The Great American Snuff Film (2004 Video) User Reviews

The Great American Snuff Film

[a_baron · 2/10 · 1 October 2016]

Snuff films were an urban legend that became real: Leonard Lake and Charles Ng made them, as did Maury Travis. This film is not based on them, but it bears an uncanny resemblance to Bittaker and Norris; the dominant one looks a bit like Bittaker, and the slow one is even called Roy.

A documentary about real serial killers serves a purpose, but a film that is simply gratuitous sadism, rape and murder with a bit of necrophilia thrown in, well, it reminds us there are plenty of sick minds out there besides these unspeakables.

This film is trash. One point for the soundtrack.

A very overrated film

[mortimerj190 · 4/10 · 14 March 2006]

After reading about this notorious film i finally managed to get my hands on it.In some ways it lived up to my expectations but in several ways it did not.The female acting was good, male acting was bad, the sound was bad but the music was superb and spooky.Although still quite disturbing and gripping the violence displayed was quite poor and very overrated, and without giving anything away the supposed real footage at the end, wasn't worth waiting for (one reviewer even suggested that the footage was fake, surprise, surprise!!!)I'm glad I've seen it, just to say so but its not by far one of the most disturbing films I've seen..............unfortunately.........if it did not have the end footage to sell the film i would say stay well clear nothing new, but the fact that the film makers added this, give it a go. Fans of gore sites on the net will watch this film and think...and?????????????

An overly boring waste of time.

[shaun8305 · 2/10 · 4 July 2021]

I didn't have high expectations going into this one, but I figured it could at least be mildly entertaining, gruesome and so forth. Instead what we get is a very poorly acted, dull waste of time.

The Great American Snuff Film is about a pair of serial killers who capture a couple of girls for the purpose of filming them torturing and brutalizing them.

This movie is mainly narrated by one of the killers who tries to come off as eloquent, but instead is dull. The main issue with this movie is that it is incredibly boring. A low budget affair can still be entertaining with the right degree of violence,gore, and camp. This has none of that. A boring, unremarkable affair.

Stay away from this junk

[disinter · 1/10 · 30 June 2006]

I have submitted comments on this film a few times and they never get posted. Here's the deal, I belong to a horror yahoo group and the director/producer joined and constantly harassed us about this movie. I argued that there is no way this was based on a real serial killer (never heard of him before or after....do a look for William Allen Grone on your fav search engine) and there is NO real snuff footage on it. The idiot claimed it was all real and that the last few minutes were the actual (ie real) snuff film in it's entirety. I got the flick, fast forwarded through the extremely bad acting and low budget special effects and went to the "real" snuff footage. It was so fake and cheesy looking that I can't stress it enough. Then after it's over and the credits run it says "This film is and all characters in it are a work of fiction". Stay away from this one it's junk.

I couldn't do it.

[bignothingdrake310 · 1/10 · 19 March 2016]

I Couldn't even make it five minutes in. Pure, unadulterated crap, I have seen better acting in porno and the production values are pretty much non-existent. It's akin to the kind of thing that you would see on public access late at night, and even then public access programming has more substance to offer than this steaming pile of cinematic feces. It's not scary, it's just downright laughable. If you want really to know about William Allen Grone and his crimes then just research him, really you'll be much better off, don't waste your time with this crap. I know that this is a film made with a budget of zero next to nothing, but that is no excuse. "August Underground" was a no budget film as well and it was terrifying, tense and uncomfortable say what you will about "Mordum" but the original was scary as hell and that is because it had a sense of authenticity and you feel like you're watching an authentic snuff film. "The Sadist" was made with the same amount of money maybe even less and that was absolutely terrifying as well. But I swear this movie was like the ones that I used to make when I was a kid with my friends and family for my own personal amusement and I can guarantee you that it was leaps and bounds better than "The Great American Snuff Film" So do yourself a favor, if you're looking for a good shocking film watch something like "Cannibal Holocaust" again made with a shoestring budget and still absolutely chilling, one of the most terrifying films of all time. Just don't even bother with this crap.

