Cannibalism, the act of eating the flesh of one's own species. Be it in tribal rituals or the Roman Catholic act of the eating of the flesh of Christ, it has always been with us; but still we usher it into a dark corner of the world of the moving picture. Yes, I know all about Hannibal Lector, but even with that cinematic boogieman his eating habits where much the subject of jokes (taken to ridiculous extremes in Ridley Scott's sequel)
The Italian cannibal movie. For a brief period during the seventies and early eighties the Italians churned out an astonishing amount of cannibal flicks, most followed the same story idea, white men enter jungle, fall foul of jabbering dancing savages, become dinner. These films were controversial all, (although perhaps not as controversial as the Italians Nazi concentration camp films) and with random exception terrible films that relied on shock value.
The most famous of these two carnivorous cannibal masterpieces.
Cannibal Ferox
Or Make Them Die Slowly as the poster says. A terrible movie in any respect, but it is one of the few movies in which you will hear the lines "and then they ate his genitals"
A university student travels to the Amazon with her friends to complete her thesis which suggests that cannibalism amongst humans is a falsehood, what follows is the most extreme dismissal of her argument as everyone they run into is cannibalised.
Racist to the extreme and featuring the gloating dismemberment of several living animals this is certainly controversial stuff and with drugs and a constant stream of sometimes hilarious swearing (bat shit being my personal fave) and of course cannibalism the film has of course become something of a cult legend.
Littered with awfully contrived scenes, listless performances, inappropriate disco music and direction that seems better suited to afternoon television, Cannibal Ferox has one saving grace, as token white villain Giovanni Lombardo Radice steals the show, spitting out vulgarities at every chance and shooting people for no reason he's like the little devil on your shoulder running around the jungle enjoying himself and screw everyone else, that is until he has his arm and penis severed and his skull removed like a boiled egg. Ah, they just don't make 'em like that any more
Cannibal Holocaust
Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust is special, even the name is enough to send certain reviewers into a frenzy, like a hex or voodoo doll it has power over people, not just because of it's brutal visuals but because in the words of Lynne Gorman in David Cronenberg's Videodrome "it has a philosophy".
Four film makers go into the Amazon to film cannibals, they disappear, their footage later turning up it is up to a college professor to view the footage and discover what happened.
Clever almost to the point of becoming self defeating CH tries every trick in the book to convince you that what you are seeing is real, animals are butchered in close up (even the cast have trouble acting through these scenes) and documentary footage of soldiers killing villagers is passed off as fake, bemoaning the actions of Mondo film makers with these scenes Deodato never acknowledges the irony in shouting out against the very thing he is in fact showing, it's this point that annoys most viewers, well that and the animal mutilation: Of course I cannot condone this, but in it's defence at least here it is for the expansion of an idea, for character development, not just sensationalism as in Cannibal Ferox. The film is really about the problems that occur when conversation breaks down, all the problems between the tribes and the documentary makers happen because they force themselves upon the tribes not entering into any form of dialogue either vocal or through the language of symbols or through bartering, burning down a village is more sensational than just observing their daily routine. The desire for fame is also a motivating factor, presenting actual fact may be educationally important but it doesn't bring in the money, as the film crew violate the tribes and the surrounding environment all their talk is of fortune and fame, this is thirty years before the explosion of reality television, but all the symptoms are here, fame at any cost, rape a viewers senses and leave them open for more reality is only what you are told it is. The film crew are shown as shallow ugly people, vignettes with their family confirm this, compared to the tribes of the Amazon who are merely reacting to being forced into a corner by people with nothing but contempt for their heritage they are nothing but savages leaving a sad warning all those who follow in their footsteps.
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