Cannibal Ferox (1981)

In 1980, Umberto Lenzi watched Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust and screamed "Hey! I'm the guy who kills animals for entertainment!" Then he made this pile of crap, the second most offensive Italian cannibal film. Second because the plot, compared to the more plausible Cannibal Holocaust, is completely brain-damaged.

Like 99% of Italian film made between 1980-1982, this film starts off in New York, where a junky is looking his pusher Mike. The junky goes to the apartment where Mike was last living, only to find himself looking down the barrel of a gun held by a very angry Mafioso. Turns out Mike has nicked $100,000 and high-tailed it out of town. One dead junky later, cops Robert Kerman and Venantino Venantini are on the case, but between you and me they are just there to pad out all the cannibal action elsewhere.

In the Amazon somewhere, student Lorraine De Salle has set out for the rainforest to, get this, prove that cannibalism doesn't exist. She thinks it was a myth conjured up by the Spanish conquistadores to justify pillaging the land, but how she proves it doesn't exist by going to a specific part of the Amazon is beyond me (as well as cannibalism that has happened in wars and the fact that cannibalism is localised to South America- I'm overthinking this!). Lorraine takes along her brother Rudy and the horny Mary (Zora Kerova), so we've a nice buffet lined up for the cannibals already.

Once in the jungle, this lot get their jeep stuck in mud and head off into the unknown, experiencing the horror of a tribesman eating live grubs and finding two mutilated bodies. Suddenly, a white guy appears, holding a wounded, other white guy. The non-wounded one is Mike (Giovanni Radice) and he swears that the local tribe have eaten their guide and are after them. Mike also like sniffing a lot of coke and seems a bit hyper, which, to be fair, makes these new folks suspicious. Except for Zora Kerova who happily takes coke and jumps in bed with Mike.

If a tribe of cannibals were after you, would you go back to their village? That's what this lot do, as it turns out Mike was the aggressor and killed his own guide by poking his eye out with a knife, then cutting his tummy banana off with a knife. The warriors of the tribe are out elsewhere, but what do you think they are going to do to this lot when they come back?

The 'action' as it were is cut by scenes of Kerman and Venatini searching for Mike in New York, which doesn't really serve the plot at all to be honest. Just like Cannibal Holocaust, the white cast are slowly tortured and murdered, with Zora being hung up by her breasts with steel hooks, and Mike losing his penis, arm, and then brain to the cannibals. Lorraine escapes, goes back to New York, and gets her degree by declaring that cannibalism doesn't exist. After watching that I feel like cannibals have chopped the top of my head off and eaten my brains too.

The thing is, you could forgive this nonsense if it wasn't for the killing of animals for the sake of it. It's a hard world we live in - at least a million chickens died just to feed Fernando Sancho alone. Slaughterhouse run all day to feed us Big Macs. I know the tribes in these films eat what they kill, but I want to see that as much as I want to see someone fire a steel bolt through the head of a cow that I'll be eating in the Dalmarnock branch of McDonalds. It's not fun or entertaining. I'm not Bear Grylls - I don't knock one out to the lizard I&#

Fmovies: This was, hands down, the dumbest movie I have ever seen. I can't believe I wasted my time. Unable to get "Cannibal Holocaust", which I felt I needed to see for myself, I settled for this one. What a mistake. This movie doesn't do anything. Seems like all they do is walk around for the most part, and the gore is ludicrous. Hurting and killing the animals was pathetic and did nothing for the movie except make it worse. Don't see this.

This film is much the same as Cannibal Holocaust. If it weren't for the needless animal killing in the name of 'shock' ("Ooh look at us, we're hardcore, we've added real death to our films") these films would make their way onto my dusty classics shelf - I'm a huge fan of cannibal films and zombies. But as it stands, it's another example of shock horror clutching at the last straws of the pile in a desperate effort to make a poor film generate more hype. To sum up, a crusty gore flick with limited appeal. A fan of 70's gore should give this a try, but anyone with modern ethics and tastes should pick something a little better written for their popcorn-fest.

Cannibal Ferox fmovies. You can't take it seriously. It's really silly, poorly acted and really cheesey in parts. But it does have a hefty bucket load of blood to keep gorehounds like my good self happy. Make sure to see it uncut, because to be honest, there isn't much else going for it(!) I just wish they left the animals alone in these films. But keep your eyes out for the highlights; the unfortunate John Morghen, who has his manhood sliced clean off and eaten by one of the Cannibals. This film is not as bad as it is supposed to be, though.