NEW LOWS IN Film-making!!!

[Brutal-bob · 1/10 · 5 May 2006]

Horrible acting.. rigid and without a single strand of imagination or panache. But more horrible than the acting is the sound. I played this thru my surround sound and it sounded like the Dx was recorder thru a bullhorn at the airport. The cinematography is creative for what it is..which basically is video. But that is where it ends on any sort of creative level…. The story is non-existent and the so-called gruesome violence is horrendously dull which makes this film experience extremely tedious... OK, these so-called killers are set up to be so psycho and inbred.. yet the girls keep their clothes on thru out the whole damn thing.. come on, were the two psychos gay?? Was this an attempt at a horror version of Brokeback Mountain? All the scenes draaaaaaag on and on and on and on.. the blame for that is that the so-called director is also a wanna-be editor.. an awful idea all together. The film has no pace and no plot that engages you to any sorta level even boredom. The violence is at a kindergarten level.. chicks in cages being burned with fake cigarettes don't cut it. It's phony and feels PG-13 which is too bad cause with the right execution it could have been done disturbing as all hell. When you have untalented amateurs doing the job then this is what you will end up with - a pointless dreary mess that will make you YAWN while your ears are bleeding. Please someone out there hear our pleading cries and take away this filmmakers camera before he attempts another merciless waste of time.

great American snuff film???????

[lorca_stayhere · 1/10 · 19 February 2006]

Excuse my English, I'm speak Spanish, but i do my best. I had a big expectation about this film, i spend a lot of time seeking this one, and finally i See, and i have to say ¡¡ this sucks!!... The acting was poor poor, the direction poor too, and the sound awful... literally hear the wind blows again the mics... and the story was stupid, even if was a true story, the gore and violent is very bad, the movie has no strong scenes like the title says... i expected intense violence and stuffs like that, but noooooooo..... Really, if you want to see a bad movie, see this one. Low budget is not equal a low quality, but the director of The great... think different.

What a miserable waste of my time...

[Bataeu · 1/10 · 14 June 2006]

I hired this film out because it sounded interesting. Being a fan of serial killer films I thought this film would be at least interesting or watchable. Boy was I wrong. Completely amateur made film with horrible acting and rubbish "gore" effects. I probably could've made a better movie in my High School Film & TV class. Also, at the end of the film they show a sequence which is apparently a real snuff film made by the serial killer the film is based on. I highly doubt it is a genuine snuff film because there's no way the censors would let it get released. They'd want it cut. If they throw a fit over the animal killings in Cannibal Holocaust they would've outright banned this film for having a genuine snuff film in it. Avoid this movie like the plague!!! I've rated it one star only because there's no option for 0/10...

A good laugh feels really great...

[orchidbauDOTcom · 2/10 · 30 March 2008]

As a true connoisseur of horror, exploitation, gore and such, I greatly looked forward to seeing "The Great American Snuff Film." I mean the reviews contained phrases like, "Stay away," "This is torture," "This is one brutally hard film," and "Can easily crush the spirits of unprepared viewers." Sounds good to me! So I buy the DVD, pop it in and wait for the delicious disturbing pall to wash over me. Didn't happen. All those people so shocked, disturbed and disgusted by this movie must only watch family films and the freakin' Teletubbies. Maybe, just maybe, if they had actual actors in the roles it could have given me pause but really - and I don't want to sound catty - the kids in the elementary school plays I participated in gave better performances. I even laughed at a few things in this film that were supposed to make me recoil in disgust. Maybe that makes me one sick fella - but I don't think so. I've seen the best and worst of the exploitation and torture genres and this one falls not as the worst but as pretty darn bad, sitting close to the bottom for sure. As a comedy... not too bad at all. I mean when I think of all the people naive enough to believe that this movie contained actual snuff footage, I laugh my ass off.

