Cinema where characters are forced to cannibalize

August 2, 2014 7:17 AM

I can only think of 'Alive'. what others am i missing?
posted by JimAbacab to Media & Arts (34 answers total)

There's 'The Road,' not sure if that qualifies.
posted by Librarypt at 7:24 AM on August 2, 2014

The creepy Donner Party movie which contains the cannibalism keyword which is not as helpful as you might think.
posted by jessamyn at 7:24 AM on August 2, 2014

Cannibal! the Musical and Ravenous spring immediately to mind.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 7:27 AM on August 2, 2014

There's a well-regarded horror short from 2012 called "Survivor Type," an adaptation of the infamous Stephen King short story.
posted by infinitewindow at 7:28 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

Snowpiercer.
posted by Lemmy Caution at 7:35 AM on August 2, 2014 [5 favorites]

(The cannibalism isn't seen but it is discussed in Snowpiercer.)
posted by Lemmy Caution at 7:36 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

Fried Green Tomatoes
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:38 AM on August 2, 2014 [4 favorites]

Peter Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
posted by fryman at 7:39 AM on August 2, 2014 [3 favorites]

Don't know if this counts but there's the dinner scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
posted by floweredfish at 7:40 AM on August 2, 2014

Hannibal Rising
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 7:52 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

Delicatessen, a 1991 French movie.
posted by primate moon at 7:54 AM on August 2, 2014 [6 favorites]

Ravenous
posted by rhapsodie at 7:59 AM on August 2, 2014 [2 favorites]

Sweeney Todd
posted by Bromius at 8:03 AM on August 2, 2014

Soylent Green (maybe not what you want but definitely people being forced to eat people)
posted by steinwald at 8:04 AM on August 2, 2014

Eating Raoul?
posted by prize bull octorok at 8:09 AM on August 2, 2014 [4 favorites]

With caveats, but... Life of Pi
posted by argonauta at 8:09 AM on August 2, 2014

There are a lot of on- and off-screen cannibalism scenes in post-apocalyptic movies. I'd just reference the genre instead of trying to list them all, with The Book of Eli being a perfect example of that kind of scene.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:10 AM on August 2, 2014

Rocky Horror Picture Show
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 8:22 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

We Are What We Are
posted by fairmettle at 8:30 AM on August 2, 2014

There's Titus, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. It's sort of a different kind of forcing to cannibalize, but I think it counts.
posted by General Malaise at 8:40 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

Does it have to be Cinema? The Last of Us has this plot point, and it's an important one for the story, and (arguably) inevitable. Also in TV, The Walking Dead seems to be bumping up against the issue.

In terms of Cinema, The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce.
posted by SpacemanStix at 8:42 AM on August 2, 2014

Silence of the Lambs?
posted by whistle pig at 9:32 AM on August 2, 2014

Whoops, guess Lecter wasn't forced to cannibalize.
posted by whistle pig at 9:34 AM on August 2, 2014

Response by poster: wait, thought of another, Ray Liotta's character (name?) in 'Hannibal'
posted by JimAbacab at 10:19 AM on August 2, 2014

In the TV show Hannibal, there is a character (Abel) who meets a similar demise.
posted by SpacemanStix at 10:33 AM on August 2, 2014

The 2012 Chinese film, Back to 1942, based on historical events.
posted by Corvid at 11:29 AM on August 2, 2014

Trouble Every Day
posted by citron at 12:34 PM on August 2, 2014

Parents
posted by prospero320 at 2:30 PM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

Thanksgiving (NSFW, NSFL), the fake grindhouse movie trailer directed by Eli Roth futures a character at the end I'll just call by its credits name, "human turkey," but nobody is shown eating, but since the family is bound, the implication is there.
posted by Sunburnt at 2:45 PM on August 2, 2014

It's very arguable but one theory is the cannibals of Pandorum have no other choice.

Also, seconding The Road.
posted by evil_esto at 2:03 AM on August 3, 2014

Titus

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120866/?ref_=nv_sr_3

It's a film adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus.
posted by sandra_s at 7:54 AM on August 3, 2014

Ric Burns (brother of Ken) did a fantastic documentary on the Donner Party for PBS' American Experience. Narrated by David McCullough.

It's eery, haunting, sad and strange. I know not everyone likes the Burns brothers' style, but if you're a fan it's definitely worth checking out.

I don't know how long it's good for, but there's a copy (not HD sadly) on youtube. There's also a segmented copy.
posted by marsha56 at 4:25 PM on August 3, 2014

TV movie, but The Day After - the old guy from Northern Exposure!
posted by Chrysostom at 8:57 AM on August 4, 2014

The (really quite shocking and scary) horror movie Dread touches on this.
posted by symphonicknot at 9:57 AM on August 4, 2014