Emerald Hell

  

Emerald Hell
Directed by	Irving Meiwes Charles Kim
Story by	Irving Meiwes
Produced by	Herbert Kane
Starring	Jennifer Nagy Alejandro Chavez James Peterson Yolanda Brown Julio Malbrón
Cinematography	Charles Kim
Edited by	Alfred Konstantinovich, Ernest Thaler
Music by	Enzio Ortolani Jr.
Production companies	Gold River Pictures
Distributed by	Artists of America (AoA)
Release date(s)	1997
Running time	109 Minutes
Country	Brazil, Brazoria, Sierra, Andes
Language(s)	English, Spanish
Budget	KS$90,000,000
Box office	KS$140,000,000

Emerald Hell is a 1997 Brazorian-Sierran found footage cannibal horror film by directed and written by Brazorian director Irving Meiwes and co-written by Sierran avant-garde filmmaker Charles Kim. The movie was filmed mostly in the northern border region Brazil and the United People's Committees where the plot takes place. The plot revolves around the Sierran professor of anthropology Angelica Metz (Jennifer Nagy) from the University of San Diego, who is accompanied by the wealthy Brazorian documentary producer Johnathan McCormack (Alejandro Chavez) and his co-producer and his film crew, including McCormack's fiancé Janine Smith (Yolanda Brown) on her trip to the Amazon rainforest to make contact with an uncontacted village of a tribe known as the Quatoyaquí, a tribe which only very little information exists about besides rumors of cannibalistic rituals within their society. Despite warnings from the Sierran and Brazorian governments to travel to the Andean-Brazilian border due to recent military conflict and civil unrest, the crew leaves for their destination via Caracas in Colombia. When the crew's only guide and interpreter Luis (Julio Malbrón) dies from a snakebite, the group is lost with only a vague map and a single clip of ammunition for Luis' rifle in the Brazilian state of Amazonas.

Although the film depicts a fictionalization of the Andean Amazon, it covered various contemporaneous issues of the region at the time, such as the short-lived Andean-Brazilian border conflict between 1996 and 1997 and a peasant uprising and guerrilla presence in western Brazil between the 1970s and 2000s. The style of the movie resembles that of an exploitative documentary about the native tribes of the Amazon rainforest, and director Irving Meiwes stated that he was been inspired by similar documentaries and reports of the terrorism during The Disturbances in Sierra, when its violence was extensively covered in North American media.

The filmmaking of Emerald Hell popularized the concept of found footage in Anglo-American cinema due to the visual realism of the genre. It was filmed primarily on location in both Brazil and the United People's Committees with a cast of indigenous tribes and mostly amatuer Brazorian and Sierran actors.

Emerald Hell has had a lasting impact on the film industry. When it was initially released, the film was a commercial box office success but received polarizing reviews from critics. The prevalence of extremely graphic content, including animal cruelty and sexual assault, in the film attracted major controversies and led to some governments to censor or ban the film outright. Meiwes was arrested on suspicion on multiple counts of murder due to claims that the actors were killed on film and that the project was an actual snuff film. Members of the cast, who had signed non-disclosure agreements, later appeared in court to testify that they were still alive and performed recreations of particular scenes that aroused suspicion that they were real. In the years following Emerald Hell, it gained a cult following, many copycat projects and films were inspired by the notoriety of the film.

Plot

Angelica Metz, an anthropology professor teaching at the University of San Diego, seeks to conclude research during a sabbatical, and plans to travel to the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Meanwhile, Brazorian film producer Johnathan McCormack wants to produce a realistic and controversial documentary about native tribes in the Americas, hoping that he can gain some popularity through it and subsequently help with his desperate financial situation. Metz and McCormack meet each other by chance during a layover in Mexico on unrelated business trips and learn about each others' aspirations and goals. Metz reveals that she has been studying about the Quatoyaquí, a mostly uncontacted tribe in the Amazon, who are purportedly cannibalistic. Hoping to destigmatize indigenous peoples and disprove the colonialist attitudes of "uncivilized tribes", Metz wants to learn about the livelihoods of the mysterious tribe. McCormack agrees to collaborate with Metz and speaks of his past experiences filming in remote and dangerous locations such as Yemen and Cambodia. Later upon returning from her trip, Metz recruits two graduate students who worked as her teaching assistants, Chloe Kirkpatrick and Leticia Addams, while McCormack arrives from Brazoria with his crew, which includes his fiancée Janine Smith, and cameramans Henry Schroder and Ricky Goncalves. Metz reveals her theories about the Quatoyaquí, including the exact whereabouts of the tribe, whose homelands straddle the borders between the United People's Committees and Brazil, in one of the least explored and uncharted parts of the Amazon rainforest.