Bad graphic and acting

[shivaverma90 · 1/10 · 25 September 2015]

Spoiler Alert!! I watched this movie thinking of seeing some graphic scenes like they shown in some movies like Hostel, Neighbor by Robert A. Masciantonio or martyrs etc. but as movie goes on it clearly seems that they ain't gonna show any graphic scenes in this film, when they put ciggerattes on girls its clear that the cigerattes were not burning! no horror or anything in that, and they didn't even show the rape part of the movie, and they actually didn't show nothing, and those headshots scenes were shooted stupidly, when gun fires little = light shown on gun and person dies without even a drop of blood. If u wanna watch snuff type of film and u doesn't care about much graphic scenes then u should watch "the human centipede"

great American snuff film - awesome

[vixtadot · 10/10 · 8 February 2007]

OK, anyone out there who is a fan of exploitation cinema, don't listen to the other posters on here - the great American snuff film is a totally wonderful exploration of the mind of a sociopath.

sure, its low budget. sure, it doesn't have any of the graphic effects associated with films like hostel and the rash of mainstream so-called extreme torture movies. but the great American snuff film is artistic, intelligent and above all, downright disturbing.

I think detractors of this film have seen the title and the subject matter and have expected lots of graphic ecu torture and bucketfuls of blood pouring out of people's heads for their entertainment. but in reality, that really isn't how it works.

films like hostel have given people a distorted perception of what this sort of sickness is really like in reality, and, in reality, it is totally un-fantastical, and shouldn't just give the kind of shocks that can easily be washed away with another gulp of diet pepsi and another handful of popcorn. it is ugly, degrading and downright sickening. which is just what sean tretta's film is. To re-dramatize events like these to make them palatable to a mainstream audience to me is frankly insulting and exploitative almost to a point beyond the misdemeanors of the sickest sociopath who ever lived.

Oh and by the way, if you like Harmony Korine and Last House on the Left, Don't MISS THE GREAT American SNUFF FILM.

Not nearly as bad as the other reviews make it it out to be

[gripefish · 7/10 · 9 March 2007]

This film is not your sleek, glossy Hollywood production, revolving around an intricate plot and developing characters.

This film is, to use well known examples, the bastard child of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original version) and Natural Born Killers.

From the chaotic "amateur" camera work to the constant presence of the narrator this film does an excellent job of telling exactly the story it wants to tell, a direct interpretation of the mind of William Grone.

People complain of it lacking special effects, but they should bear in mind this was a low budget indie film, and for what they had to work with they did a good job. Fantastic work on choice of actors, set design, music and all the small things that draw together to create a consistently believable and compelling atmosphere.

As for plot, presuming they are following Grone's journal to the letter, if you don't like it, it's hardly the fault of the film maker if they follow a true story.

As for the bit of supposed snuff at the end, of course I'm extremely skeptical about it's origin, but bear in films exist to tell us entertaining lies. Bickering over it's plausibility is as bad as people who read The Da Vinci code and believe every last word.

As a film in it's own right, I'm happy to call it a 7 out of 10, a satisfying way to waste an hour and a half at 1am on an uneventful Friday night. Not exactly exciting or entertaining, but compelling and expertly crafted.

Looking at it from it's creator, Sean Tretta's point of view, I'd call it a perfect 10. It does everything I believe he set out to do. I can't fault it as a translation of his idea onto the screen.

To use a fairly tenuous simile, this film is like a good stamp collection. It's creator has done a wonderful piece of work, compared to other stamp collections it's top notch. Stamp enthusiasts will all recognize this utter beauty. The ordinary man however will look at it and say "But it's just stamps", they may find it interesting that someone might go to so much effort and look through it in morbid fascination, but they just won't quite get the point.

Gritty, dirty, rough and raw

[dave_from_Aus · 4/10 · 5 May 2006]

OK, this is NOT a film with superb acting, clever direction or high quality sound or production values...but hey, it doesn't claim to be. It clearly states at the beginning that this is a dramatisation of entries from William Allen Grone's journals, with the two-and-a-half minutes of Super 8 film recovered by police, thrown-in at the end.

