Daily Inspiration Quote by Ivan Reitman

Reitman frames his origin story as a bait-and-switch, and the joke is the point. “Cannibal Girls” is pure grindhouse provocation: a title engineered to make you flinch, or at least buy a ticket. By immediately undercutting it (“sounds like a horror movie but…”) he’s showing how his sensibility was built in the gap between lurid marketing and the actual experience. The film isn’t just an early credit; it’s a lesson in tone management, the tricky art of letting audiences enjoy the charge of danger without paying the full emotional price.

The phrasing is studiously casual - “something called,” “kind of,” “goofy” - as if he’s shrugging off the exploitation sheen while still admitting it worked. That’s the subtext: he’s both distancing himself from the cheapness of the packaging and owning the craft hiding inside it. Horror spoof isn’t a compromise here; it’s a strategy. Spoof borrows horror’s tools (suspense, gore, taboo) but repurposes them as social permission slips: you can laugh at what would otherwise disgust you.

Context matters because Reitman’s later career depends on this exact alchemy. His best-known movies thrive on high-concept premises that flirt with the supernatural or the scary, then defuse the dread with timing, performance, and a wink. This quote quietly argues that his “first film” wasn’t a detour before the real work - it was the blueprint.