What is a snuff film, and are they real or fake?

In the realm of true crime, there are always discussion about the lengths people will go for the sake of depravity. Where do “snuff films,” films involving the deaths of others made for profit, fit into the equation, though?

While there are a litany of true crime cases featuring shocking events, sometimes sadly including media attached to the crime, there haven’t been any including films for profit. So, does this mean that snuff films don’t exist? Or are they just hiding out of public view? The answer is a bit complicated, but we’re here to break it down for you.

Are snuff films real?

While they generate lots of buzz and outrage, there’s not as much going on in the topic of snuff films as some seem to believe. You may hear the occasional headline or news story from a shady source about a snuff film popping up, but it almost certainly going to be sensationalized. In short, snuff films are currently not believed to exist. This opinion could change if proof were to ever surface, but no evidence has been seen in all of history yet.

The idea that snuff films don’t exist is a controversial one, though, which is why there’s consistent pressure and challenges to the notion. You’ll encounter critics who claim snuff films have to exist, just based off of the likelihood that someone out there is depraved enough to make one. The issue here is that there is still no proof of the phenomenon, despite what some may believe about the feasibility of snuff films.

What counts as a snuff film?

The reason it may be hard to believe that snuff films don’t exist is wrapped up in the popular misconception of the term. Having a misunderstanding about what constitutes a snuff film is not a fault of readers, though, but rather confusion brought through different definitions. There are two main ways, generally speaking, that a movie can be considered a snuff film. The main definition requires a financial motivation behind killing someone on screen, with the intention of deriving profit from the result, as opposed to, for example, journalistic, social media, or CCTV coverage of an act of violence resulting in death, such as the documentation of homicides by police in cases of fatal incidents, such as that which befell George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. Secondly, a snuff film can also describe the idea of a movie made for profit that intentionally documents a homicide, while also featuring pornographic intent. While rumors persist, none have been officially designated.

It seems that the term snuff film doesn’t have a hard definition, but we do know that most cartel murders and ISIS beheadings do not fall into the snuff film category. This is because the main motivation behind these videos are to spread fear of criminal or terrorist operations via violent propaganda, rather than money being made by those directing the film’s production.