# Snuff Films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [October 25, 2008, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuff-films/469487 "2008-10-25T06:48:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuff-films/469487/1 "2008-10-25T06:48:17Z")
Thank you, Unca Cece, for laying to rest that these films exist in the common porn library. Yes, there may be a few that circulate among the the TRULY PERVERSE but, in several years of (Honest, it was INNOCENT! I’m a researcher for a bestselling crime author!) looking, I never found anything that was not faked. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuff-films/469487/2 "2008-10-25T14:44:43Z")
When you start a thread commenting on Cecil’s column, it’s helpful to other readers to provide a link to the column in question: [Is there such a thing as a snuff film? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1170/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-snuff-film) Saves lots of searching time, and helps keep us all on the same page. [/standard response] ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuff-films/469487/3 "2008-10-25T15:11:07Z")
As Max Renn said in Videodrome, “Why do it for real? It’s easier and safer to fake it.”. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuff-films/469487/4 "2008-10-25T19:08:37Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Thank you, Unca Cece, for laying to rest that these films exist in the common porn library. Yes, there may be a few that circulate among the the TRULY PERVERSE but, in several years of (Honest, it was INNOCENT! I’m a researcher for a bestselling crime author!) looking, I never found anything that was not faked. Not sure where the home of the Unabomer is, but the author wouldn’t be John Sandford (i.e., John Camp), would it? ---
**Author:** ![Podster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@Podster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podster)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuff-films/469487/5 "2008-11-04T15:08:55Z")
Wouldn’t this count as a “snuff film”? [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/11/01/edm-altinger-murder-charges.html](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/11/01/edm-altinger-murder-charges.html) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuff-films/469487/6 "2008-11-04T15:37:22Z")
> [@Podster](#): > > Wouldn’t this count as a “snuff film”? > > [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/11/01/edm-altinger-murder-charges.html](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/11/01/edm-altinger-murder-charges.html) No, for two reasons. First, if this actually happened it was never intended for commercial pornography. Second, the wording of the article isn’t completely clear but from the following it appears that the filming and the murder were two separate events. > [@](#): > > Twitchell used the garage as a movie set, Anstey said, and one of _his earlier projects_ involved the story of a killing. > > “This film was about luring a fellow from the internet, duct-taping him to a chair, killing him and cutting him,” Anstey said. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuff-films/469487/7 "2008-11-04T15:37:49Z")
If Altinger is dead, Twitchell filmed himself killing him, and if Twitchell intended to distribute the film, rather than keep it for his personal viewing, like Lake and Ng made, yeah, I think it would count. None of the news stories mention a film yet, just a studio and a fictional film.