Eli Roth uses gory film to recruit Amazonian extras

Eli Roth, creator of the "Hostel" horror series, has said he wants to be the Walt Disney of horror. And as part of that ongoing effort, the writer-director-actor-producer has indeed taken it up about twelve notches.

For his new cannibal-themed flick, "The Green Inferno," Roth's production traveled to a remote village in the Amazon. And get this: In order to recruit villagers to play extras in the film, Roth's team had to first show them what a movie is. "They've never seen a television," Roth said [via Movieline]. "So we brought a generator and set up a television. I thought they were going to show them 'E.T.' or 'The Wizard of Oz,' but they showed them 'Cannibal Holocaust' to see how much they could handle [it]." (1980 Italian horror film "Cannibal Holocaust" is both revered and reviled for its incessant and violent gore.)

[New on Yahoo! Movies: Exclusive clips from 'Sky Fall' & 'Fun Size']

How did the South American villagers react, you ask? With delight! "The villagers thought it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen... They thought it was a comedy!" Roth said.

If you think the location is odd, Roth was apparently inspired by one of his prolific contemporaries. "It's so far up the Amazon, no one has ever shot there. The last person anywhere near there was Werner Herzog for 'Aguirre, the Wrath of God [1972].'"

Roth, who starred in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" as Sgt. Donny Donowitz aka Bear Jew, now stars in festival circuit horror film "Aftershock," which he also wrote and produced. Roth also co-wrote and produced action film "The Man With the Iron Fists," directed by hip-hop artist RZA -- who also stars alongside Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu. That film lands in theaters November 2.

Watch 'Man With the Iron Fists' Clips:
Tiger Style Bronze Lion