic violence. The political subtext divides viewers sharply.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Green Inferno

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Cannibal Ferox1981

Roth was directly mining the Italian cannibal film playbook of the 1970s-80s. Cannibal Ferox is the progenitor he's updating—same transgressive impulse, same willingness to offend, but with modern filmmaking and subtext.

Another Italian cannibal film, even more extreme and unhinged than Cannibal Holocaust. Roth studied this era obsessively; here's the deeper cut that influenced him directly. Raw exploitation cinema done with queasy artistry.

But Genuine animal killing on screen. This isn't simulation or metaphor—it's the actual cost of the film, which many find indefensible regardless of artistic intent.

Turistas2006

Organ-harvesting horror set in Brazil. Similar 'tourists in peril' premise, similar willingness to make you hate everyone involved, similar darkly comic undertone.

But It's B-movie schlock that doesn't quite earn its premise. Feels derivative rather than reimagining anything.

The Descent2005

Trapped-in-a-hostile-place horror done right. Claustrophobic, brutal, featuring a group slowly turning on itself as external threat mounts. Gore that serves the narrative.

But It's relentlessly bleak. There's no refuge, no jokes, no relief—just mounting panic and body horror.

Anaconda1997

Jungle expedition horror with a ridiculous premise played perfectly straight. Practical effects, genuine dread beneath the camp, and a villain you actually believe in.

But It's aggressively 90s and the CGI snake hasn't aged well. Tonal whiplash between serious horror and adventure-film hijinks.

A Tale of Two Sisters2003

Korean horror about damaged family dynamics hiding something far worse. Gorgeously composed, genuinely unsettling, builds to a gut-punch you won't see coming.

But It's slow and meditative. If you want constant action or clear narrative momentum, you'll find it frustratingly oblique.

High Tension2003

French extreme horror that doesn't look away. Visceral kills, relentless momentum, a twist that genuinely recontextualizes everything you've seen.

But It's gratuitous by design, and the twist divides audiences between 'brilliant' and 'nonsense.'

The Ritual2017

Four friends lost in a Scandinavian forest, hunted by something ancient. Atmosphere-heavy, featuring real group friction and a creature design that's genuinely unnerving.

But The third act simplifies what the film was building. Character decisions don't always track, and it loses focus heading toward the ending.

Midsommar2019

Both are 'outsiders enter a culture that will destroy them' films, but Midsommar inverts the geography—Western tourists abroad becomes Western travelers to a beautiful trap that seems safe because it's daylit and gorgeous. Same structural inevitability, opposite aesthetic register.

Day-lit folk horror at a Swedish festival. Ari Aster's maximalist craft, genuine unease built from imagery rather than jump scares, and a final act that commits to its logic with chilling confidence.

But It's nearly two-and-a-half hours of slow-burn dread. The pacing will feel glacial if you came for scares. Some find the visual beauty works against the horror.