Otherwise a good Cannibal flick, better than the rest of them, but naturally nowhere near as good as Deodato's masterpiece - Cannibal Holocaust, which sits safely on it's throne.

CANNIBAL FEROX is one of those "forbidden gems", one of the short list of films that only those with strong stomachs and undying dedication to horror films can endure. Also on that list are films like CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, MEN BEHIND THE SUN, SALO: 120 DAYS OF SODOM, and a handful of others that are not for the weak of heart or those easily offended. I have finally seen FEROX and have only good things to say about it.

The plot is rather simple: a drug dealer and his co-hort torture and kill some natives in the Amazon jungle and escape, but after encountering a college group, they are captured and brutalized for the cruelties they have caused. All of the four main actors are excellent (Giovanni Lombardo Radice/John Morghen, Lorraine de Selle, Danilo Mattei, Zora Kerova) and I plan to seek out all of their films. I seriously enjoyed the acting, which may come as a surprise to those who watch this film for yucks. I never once laughed during this film, I took it totally seriously and the film actually works this way. I can't stress how unbearable some of the scenes in this film are. There are several instances of real animal killings (a turtle, an alligator, a pig, and almost a mongoose), castration, decapitation, mutilation, humiliation, a piranha attack, and poison darts. All of the scenes in the jungle are expertly filmed and create an otherworldy environment that puts us, the viewers, through hell and back. By the end of the film, we have experienced everything that the protagonists have and have come out alive, as well. I think that that, as well as viewing the film itself, gives a sense of triumph as an end result.

Now the one problem with the film: the NYC scenes. Filmed on location in New York City, the scenes are wonderfully nostalgiac and are scored by an irresistible disco score, but the acting is horrible (except perhaps porn star Richard Kerman/R. Bolla), the dubbing bad, and it just breaks the main storyline too much. It tells the story of why Mike Logan and Joe (the drug dealers) escaped to the Amazon. But does it really matter? Joe explains it during his story, so why shoot 20 minutes of new footage with a totally different cast? Director Umberto Lenzi does a wonderful job with the jungle footage, some of his best work, and had also done cop thrillers. I guess he couldn't resist showing off his ability to shoot action scenes. These NYC scenes are well shot and campy like most Italian cop thrillers, but should have been in a different film. Here, they just distract from the jungle action and almost ruin what could have been a classic film. Instead, this film is for the most part ridiculed and called a rip-off of the stronger CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST.

The music by Budy-Maglione is superb and is available on CD through some on-line mail order video companies. It's so good I listen to it every day. The NYC disco theme is marvelous, but my favorite is still the morbid symphonic choir piece that accompanies the horrific scenes in the jungle. It is both beautifully composed and effectively filled with dread. I would list some stand-out scenes, but why ruin a good thing? Go into CANNIBAL FEROX by knowing as little about it as possible, including the now famous murder sequences, and prepare to be shocked beyond belief. Grindhouse Releasing has released the definitive version, so seek that out for cool extras, including commentaries by John Morghen and Umberto Lenzi and three trailers!

I love this flick, so am I perverted or even totally weird?!? None of both, because "Cannibal Ferox" is a great guilty pleasure and an excellent stare-if-you-dare-movie! It is banned in 31 countries and there are truly good reasons for that: nearly no film delivers such an immense load of explicit gore, blood and guts, castration and sadism as this one features! But even though you like to hear it or not, Lenzi´s film is pretty suspense-packed, full of dramatic and entertaining from beginning till the end! Once more the a whole zoo of animals was slaughtered and the most disgusting take is when in a nearly heart-braking scene a little tethered and despaired screaming anteater gets strangulated by a huge Anaconda! However this shot has an almost symbolic character in view of the plot... The cast includes such exploitation-greats like Robert Kerman ("Eaten Alive"), John Morghen ("Cannibal Apocalypse"), Perry Pirkanen ("Cannibal Holocaust") and in the first line the wonderful Zora Kerova ("The New York Ripper"), who makes some really bad experiences with meathooks at the unhappy end..! Faint-hearted persons will surely turn away in deeply disgust, however all those who threw their political correctness over board may surely enjoy this sick symphony of sheer cruelty!