Killing for Culture - David Kerekes & David Slater

This book sets out to explode the myth that snuff movies exist. Snuff movies are defined as films in which people are actually killed on camera for the delectation of a pervy audience that gets its kicks from such things. As this book points out, no genuine snuff movies have ever been uncovered (although certain serial killers have partially filmed their exploits). The book starts by looking at the film which started the whole boom - "Snuff", made in the early 1970s. This apparently dire film (it is banned in the UK, so I haven't seen it) claimed in its publicitiy material to feature the actual death of a young woman on screen. A surprisingly ...  Read the complete review

To be or not to be, that is the question where snuff-videos are concerned. Are they out there or not? The authors of this book come down firmly in the "not" camp, describing snuff-videos as an urban myth granted an unwarranted reality by feminists and morality campaigners who foolishly waste their time and energy chasing a chimera. And if there are any people who know the truth, you might expect Kerekes and Slater to be among them. After all, they’ve devoted thousands of hours of their lives to tracking down and watching some of the most disturbing images ever committed to film. The problem is that if there are any people who know they exist but ...  Read the complete review