The term 'snuff film' is not new in the cinematic dictionary. However, not many people are aware of what it actually means. I am not surprised because film makers resort to deplorable techniques in order to make their movies a commercial success.
Snuff movies are the most horrendous form of exploitative entertainment in the name of selling tickets. They basically depict an actual homicide in order to achieve commercial gain. The most popular snuff film is the footage of Brazilian politician and television personality Wallace Souza who was accused of orchestrating murders. It was alleged that the murders Souza documented on his show were actually ordered by him to raise TRPs. Snuff films thus have a distinct urban legend status today as the intention of depicting murder scenes for the sole intention of commercial distribution has not yet been totally and singly confirmed by law.
The origin of snuff movies is still unclear. Some believe that it first originated in a 1971 book by Ed Sanders, The Family: The Story of Charles Manson's Dune Buggy Attack Battalion, in which it The Manson Family allegedly was involved in its making. The actual meaning of snuff is derived from the verb snuffen or snuppen, meaning for the extinguishing of a candle flame.
There are others who believe that
snuff films gained momentum with Micheal and Roberta Findlays 'Slaughter' way back in 1971. It explicitly depicted homicidal cults and deeds and was shot exclusively in Argentina but unfortunately it was a box office disaster and ultimately sank without a trace. In 1976, Alan Shakelton re-titled the film and added the word Snuff which depicted the murder of a women by the film crew in which she was the lead actress. It was shot in such a realistic manner that the murder looked very life like though the film makers had borrowed the footage from an original source. In order make the film realistic the director had hired actors to stage the drama of protest against the film exhibition outside the theatres.
Critics believe that snuff films basically depict the exploitation and under-exploitation which exists in the film industry and in real life and depicts topics like sexual perversion in a way to titillate the audiences. In order to earn profit, the film makers exhibit the naked truth and the exploitation which pervades the industry as a whole.
