The most controversial movie ever made has now arrived on DVD! Grindhouse Releasing and Ryko Distribution have set an October 25 street date for the long-awaited special edition of Ruggero Deodato's notorious 1979 film CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST.

Banned and heavily censored throughout the world, here is a film that surpasses its reputation as a shotgun blast to the senses. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST presents the "found footage" of four documentary filmmakers who experience brutal death at the hands of a savage South American tribe of flesh-eaters. This footage is so intense, so graphic and so unflinching in its realism that the director and producer of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST were arrested upon its original release and the film seized.

Deodato's controversial film begins with the expedition of NYU anthropology professor Harold Monroe (Robert Kerman -- EATEN ALIVE, CANNIBAL FEROX, SPIDER-MAN). Professor Monroe's search for the missing documentary film crew leads him into the dangerous "Green Inferno", an untamed Amazon jungle populated by rival primitive tribes and wild animals. In the tribal village of the Yanomamo Indians, he finds the devoured, skeletal remains of the American filmmakers along with the footage shot by the ill-fated crew.

When Professor Monroe screens the documentary footage for a cynical group of New York television network executives, a gruesome and disturbing story unfolds. Led by Alan Yates (Gabriel Yorke), the American film crew ruthlessly exploits "barbaric" tribal customs for the sake of sensationalism. With their cameras rolling, Yates and his crew then proceed to torture, rape, kill and burn their way through the jungle. The bloody tide turns as the natives rise up to take violent revenge on their tormentors.

Widely acknowledged as the uncredited inspiration for THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST has been both praised and vilified by critics. Deodato's nihilistic masterwork critiques the implications of "Mondo"-style filmmaking, even as it wallows in the most heinous extremes of cruelty and exploitation. Not for the weak of stomach, the film's horrifying power cannot be denied.

Over five years in the making, Grindhouse's 25th Anniverary collector's edition stands as the definitive release of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. The deluxe 2-disc set boasts a brand-new, hi-definition digital restoration of the director's cut, an exhaustive menu of bonus features and spectacular packaging. This DVD collector’s edition is limited to 11,111 copies.

Among the many Grindhouse DVD extras is a CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST music video by the band NECROPHAGIA, directed by underground filmmaker Jim VanBebber (THE MANSON FAMILY). Necrophagia and Grindhouse have also teamed up to reissue the long out-of-print CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST soundtrack CD, now available at www.necrophagia.com

Grindhouse Releasing founder Sage Stallone originally acquired the North American rights to CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST in the late 1990s. A lifelong fan of Italian genre cinema, Stallone had previously revived Lucio Fulci's horror classic THE BEYOND as a theatrical release through Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder Pictures and Miramax Films.

"I felt that CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST would be the perfect film to follow up the success of THE BEYOND," says Stallone. "But many distributors and exhibitors considered the content too extreme. So we decided to distribute the film ourselves to theaters."

The task of restoring CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST fell to Stallone's partner, veteran film editor Bob Murawski (SPIDER-MAN 1 & 2, ARMY OF DARKNESS). "We spent a great deal of time making sure that this DVD would meet the highest standard of quality," says Murawski. "That's why the release took so long to complete; I was also working nonstop on the SPIDER-MAN movies, which slowed our progress. We were as frustrated by the long delays as anybody. But we'd rather take the time to do things right than compromise the product in any way."

In 2001, Grindhouse launched a limited theatrical release of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST which sold out many dates in the U.S. and Canada. The movie has since been screened in over 30 markets and continues to play as a popular midnight show. A theater in Lexington, KY was ordered not to show the movie by city officials who deemed it "obscene"; other venues reported incidents of fainting and vomiting.

"CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST will be coming back to theaters at the same time it hits DVD," says Dave Szulkin, head of Grindhouse's theatrical division. "We've always been committed to showing our movies on the big screen. There's no substitute for that experience, and this film is one of our highest-grossing titles in every sense of the term."

Actor Robert Kerman traveled to the jungles of Colombia to play the American professor who discovers the infamous "found footage" in CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. Kerman (who also earned notoriety in such adult-film classics DEBBIE DOES DALLAS) will be making personal appearances at horror conventions to promote the new DVD. Kerman's co-star Gabriel Yorke also appears on the DVD in an exclusive filmed interview shot by PROJECT: GREENLIGHT director John Gulager.

CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST marks the first release in a multi-picture deal between Grindhouse and Ryko. "I'm honored that Bob and Sage have selected Ryko as their exclusive distributor," says Jay Douglas, Vice President of DVD for Rykodisc. "Their passion for great genre films and their production expertise make Grindhouse one of the premiere DVD brands. This is an exciting time for thousands of fans and collectors -- me included."

For more information, visit the official website: www.cannibalholocaust.net

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