‘SURVIVE!’ (1976) – Tasteless Grindhouse Exploitation

Early January of 2024 will see the Netflix release of Society of the Snow, directed by J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage 2007). The film is based on the infamous 1972 Uruguyan plane crash in the Andes which carried a team of rugby players as well as their families and other passengers. 29 out of 45 survived the initial crash in the snowy mountains, and the ensuing 72 days saw the survivors suffering through frigid temperatures, barely treated injuries, threats of avalanche, and resorting to cannibalizing their dead to survive.

Against all odds, a small group of surviving rugby players were able to traverse the mountain towards civilization and eventual rescue from the unforgiving mountain range. By the end, 16 out of 45 passengers survived the entire 72 days.

Most will recognize that this ordeal was also the basis of the 1993 film, Alive, starring Ethan Hawke (Sinister 2012). What most people don’t know, is that there was an even earlier film version, only four years after the event. Survive! (gotta love the exclamation point for emphasis) from 1976 and directed by René Cardona (Night of the Bloody Apes 1969) is pure grindhouse, exploitation 70’s schlock. A relic of a bygone era in which exploitative and insensitive film versions could be made about real life tragedies. The film begins with both a text introduction of the event, AND a narration after that is ripped almost entirely from John Larroquette’s famous voiceover from the beginning of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Unlike later film versions of this story, all of the names in this movie are changed. They spared the survivors that indignity at least, as the film portrays the tragic events with such incredible tastelessness. Viewers who have seen Alive would know that the cannibalism scenes are portrayed with the appropriate weight and tragedy that such an act would entail. It helps that Nando Parrado, one of the survivors who was portrayed by Hawke in that film, was a technical advisor on the project. Survive! has no such qualms about going for complete gross-out when it to comes this horror. We are witness to bloody and visceral carving up of the bodies as well as shots of the survivors devouring obscenely large and repulsive cuts of human flesh and muscle.

Another factor that detaches the film from any real appreciation for the tragedy these young men went through is the poor characterization. As mentioned before, Survive! changes all of the names. This is a common practice in films based on real events, however, in this case, one would be hard pressed to remember a single name. The film does not focus in on any one of the characters for any of the scenes, just a cold (no pun intended) and distant reenactment of the suffering. Not helping is the combination of thick wardrobe for each of the actors as well thick facial hair, all of which results in each of these characters melding together with no real depth, even in their most raw, vulnerable moments.

Additionally, the film has a pace so frantic that, big moments are just rushed through. For instance, we witness an avalanche in which a number of the characters are buried underneath snow. A couple of short minutes later, we see that some characters have been dug out and survived, we are informed that others died, and then it’s on to more gloomy scenes of the characters sitting out in the cold, miserable, obviously fake snow.

Survive! is a tragedy in and of itself. A film with no awareness of the gravity of its subject matter, but definitely a lot of affection for the shocking and the disgusting. But, that does make it right in line with cheap, ’70’s grindhouse cinema. Let’s hope J.A. Bayona is able to clear this incredibly low bar.

If you’re curious, you can watch Survive! free on Tubi.