Stream it now Cannibal ferox 1981

 

Does cannibalism exist today? Has it ever existed? And if so, in what capacity? These are the pressing questions behind this film; rather, it is it's excuse to to put our three characters (an academic, her lady-friend, and, well, a dude) neck-deep in Amazonian trouble.

We follow these three as they turn from tourists or holiday-makers into survivalists - they're stranded and helpless and at the mercy of some sort of jungle tribe. We know nothing much about the tribe themselves, other than that they are at about a stone-age level of technology, and talk very little. There even seems to be a group consciousness at some points - they are eerily silent.

Of course, our characters make some terrible decisions, and I never really felt too sympathetic towards them. Some important (and later proved to be life-threatening) decisions are literally made with the toss of a coin. This is this film's problem, it often wants sympathy for characters that frustrate you - but in effect, this just elevates my blood-lust! So whether or not it's really problem is a point-of-view.

Sure, the mutilations, desecration, amputations and lacerations are all there; no complaints can be made about that. There's a lot to look forward to if you're in the mood for some funny and grisly deaths. (One particular contraption is notably clever. What looks like a sort of kitchen table with a head-size hole acts as a nice hors d'oeuvre server).

The film makes clumsy attempts to inter-cut between the city (in this case New York) and the jungle (the Amazon). These contrasts are made poorly, and the laboured point trying to be made between civilization and primitivism never pays off well. In fact, the whole idea is flushed down the toilet by a few lines of dialogue delivered by one of our captives. "Don't you see that we're the savages?", or something along those lines, is spewed forth with terrible delivery, timing and direction.

What makes this film notable and enjoyable is it's gore, it's inventive deaths, and it's sense of disorderedness. The characters really do seem stranded and doomed, a la "Cannibal Holocaust" and more so "The Blair Witch Project". Try it out for the sake of posterity. This kind of film is long gone.

Although Cannibal Holocaust is more violent and more severe than Cannibal Ferox, one cannot deny that the degree of violence these two films showcase can be mistaken as real!

The death of the characters in Cannibal Ferox were not as "exciting" as Cannibal Holocaust's, but anyhow the methods of their death were rather shocking. The scalping scene was just something that had me giving up dinner.

The movie however fails to achieve that sort of gradient that separates it from Cannibal Holocaust. Deodato did a good job in both films, but I wish that Cannibal Ferox had something more memorable. In the end, a viewer who has seen both movies might just say... "Hey, didn't I just watch that film?"

Anyhow, the graphic violence seemed to have been lessened, and honestly, it kinda bored me. It was only the scalping scene that had me WHOA!

These films can't be rated on their pages due to obscurity, so I'll rate them here.

Cannibal Ferox: A must-see for fans of the cannibal genre, this film is very similar to Cannibal Holocaust but not as unique or well-written.

Experiment in Torture: Despite a seemingly foolproof exploitation film premise, bad acting, directing, and writing are all that are experimented in and the viewer is the only one who is substantially tortured.

Burial Ground: A near-plotless fest of zombie carnage, the only thing that distinguishes this film from other low-budget schlock is the presense of a tragically undeveloped incestuous love subplot.

The House on the Edge of the Park: Though seemingly a Last House on the Left knockoff, this Deodato film has merits of its own including more nudity, better torture, and a haunting song.

Fight for Your Life: This once-controversial gem contains hilariously overdone racism that a modern audience would quote and laugh at.

Mediocre exploitation flick. Covers the story of three adventurers out to disprove the "myth" of cannibalism. Many similarities, but inferior, to Cannibal Holocaust, released the year before. Acting was poor, even taking into account the production year of 1981. Corny dialogue was rampant as well. The violence was definitely the highlight of this one, amazingly realistic for its time. Recommended for horror/exploitation aficionados only.

You watch it for Ian McShane. Timothy Olyphant ain't half bad either, but the rest of the cast tends to be spotty. The writing's good, once you get over the absurd amount of swearing and the fact that it isn't quite consistent between episodes (something that seems to get a lot worse in the second season, the consistency I mean, the swearing could hardly be any more exaggerated).

(*):

this is no big hollywood movie

Famed for being "banned in 31 countries" I have to say I kept waiting for the controversial part to play across the screen but never really saw it. It's a shocking film, no doubt about it. There are several animal on animal killing scenes, nothing I hadn't seen on various nature shows. There are two scenes where an actual live animal (a river gator and a turtle) are killed on screen and chopped up to be eaten. There's also a couple of bug eating scenes that have since been out done by the show Fear Factor.

The actual "cannibal" scenes are not really that gory. The effects used to pull them off (pun intended) are decent for the early 1980s but not amazing. I think the controversy came from the atmosphere and the fact that Lenzi actually had the (I can't resist) balls to show not just one, but two fake penises get chopped off in this movie.

The music score is average. The acting is bad. It is, it's not good at all. The story line was average, although padded out with useless extra stuff like the scenes that cut back to the police investigation going on back in NY. Check this out only if you are an extreme horror movie fan.

Cannibal movies are a dime a dozen, but this is one that you might want to pay attention to. When I was younger, around the ripe age of 12, I first saw this movie. My friend at the time told me that is was a banned movie, very X rated and very disturbing. And it was. For years I have searched for this movie, but to no avail. Finally, thanks to the guys at Grindhouse, I have found this movie, Cannibal Ferox . So how does it measure up now that I am an adult? Sad to say, the impact I once felt from this movie is no longer there. Don't get me wrong, to the normal movie watcher, this movie will be quite disturbing. But to a guy like me, a hardcore horror fan on a relentless search to feel disgusted and vile, I have become numb to such violence. The most disturbing parts of the movie are the real acts of animal cruelty. Granted, almost all of the animal scenes you have seen on the discovery channel, but there is a few I could do without seeing. There is a part where a pig is stabbed to death for NO REASON. Also, the scene with the big turtle getting chopped to pieces is just mean. If you are a fan of Italian horror directors such as Lucio Fulci or Dario Argento, then you have already seen more brutal murders than this movie has to offer. The breast scene and the scalping of the main asshole are nice, but nothing to run away from. Overall this movie has a decent story, terrible actors, good gore effects and a lot of animal violence. If you can stand these things, than I would recommend this film to any horror fan looking to see some assholes get what they deserve.