The fact that the 84 minutes preceding the "real footage" is b-grade quality, adds to the realism. Its gritty, dirty, rough and raw - and because of this you are more easily affected by the events that transpire. I agree that the added Super 8 footage at the end is it's biggest selling point, but if you love films that challenge the concept of what film should be, than you will appreciate this film.

Overall, not the most shocking of films, but a worthy entry into exploitation cinema.

Don't Lie

[persephone007 · 5/10 · 12 April 2007]

The supposed snuff footage is definitely fake and the movie would have earned a higher ranking had they not felt the need to lie to me. No MCPD is going to allow footage to be put in a movie especially *with* its watermark still on it! The death shot is taken from very far back and is barely a capture of the final moments. I'm sure this is done to keep people guessing as to its authenticity. There are some photos on the web at the moment of a car crash victim that have lead to a suit being filed against the pd from which they were leaked. There *are* real snuff films in existence. In evidence in police departments. I can think of a nice Canadian couple who made some rape murder films. I'm sure there are more but that is of course the first to come to mind.

Bottom line: Don't tell a nympho she's in for a deep freakin and pull out a 3" rubber made.

The work is fiction

[archer75 · 2/10 · 30 January 2008]

Having become interested after slowly being drawn in, by the tease of what was to come I battled through poor acting and sets, for the end finale. Of course, what does this say about me? However, reading so many of the comments here about the authenticity of the tape and the characters, I would point out this. At the end, in the credits, it does say that all the characters and events are fiction and any relation to any real character or event are purely coincidental.

The premise for the film is good, based on how voyeuristic we, as cinema goers and a society, have become but it doesn't do itself any favours by being so badly made.

"The only reason your still breathing is because I'm not done with you yet." Crap.

[poolandrews · 1/10 · 10 March 2007]

The Great Ameican Snuff Film starts as two sick freaks named Roy (Ryan Hutman) & William Allen Grone (Mike Marsh) kidnap two young girls named Sarah & Maddy (Melinda Lorenz & Holi Tavernier), they take them to the junkyard deep in the desert which Roy owns miles from anywhere of note. There Roy & William intend to make a snuff film on super 8 film with Sarah & Maddy as the unlucky stars...

Going straight-to-video after sitting on a shelf unreleased for a number of years where it should have stayed, written, produced & directed by Sean Tretta The Great American Snuff Film is crap, I'd call it pathetic filth but it's not even that good. The script was apparently based on the real life case of William Grone & the 2 and a half minutes of footage that was found when police raided his house, this footage is supposedly presented at the end with a warning that 'veiwer discretion is advised' but this so-called real footage is probably the most fake & unbelievable scene in the whole film. Plot wise it is as bare-bones as they come, you can basically work out the entire film just from the title. There'sonly about seven people in the entire film none of which are particularly likable. The Great American Snuff Film seems to be a ultra serious attempt to get into the mind of a sick f*ck like Grone as it almost relies totally on his constant tedious & clichéd monologues for it's narrative even though not much happens anyway. The whole film goes to plan exactly as one would expect & when there's a clichéd flashback that suggests Grone's current state is down to childhood abused you realise there really is nothing here that you haven't seen before & that The Great American Snuff Film really isn't going anywhere new or revolutionary.

Director Tretta manages to evoke a certain sadistic & nasty tone throughout the film simply because of the subject matter rather than what actually ended up on screen. Now I don't mind torture, gore & violence in the films that I watch, in fact I actively encourage it, I cannot & will not enjoy the constant sadistic torture, both psychical & mental, of women by retarded men for entertainment. While I know it's just a film I really cannot understand anyone who genuinely enjoys watching this crap as the torture & degradation of these two girls is the only thing this film seems interested in. I wouldn't call it scary or creepy & surprisingly there's very little gore considering the subject matter, in fact I can't think of any apart from some blood splatter.