Metz attempts to apply for a visa with the Andean embassy, which is heavily restricted due to longstanding tensions between the Andean and Sierran governments. She is able to persuade the Andean embassy officials that her intentions are innocuous and strictly for academic purposes. Metz learns afterwards that the K.S. Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a travel advisory for Sierran nationals about the United People's Committees and that travel near the international border between the Andes and Brazil is strongly discouraged due to an ensuing conflict there. McCormack soon informs Metz that he had also received similar warnings from the Brazorian government and questions if they should continue their plan while the situation in the Amazon is uncertain. Metz persuades McCormack to continue and they then begin preparations to travel to South America.

After arriving in the Andean state of Colombia, the film crew meet their guide and interpreter Luís, whom Metz's Colombian friend, Ronaldo, arranged to meet and aid the crew on their journey into the Amazon. Luís shares local rumors that the Quatoyaquí are vicious and hostile towards outsiders, and claims that the men are particularly violent, having raped and kidnapped outsider women they had encountered. Metz is dismissive of the rumors and points to the Yamaquí, a neighboring tribe she believes shares similar cultural and linguistic traditions to the Quatoyaquí, and have been well-documented to be friendly and courteous during contacts with the outside world. Despite Luís's confirmation and warnings that there are armed guerrilla forces and drug traffickers along the international border, Metz and McCormack insist that they proceed on their mission. After several days of trekking the Amazon rainforest, they finally encounter the Quatoyaquí, whom they initially believe are the Yamaquí.

The Quatoyaquí are initially apprehensive towards the film crew but Luís is able to break the tension by offering them a gift. One of the tribesman inspects the gift, which is revealed to be a bag filled with cocaine. As the tribesman shares the bag around with his fellow villagers with eludiation, the tribal leaders allow the foreigners to mingle with them in their presence unhindered. Although the Quatoyaquí remain suspicious and wary of the film crew, they allow them to film them and camp near the village. Over the next few days, the film crew records the everyday lives of the Quatoyaquí, who appear relatively peaceful and mundane, seemingly confirming Metz's suspicions that the rumors that the tribe was bloodthirsty and cannibalistic were unfounded.

During the fourth day, McCormack complains to Metz that most of the footage is unremarkable. He suggests that for the sake of an interesting documentary, the group could induce some fabricated conflict to generate filmworthy content. Metz is offended by the suggestion and rebukes him, forbidding him from attempting to interfere in the lives and customs of the indigenous people. Later in the afternoon, the film crew witness the villagers becoming agitated and see the tribe's men leave. They decide to follow them, hoping to document whatever they encounter, which McCormack believes is the opportunity he was looking for, much to Metz's chagrin.

The film crew soon discover that the Quatoyaquí men have gone to battle against another tribe whom Metz tentatively identifies as the Wamuchocö, another relatively unknown tribe that was similarly accused of being cannibalistic. The Quatoyaquí outnumber the Wamuchocö group they encounter and kill many of their men with ease. While much of the crew is horrified by the scenes of death, Luís explains that the two tribes had been in a state of war for a while now, and Metz and McCormack are insistent that they continue following the Quatoyaquí. They come across a Wamuchocö village where they discover the Quatoyaquí raid and burn down. Most of the men are killed while the women and children are taken by the Quatoyaquí. Kirkpatrick and Addams are distressed by the realities of warfare and question whether they should continue partaking in the filmmaking process.

In the evening, after returning to the Quatoyaquí village, the film crew witnesses a feast held by the tribal leaders. They discover that the Wamuchocö prisoners of war had been poorly mistreated by their captors and badly beaten except for one who has been ceremoniously set aside and "spared". She is brought before the village where she is honored and paraded as a spoils of war.