December 29, 1999

Dear Mr. Murawski and Mr. Stallone,

    My name is Professor Harold Monroe, Dean of Anthropology, New York University.  When I originally set off to find the filmmakers who had been lost to the jungle in "CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST", I had no idea what their found footage would reveal.  At the time, after viewing said material and talking with my colleagues at NYU, we felt it best not to reveal these particular atrocities to the sensitive and politically-correct peoples of the United States.

    Now if I am to understand correctly, I have heard "through the grapevine" that your company, GRINDHOUSE RELEASING, has recently acquired the rights to the film, "CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST."  I am writing to you because I have since had a changing of heart regarding my position on its release. 

    There is nothing more important in our country than free expression as granted by the U.S. Constitution.  To suppress this story, however graphic and gory the details, would be to quash the truth.  It would be an entirely un-American act and contrary to the energy, and voracious persistence, however misguided, with which the original filmmakers gathered their footage and with which they sought out the "gospels" of the jungle.  They paid the ultimate price for this authenticity -- they lost their lives for it.  So I think the least we can do as Americans is to bring this story to light.  And I would like to do whatever I can to facilitate that.

    The reason I am having this sudden reverse in my opinion is due in part to the recent release of a film entitled, "THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT."  I noticed astounding similarities with "CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST" (previously known as THE GREEN INFERNO) -- young filmmakers going into the wilds to investigate bizarre rituals or myths of murderous witches and/or cannibals and never returning alive again; an anthropologist like myself finding their footage as a testament to the horrors that they endured; then there is the similarity in the tattoo found on one of the cannibals and the stick figures found in the Maryland woods...the list goes on and on!  I feel that it would endanger innocent people's lives to not make them aware of this global phenomenon, whatever it may be.

    It is unnerving to think that there might be innocent "copycat" filmmakers out there, venturing into the jungles or even nearby woods in search of these witches, cannibals, and  things-that-go-  bump-in-the-night, only to stumble upon the realities of viciousness of man.  Perhaps, if we can prevent one eager film student or a team of professional documentarians from falling into the same situation -- then it will be worth everyone's effort and bring some kind of meaning to the loss of the original filmmakers' lives.

    It is with that, I give you at GRINDHOUSE RELEASING my blessing.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions regarding what we saw, heard, found, and ultimately recovered.