Technially The Great American Snuff Film is pretty poor, the colour seems very bright during daytime shots which give it a distracting & unrealistic look & then there's the awful music which plays constantly during the first half of the film & to make things worse sometimes it's louder than the dialogue spoken by the actors which is not a good combination. There's also the baffling instances of being able to hear the wind blow against the mike & since certain scenes were probably shot over a certain period of time the wind from one shot to the next in the same scene has different levels of this noisy blowing wind. The acting isn't too bad especially by the girls.

The Great American Snuff Film is the sort of film I hate, it provided zero entertainment & I found it abhorrent from start to finish. Total crap as far as I'm concerned & it's as simple & straight forward as that.

One of the worst no budget films I've seen

[poopydoopyloopy · 1/10 · 27 December 2009]

I wrote an entire 4 paragraph review of this "film," only to delete it upon realizing that I could talk forever about how absolutely crappy this thing is. I know that this film had no budget, but there is NO excuse for this thing. You don't need money to tell you to use more then 3 shots in an entire 20 minute scene, you don't need money to tell you that the wind is blowing in your boom mic, you don't need money to tell you that your actors are COMPLETELY half-assing the roles.

You don't need money to tell you how to make a film.

If you read this and still want to see this "film," I encourage you to go on youtube and watch just 5 minutes of the thing, you'll see what I mean.

Grim with a capital "G" and not a patch on "The Last Horror Movie"

[DVD_Connoisseur · 5/10 · 23 October 2007]

While "The Great American Snuff Film" fails to really engage the viewer in the same way as "The Last Horror Movie", it's not an entirely wasted exercise. Treading similar ground to "Scrapbook", the film provides an insight into a serial killer's mind. Here, the narrator is accompanied by his "trusty" sidekick and we see the two engage in all sorts of warped activities.

The female actors of the film, Melinda Lorenz and Holi Tavernier, are convincing victims and evoke sympathy from the viewer. Their confinement and subsequent treatment is difficult to watch and quite realistic.

Despite some strong performances and an effective soundtrack, this film offers nothing new. It fails to bring anything to the genre and other films are simply more effective in their treatment of the subject matter.

5 out of 10. It's not as bad as some would make out but it's no "Henry".

no bueno

[xtheresamichellex · 1/10 · 3 February 2014]

I feel like this movie was made by a sadistic 16 year old in film class. It is supposedly a documentary on a "real life" serial killer. Any research of his name reveals that this is not true making this movie worse. The poor acting/ sound/ lighting and direction could have been OK if it was supposed to be a documentary. But it's not. simple as that. This film fell flat with no redemption. The "real footage" at the end is obviously not real. (Nor did I want it to be, if it was as it was claiming to be, a true snuff piece). I feel this whole movie was made on a whim by a couple of board kids who wanted to meet pretty girls, so they threw them in this horribly made "movie"

Horrible

[kwnc-04274 · 1/10 · 18 March 2023]

So i tried to watch this "movie" and the first time i only made it like 20 minutes in and i just couldnt watch it anymore. This looks like it was filmed by 2 yr olds. Now i wasnt around in 2004 so of course i havent seen many movies shot with older cameras but i do spend a lot of time with my grandparents and they watch black white tv shows with better quality than this. Not only that the girls were not pretty lmao. This was a horrible movie and its not based on a true story unless they changed the name of the guy who actually killed the people, william allen grone has no obituary or any arrest records from the 1990s or whatever. There was one william allen grone from 2011 which definitely was not him. Anyways, save yourself an hour and a half. There's better snuff flims out there.

wonderful character study

[boc321 · 10/10 · 9 September 2007]

i loved this film in all it rawness. A powerful film giving insight into the mind of a psychopath and his sidekick. Yes i was rooting for the girls most of the time and i couldn't help but find a morbid fascination with the power play here and also why he had a need to kill. I didn't care about the quality of the film, the acting was great by everyone. What sets this film apart IMHO is how you are put in a position to feel the control and power Grone had. The isolated area this takes place in adds to the chill factor. A dangerous film for sure if it was more well known as it most certainly would influence power hungry serial killers or even perhaps just the meekly curious general public. It will stick in your mind for a long time to come like it or not.

