Cannibal Ferox (1981)

[Scott]

CANNIBAL FEROX (1981) - Another good Italian cannibal film, but this time set in the Amazon jungle. The film is really equal to the other earlier Italian Cannibal films EATEN ALIVE, MAN FROM DEEP RIVER, and JUNGLE HOLOCAUST. The Brazil setting made this different than the Asian settings of the previous titles. The things that happen in these films are not fit to print. All I can say is if you are curious check them out. I know a lot of you are affended by the animal cruelty in these films.

[Menard]

No sooner had I mentioned CANNIBAL FEROX in another post, and you post a review on it.

Certainly not a movie for anyone offended by animal cruelty like myself.

CANNIBAL FEROX is however an A list movie for anyone who likes cannibal films (I can't believe I said that). As a bonus you get to see John Morghen once again tortured in a movie. Do be aware that this is gory, as Scott's picture (actually Scott at Thanksgiving dinner) only scratches the surface.

For those who may enjoy cannibal movies but might like something sleezier, might I recommend EATEN ALIVE (not to be confused with the Tobe Hooper film of the same name). Again, not for the animal rights person.

As a note: Giannetto de Rossi did the effects work on CANNIBAL FEROX as well as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. Giannetto de Rossi is very probably the best at what he does, even with Lenzi's pitiful budget.

CANNIBAL FEROX is the uncut version of what was released in the U.S. as MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY. David Friedman (BLOOD FEAST) ranked this movie along with SALO as the two most disgusting movies he had seen. Now that's praise.

[blkrider]

This is probably the second or third best cannibal film.....it's not quite as nasty as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST  and is more of a traditional chunkblower.  As Scott said, though, still some really nasty animal cruelty.   I think it's probably a cut above JUNGLE HOLOCAUST just for its gore scenes.  

Still way better than TRAP THEM AND KILL THEM or SLAVE OF THE CANNIBAL GOD.

[Menard]

Giannetto de Rossi also did the effects for CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST which I have not actually watched although I have seen stills and clips from it (and it looks nasty). The effects de Rossi did in CANNIBAL FEROX are left to stand on their own since Lenzi does not appear to be capable enough (or provide the budget) to work in association with the effects in order to bring them to full fruition the way that Lucio Fulci and cinemaphotographer Sergio Salvati can when they have worked with de Rossi.

Lenzi uses cheap outs like slaughtering animals on screen to make up for what he lacks elsewhere. For some this works and there is no doubt Lenzi knows this.

As a movie CANNIBAL FEROX is not very good. As a cannibal movie it delivers the goods. That is an important distiction and frankly the only one that matters. It has developed a reputation and having John Morghen in it boosts its popularity to many, since many of us just enjoy seeing him tortured and mutilated.

Now the part about making me look bad. I had told Scott in another post that I enjoyed TRAP THEM KILL THEM/EMMANUELLE AND THE LAST CANNIBALS. Of course the enjoyment factor is primarily in the sleeze factor. The appearance of Donald O'Brien as a sleezy character is enjoyable too. What can you say about a movie in which the cannibals tie a nun to a tree, rip her gown off (and why is she wearing that in the jungle), split her open and eat her intestines.

SLAVE OF THE CANNIBAL GOD had one thing going for it; Ursula Andress.

[lester1/2jr]

I saw this, eaten alive and Cannibal holocaust on laser disk.  They have them at the store I go to and I happen to have a laser disk machine.  Cannibal holocaust is the king, but the other two are good as well.

[Sugar_Nads]

I've never seen one of these films but judging from that pic, I'm not too sure my stomach can handle it. Never been a big gore hound.

[blkrider]

Yeah, I didn't mean to dump on TRAP THEM AND KILL THEM...it's a sleazy good time.  It just seems a lot more derivative than the other films.  So does EATEN ALIVE though at least they change things up a little bit with the whole story about the religious Jonestown-like cult in the jungle.  

All of these movies are an acquired taste---I totally understand it when people say they can't handle them due to the animal abuse and torture scenes.  I tend to just look away during the animal scenes, though in some cases you have to just fast forward because the scenes go on for so long.  

I read somewhere that these cannibal movies started being made because of the box office success of A MAN CALLED HORSE.  The Italians decided there was a market for scenes of bizarre indigenous rituals.  I guess they were right, though I can't see much connection between the cannibal flicks and that movie.   I think the Mondo flicks were also a big influence.

[Menard]

Frankly, if you've seen some zombie movies, these get worse.

[Menard]

The success of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE combined with the growing interest in mondo probably contributed to the interest in cannibal movies. TV shows and documentaries along the line of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC had their heyday during this period of the seventies. The cannibal films were like combining the mondo with zombie movies. Interestingly, even though many of these cannibal films preceeded DAWN OF THE DEAD, they really did not make their mark on American audiences until after DAWN OF THE DEAD came out.

[Scott]

One of the audio commentaries or interviews to the Cannibal films that I've seen the director makes a direct reference to strange practices of native peoples as being the source of their movie ideas. I came across the reference to A MAN CALLED HORSE and these films somewhere and the Mondo and Shocking Asia films were probably a definate influence on this genre.



Post Edited (01-10-05 22:37)

[Menard]

In your description for MAN FROM DEEP RIVER there seemed a little similarity with A MAN CALLED HORSE. CANNIBAL FEROX of course had the scene where they hung the woman by hooks through her breasts. I wonder where they got the idea for that? Of course there was no worse example of taking ideas from A MAN CALLED HORSE and torturing the viewing public than TRIUMPH OF A MAN CALLED HORSE.