I Thought I Had Seen It All!
Happy New Year...I think! I spent the last two hours
watching my first flick of 2005, and just when I
thought I had seen it all, along comes Umberto Lenzi's
1981 horror classic "Cannibal Ferox". After the first
30 minutes I had a true understanding as to why this
feature has been banned in 31 countries. This deluxe
uncensored letterbox edition was filmed in New York City
and in the Amazon (very similar) Perhaps the movie
poster says it all. "Warrning! Due to its shocking
and violent subject matter, no one under 17 should
view this film." Seventeen??? I'm 55 and I'm not too
sure the ratings commission shouldn't have banned it
in this country. Believe it or not, I purchased it
from Amazon.com.
As most of you know, I am a horror film connoissseur.
This isn't horror...it's gore. Those who don't easily
feel nauseated over blood, guts and ooze, will adore
this "classic" (???). But be...
good dvd, interesting movie
The DVD itself is a very satisfying package - we get commentaries, a beautiful transfer. Whether the film itself really has any merit depends on personal taste really. For my money, this is not a patch on Deodato's excellent Cannibal Holocaust, which is just as gory and a hell of a lot more realistic, with believable actors and an intelligent script. In comparison, Ferox seems like just an exploitative rip-off. But taken in its own terms, Cannibal Ferox does deliver the goods (I'm talking gore-wise) with hard-to-watch sexual violence accompanying genuine animal deaths. The music is cheesy, and again not up to the standards of Holocaust, but it grows on you.
Overall, this Holocaust rip-off is obviously a must-buy for italian cannibal/gore fans (legions ahead of rubbish like Eaten Alive etc). People new to the genre may do best to check out Cannibal Holocaust (availible on import from europe) first, as it is cinematically far better although harder to watch. But if...
Good release, not so good film
I am a horror video fan and seeing that there are not that much reviews for the rerelease of this infamous video, I will contribute my opinion to the curious. The best parts of this release are the trailers, the director and actor commentary (they travelled all the way to Rome to interview Lenzi himself exclusively for the video), production stills, background on making the film, movie posters from other countries, and a very special "Cannibal survival kit" which is just too hilarious to reveal.
However, the movie itself is not at all the "most violent film ever made." It drags on a lot and takes a long time for the action to start going. It goes back and forth between city scenes and the amazon scenes, probably just to have a longer running time. Lots of zoom-ins of monkeys in trees...is Lenzi trying to say something? The monotonous music makes it even drag more. The pros are the gore, which feature realistic scenes of eye gouging, hanging by...
Click to Editorial Reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment