One of the most popular portrayals of cannibalism is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, centered around a family that sustains off unsuspecting visitors to their farm. The original movie came out in 1974 and like many movies of that era the plot is not as complicated or steeped in backstory as today’s horror movies. Focusing more on the violent murders, the poster for the theatrical release had the tagline, “Who will survive and what will be left of them?” over a chainsaw swinging Leather Face, highlighting the main points of the movie quite clearly.

Today, the most recent 2022 remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre focuses more on the backstory of Leather Face and reveals more about his history. The story of the family is the second most important thing behind the bloodbath that it turns into as opposed to the original leaving more questions than answers. All movies in the franchise do portray Leather Face as a super villain of sorts, able to survive far more damage than the average slasher.

Reveling in the murders of unsuspecting travelers makes the family...

...evil and in addition to this evil their unnecessary cannibalism is an additional affront to the victims. More true crime than spiritual or anthropological, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise is rooted in our nature as humans and our capability for bizarre, evil acts.

Similar to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, another franchise, The Hills Have Eyes, is focused around a family of people who cannibalize unlucky passing travelers. Unlike Leather Face’s family the family in this franchise have been subjected to nuclear testing waste nearby. This nuclear waste has caused them to have physical mutations, becoming increasingly worse with each generation of inbreeding and exposure to the nuclear waste. Influenced by Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this Wes Craven created franchise portrays the cannibal characters as depraved, on various levels.

Not only does this family murder, but oftentimes those murders are accompanied by violent sexual assaults. At times we delve into what I hope is unintended commentary on the moral nature of those with birth defects or mutations. No explanation exists in the series for why they eat people other than that they live a bizarre, dark life.

It could be argued they cannibalize people because...

...they live in the middle of nowhere desert with little access to food, but it is worth mentioning they collect and hide the belongings of the travelers they consume. So why would they eat people if they could just sell their belongings for money to improve their lives? 

The family’s actions seem to be a choice, albeit a cruel and unusual choice. From a nuanced perspective this characterization of the disabled community as savages, who when given the option to be free, would assault and murder unsuspecting victims for the sake of it. This characterization sometimes crosses the line into ableist commentary and portraying of disabled people as uncivilized, their actions being more animalistic than human in nature. 

Furthermore, this connects back to the designed stereotype of native people as savages which we can draw from the historical context in which they are presented. Once again, the deeply ingrained idea that only savages would consume another human and therefore cannibals are only ever savages is present.

Family cannibal stories are not the only ones to have existed however, in the 80’s horror movies overall took on a sexual undertone and with that came movies about cannibalism incorporating commentary on sex and sex lives. Eating Raoul is a perfect example of this shift towards openly sexual commentary in popular media. A black comedy released in 1982, Eating Raoul follows what is described as a “prudish couple” who have big dreams to open a restaurant and escape the mundane, bleak direction of their lives. 

A series of events follow that lead the couple to start financing their dreams with stolen money. They also decide to steal this money specifically from murdered swingers they lure into their home via the classifieds section in a local magazine, Hollywood Press.

Mary Bland poses as a dominatrix and while meeting with clients Paul Bland, hiding in their apartment unbeknownst to the client, comes out and robs them. The Bland couple continues this for quite some time, disposing of the remains in their trash chute until they stumble across Raoul, a locksmith, also looking to rob people. 

The Blands make an agreement with Raoul...

...that they will let him take the bodies of their victims in exchange for not reporting them. Why would Raoul want the bodies you may ask despite the Blands not being too concerned. To further complicate this trio, Raoul and Mary begin having an affair behind Paul’s back. We learn through hints that Raoul is selling the bodies to a local dog food company. The growing company offers a versatile food that can be enjoyed by both humans and man's best friend.

The tension comes to a head when Mary must choose between the two men and to Raoul’s shock, she chooses Paul. This leads to the murder of Raoul by Mary since they can’t let him go and also her and Paul get away with everything. 

Mary and Paul are in a pickle however because they've scheduled a dinner with their loan agent for the very night that they kill Raoul. In the 80’s to receive a loan you often had to meet with and impress a loan officer, the meeting with the loan officer in this case is the only thing standing between The Blands and their dreams.

So, Mary cooks...

...Raoul to cover up the murder and to make sure they have an actual dinner to show the loan officer they have the culinary skills to run a successful restaurant. This plan works great and the loan officer is impressed with the meal, the three finish the night with a nice meal and have secured the loan. In the end the couple believe they are hardworking Americans who achieved the American Dream. After passing judgement on other's ways of life during the film The Bland Couple are cannibals, adulterers, and criminals.

Taking this into consideration, Eating Raoul is more social commentary than straight up horror, still cannibalism but the shock of cannibalism is used in a social context rather than portraying the gruesome aspects. Punctuated with non-addressed sexual assault and problematic 80’s jokes, Eating Raoul comments on the culture of the US through the cultural lens of our practices that incorporate eating into everything from sex to success. The hypocrisy of condemning the actions of others while committing bad acts oneself ties everything together for a decent watch.

Seven years later in 1989, just a few years after Eating Raoul a head scratching cannibal-like movie came out titled simply, Society. Uncertainty, this can qualify as a cannibal horror movie in an abstract sense; however, this movie is grotesque and about the consumption of people still. It also harkens back to Western Society's hypocrisy regarding cannibalism and other unusual acts being acceptable from the wealthy and savagery from the impoverished. 

The first part of Society is surprising because of where the movie ends up, it has all the typical 1980’s teen movie features, school president races, night drives, and school events. Our protagonist is Bill Whitney, a popular high school student from a well-off family who feels that he doesn’t belong in his Beverly Hills socialite community. Surprisingly, his family seem to feel the same, often excluding him from information, plans, and secrets. 

We come to learn that the society group his parents are a part of is a group of human-like aliens infiltrating society. They have been quietly climbing the ranks of power with their “elite, biologically selective group" aiming to become the majority on Earth. The aliens live by consuming human beings’ “juices” and “nutrients” straight from their bodies. They accomplish this in the most grotesque way possible, melding into slug-like creatures that then go inside of the human body, consuming them from the inside out. 

The best way to describe the imagery...

...is a human juice box being sucked too hard. The special effects aren't bad but rather they are too good. The activities that come to life on screen are not easy to forget and probably not easy to come up with either. The final few scenes leave jaws dropped and eyebrows furrowed as the alternate species shows the viewer what it is made of, literally. 

Some parallels can be drawn from the events in the film and our current wealth inequality fueled system. The rich and connected are hiding their true selves with the intention of sucking the life force out of unsuspecting working-class people to live. Forms of cannibalism and other taboo activities performed by the rich are often not viewed in the same light as those performed by groups considered low class, savage, or even average.