A Decent Attempt At A Gritty Pseudo-Biopic Horror Film - Unfortunately It Doesn't Live Up To It's Title...

[EVOL666 · 7/10 · 26 December 2006]

I think the main reason I liked this one more than most reviewers is that I heard nothing but terrible things about it going into it. I will agree that the film is not nearly as strong as the title would lead you to believe, and there definitely are some flaws, but overall I found THE GREAT American SNUFF FILM to be a pretty decent endeavor.

The story revolves around a supposed serial killer, William Allen Grone and his pal Roy who abduct a couple of girls in an attempt to create a snuff "masterpiece". Most of the run-time is involved with showing Grone and Roy's interactions, as well as some flashback sequences that give some background on Grone's life...

First off - I'm also of the mindset that although the film claims to be "based on true events" - it is not. I (like others...) have searched for information on Grone and on the author of the book that THE GREAT American SNUFF FILM was supposedly based on and found no information on either. In this era of fingertip information accessibility, I find this quite suspect. I also think that the tacked-on "real" snuff footage is completely fake as well. The film is a bit over-long, and could have been cut by several minutes in a few scenes that would have helped streamline the overall production quite a bit. Regardless, the tone and atmosphere of the film is pretty strong and bleak, and I found the camera-work and direction to be quite strong for a low-budget affair. The acting was passable and the score and sound design was hit-and-miss. I do feel the film suffered from a glaring lack of gore and sleaze given the subject matter - so that drops it a bit in my book as well. Otherwise, a relatively decent horror/thriller/fake-bio film - just don't expect anything exceedingly rough or "shocking" in this one...7/10

low budget....

[killerlyn · 10/10 · 30 August 2009]

everyone that rated this movie as a bad movie has how bad they wanted to see it so don't be mad you got suckered into watching it...you have to remember that (1) it IS a low budget film (2)it IS made by armatures with amateur actors (in fact the two male leads are in the band that did the films music...not all ppl can be both actors and kick ass musicians) (3) it WAS made in the middle of the dessert in Arizona (4) it still got you no matter how bad it was!!!!! even bad press is good press so yeah it sucked but you cant expect a low budget film with amateur actors to look like it just came from Hollywood...besides it is suppose to be a snuff film...i don't know of many killers who are gonna make sure that their lighting is perfect before they tighten the ropes...or ask the "actresses" "to do that line again but this time act more scared"...when she doesn't scream loud enough.....i think Blair witch was waaaaay worse and everyone loved that stupid crap

Great Film

[ijack_rabbits · 9/10 · 24 April 2008]

As an avid Horror Film fanatic, especially B-Grade and Low Budget, I can't see why everyone was disappointed.

It was always advertised and was going to be low quality and the acting was perfect, exactly how they were supposed to act for the film.

The monotone voice by William's character was supposed to give the effect of a disturbed mind, rationalising his behaviour and always calm and in control. Even when things didn't go his way he still was calm "there was a 50/50 chance she went this way".

Overall for what it was, a B-Grade horror flick it was excellent, kept me fixated the whole time.

If you really want low budget see "Rectuma" or "Jack Frost 2".

Awesome low budget movie.

[capelladewdrop · 10/10 · 24 October 2015]

OK I was a little disturbed by the scenes of rape, torture and snuff in this movie at first, but then when I told myself it was no worse than the The Saw, a film which I have seen many times, I began to enjoy it.

Like many snuff films it wasn't just a collection of torture and murder scenes without any story, but there was a narration by the killer telling us about his thoughts and why he did what he did. Freud would probably say his hatred of women was brought on by the hatred of his Mother.

It says it is based on a true story, which seems to be a true fact from what I can tell. Some movies claim to be based on a true story when they are not just to give them a 'must see' appeal.

The last few minutes of this movie features what is supposed to be actual footage of a woman being shot, and claims that there are at least three pieces of footage from this case available on the Internet.