Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, have found no evidence of the existence of a commercial snuff film industry.

Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, federal investigators launched extensive inquiries into rumors of underground commercial snuff rings. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), alongside international police organizations like Scotland Yard, systematically investigated reports of movies depicting real, pre-planned homicides produced for the black market. In every single instance, these investigations revealed that the films in question were either highly convincing special-effects simulations, historical war footage, or standard exploitation cinema repackaged to exploit public gullibility. Criminologists and federal agents concluded that the logistical risk, lack of a viable commercial distribution model, and extreme legal penalties make a commercial snuff industry non-existent.