Alan Yates (2005)

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Director:

Sage Stallone

Release Date:

25 October 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Comedy | Horror

Plot:

Documentary follows Gabriel Yorke, the actor turned Berkeley professor who after 25 years of silence, is finally willing to speak about his participation in the most controversial film ever produced, Cannibal Holocaust (1980). |

Cast

Sage Stallone	...	Himself
Carl Gabriel Yorke	...	Himself

Runtime:

51 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Palo Alto, California, USA

Company:

Grindhouse Releasing

Trivia:

This documentary was shot with the last rolls of 16mm film leftover from Vincent Gallo's The Brown Bunny (2003). Stallone had bought Gallo's Aaton XTR camera with 2 of 6 magazines still loaded with film.

Movie Connections:

References Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

Informative and funny; it really gives background to Cannibal Holocaust.

I think that I learned more about Cannibal Holocaust just watching this one interview with Carl Gabriel Yorke than I did listening to Ruggero Deodato and the producer blabber on in circles in Italian. Not only that, but he actually had personality and made it fun to watch and listen. Interviews with Deodato and such are incredibly dull: they sit in the chair and speak about boring details of the movie in monotone until you want to stab your eardrums with an ice pick. Yorke is different, however. He's able to tell you interesting facts and actually make you laugh a bit in his interview.

Anyone can understand why this is the first time he's ever talked about his experience in making this movie. In the interview he seemed flat out ashamed that he was a part of it, which is also understandable. Some of the experiences he explains seem abominable, and yet, the whole time you want to hear more. He explains details of what it was like behind the scenes, what the actors and crew were like, and about how he got there, none of which you hear about in interviews with Deodato. He gives you an image in your head about what it was like if you were there, which is really enjoyable.

My personal favorite part is when he talks about the "love scene" (as he put it) between him and Francesca Ciardi (I wouldn't call it a "love scene," more like wild animal sex) in which they had to do five takes of it, and each explanation grew funnier and funnier! I died laughing when he tells how Deodato dragged the half-naked Ciardi into the woods and screamed at her in Italian about what she was supposed to do in the scene, and when he tells how the natives came up to him and were in awe that he did her five times, because they thought it was all real!

Yorke is nothing like the piece of slime that he plays. He seems like a really nice guy and got screwed into the part of one of the most hated characters in movie history. He took the job just because it was an acting job, not even knowing what the part was, and when he found out, he actually was afraid that if they killed animals, they might actually kill him! He said being in that movie changed his life; his personality actually changed into gloom. He broke up with his girlfriend a month after coming back, and his friends said he seemed darker.

Overall, it's fun to watch, which you can't always say about a documentary. It's an interview with a fun guy and really gives detailed and interesting information about a movie that not a lot is known about. If you've ever wanted to learn more about Cannibal Holocaust, buy the new Grindhouse Deluxe Collector's Edition and watch this in the special features. Even if you're not interested in Cannibal Holocaust, it'll still be interesting to watch.