College freshman Justine (Lorenza Izzo) never considered being a social activist, but after learning of the barbaric FGM practices in other countries, she is drawn to the cause. Her father is lawyer for the U.N., but there is nothing he can do to help. So when she is handed a flier for an on-campus activism group, Justine attends a meeting, where she meets the attractive head of the group, Alejandro (Ariel Levy). She joins Alejandro and the group on a trip to the Peruvian Amazon to stop a corporation from bulldozing the untouched jungle and killing off the natives in order to drill for oil.

However, when the plane full of students crashes in the jungle, the young activists soon find themselves victims of the very people they sought out to help—they are captured and bound by a cannibalistic tribe of natives who don’t speak any English. The natives believe that the students are part of the same group that are trying to destroy their homeland, and are out for revenge. Can Justine and the others find a way to escape before they end up as dinner?

While The Green Inferno is an entertaining film, it doesn’t really break any new ground. It follows the same tried and true formula as Roth’s other films such as Hostel. We see a group of teenagers/twenty-somethings traveling in a strange foreign land when they are captured and held hostage by people who don’t speak their language. As the captives try to figure a way out, they are systematically killed off one at a time through a series of gruesome and tortuous events. Throughout the film, there are moments of humor to help break the tension and prevent the film from being relentlessly horrific.

While the formula may be familiar, some of the deaths are unlike anything I’ve seen before in films. Plus, there’s always the question of who will actually survive (if any). I found myself constantly squirming in my seat, and even when I knew what was coming, I just couldn’t look away. The film has many shocking and disturbing moments which lead to some unexpected twists and turns. These students are put through some pretty horrific situations, but it all looks and feels so realistic. I knew I would be in for a realistic treat when I saw Greg Nicotero’s name in the opening credits, and the makeup effects did not disappoint.

The Blu-ray presentation of the film is fantastic—the South American landscapes and forests look beautiful, the effects look realistic, and every gruesome event is captured in amazing detail. The audio track is also really well done, right from the opening of the film as we are transported into the Peruvian jungle, surrounded by the sounds of the wildlife. The Blu-ray contains both iTunes and UltraViolet digital copies of the film, however, the only on-disc extras are an audio commentary with the cast/creators of the film and a photo gallery. While the commentary is very informative and entertaining, it would have been great to get more of a behind-the-scenes look at how the effects and makeup were done, or some deleted scenes.

What’s Included:
Film: (1:40:54)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital Copy (See NBCUcodes.com for Redemption Deadline):

• iTunes Digital HD Copy
• UltraViolet Digital HD Copy

Extras:

• Feature Commentary (1:40:54)
  Co-writer/director/producer Eli Roth, co-writer/producer Nicolás López, and stars Lorenza Izzo (“Justine”), Aaron Burns (“Jonah”), Kirby Bliss Blanton (“Amy”) and Daryl Sabara (“Lars”) provide a highly-entertaining audio commentary throughout the film. The commentary was recorded a week after the film was released in theaters, so the reaction to the film is fresh in their minds. They give a lot of behind-the-scenes stories, and interesting production tidbits such as how certain effects were done, the shooting locations and the friendly “native” actors.
• Photo Gallery
  Use the remote to manually advance through this gallery of 236 production stills.

Final Thoughts:

The Green Inferno doesn’t really break any new ground when it comes to horror films, sticking mainly to a familiar formula. However, it is still a very solid, entertaining film with some shocking and scary moments. Fans of Roth’s other work should not be disappointed as it is more of the same. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great and the included audio commentary is both informative and entertaining, but that is pretty much the only bonus material. That said, the film is definitely worth checking out for fans of gory, gruesome type horror films.

The Green Inferno is currently available on Digital HD, and will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on January 5, 2016.