Eurocine [1981] 94′
country: France / Spain
director: ALAIN DERUELLE [as Allan W. Steeve]
cast: SILVIA SOLAR, GERARD LEMAIRE,
cast: PAMELA STANFORD, OLIVIER MATHOT
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Umberto Lenzi may not have contributed much of class to the world of cinema, but he does have the fine distinction of having jump started the cannibal craze that ran from the late 70′s through the 80′s. His 1972 film THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER may have been more of an adventurous romance than an out and out gut-muncher, but the cannibal-oriented moments are what interested audiences then and keep them watching today. Ruggero Deodato’s superior survival picture ULTIMO MONDO CANNIBALE [1977] would only solidify the market for the sub-genre, with his grittier CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST taking it to its ultimate extreme in late 1979. By the time Lenzi’s own rip-off of the sub-genre he began [1980's EATEN ALIVE] entered cinemas, the cannibal film had already fallen into a steady qualitative decline.
But with that decline in quality came a surge in quantity, and the years following 1980 saw the release of more cannibal films than the entire decade before it. Most of them were awful, and some went well beyond. Working strictly at the ‘indefensibly horrible’ end of the spectrum was French exploitation outfit Eurocine, a favorite tramping ground of Jess Franco at the time. CANNIBAL TERROR is the third in a trio of no-budget sub-genre efforts from the company, and the only one not to be directed by Franco.
TERROR concerns a prostitute and her two brain dead small-time-crime buddies who decide to finally hit it big by kidnapping the daughter of a tycoon and holding her at ransom. Things don’t go exactly as planned and, after their go-between is hit by a car, the would-be criminal masterminds head off into the ‘jungle’ that surrounds the city to evade capture. Unfortunately for them the ‘jungle’ [which alternates wildly between scrub land, pine forest, and beach front] is infested with blood thirsty, but not entirely un-principled, cannibals who want nothing more than to take a bite out of crime.
Sound exciting? Trust me when I say it isn’t. Even by the low standards set by the legion of gut-munchers preceding it, CANNIBAL TERROR is bad. Hell, even in comparison to Eurocine’s own ZOMBIE LAKE this one is bad. How bad? So bad that the most accomplished shot in the entire feature involves a jeep with an overheated radiator. Day and night switch with nauseating rapidity, characters are dragged in and dispensed with without so much as a single word of introduction, and the entirety of the final twenty minutes involves a series of inter-cut shots of four separate groups of people wandering around in the woods.
But what is really to be expected from a no-budget cash-in from a company obviously more concerned with getting people into theatre seats than giving them any reason to stay there? Jess Franco is reported to have had a very limited involvement in the production, and the responsibility for directing the picture was passed on to Alain Deruelle [best known for a couple of pornographic features]. That he received uncredited directorial assistance from actor Olivier Mathot and writer Julio Tabernero may help explain the lack of any consistent style throughout the picture, though the divided duties undoubtedly had less of an effect on proceedings than did the slip-shod production standards Eurocine provided.
Perhaps the most that can be said for CANNIBAL TERROR is that those involved with it [both in front of and behind the camera] don’t look to have taken it any more seriously than was absolutely necessary. While it never reaches the level of outright parody that makes stinker ZOMBIE LAKE as entertaining as it is, TERROR shifts down to a lower gear of complete ineptitude early and remains there for the duration. There are certainly enough technical missteps here to keep gaff hunters glued to the screen and more astute bad movie aficionados will find much to love [or hate] in the bumbling dialogue and languid pacing. Then, of course, there are the cannibals.
CANNIBAL TERROR has its titular stone-aged antagonists in unintentionally hysterical droves. Instead of filming in the same stunning Amazonian locations as Deodato and Lenzi before them, the producers decided to keep this effort at home [Spain in this case] and recruit whoever happened by into their mish-mash cannibal horde. The results are mind boggling – the tribesmen come complete with mustaches, come-overs, ridiculously huge sideburns, and more than a few pot bellies. Not since the Polynesians of FROM HELL IT CAME have indigenous peoples been portrayed with such reckless abandon. You too can thrill at their authentic feasting dance, which involves two people bouncing up and down slightly while a third dismembers the person du jour.
Special effects are about as convincing as the cannibals themselves. Dismemberments are accomplished by having a victim sneakily replaced with a pig carcass, sometimes accompanied by a fake limb or two. The carcass is then splayed open and the cannibals dive into whatever raw tripe is waiting for them inside. Throw in some ridiculous foley sound effects, cut repeatedly to a skull on the wall, and presto, cannibal feast . . . err . . . terror! At least this one lacks the animal cruelty that marks so many other films of the sub-genre, though library footage of various critters is here in HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD-ian abundance.
Severin Films has given this former Video Nasty vastly better treatment than it rightfully deserves, remastering it in high definition for its debut in the R1 DVD market. The transfer is one of the company’s strongest to date, presented in the original 1.66:1 framing, flagged for progressive playback, and anamorphically enhanced. Color is exceptionally reproduced, contrast spot-on, detail levels strong, and damage minimal. For the no-budget Eurocine production it is, CANNIBAL TERROR looks damned good! Audio is presented via a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track – only an English option is made available, which is just fine by this reviewer. I doubt there’s anything a French or Spanish track would do to improve things. Supplements are expectantly limited, and include the original theatrical trailer [also in English] and a brief deleted scene showing Antonio’s daughter dancing in the nude. A 6 minute interview segment with Jess Franco, who speaks in barely intelligible English, is available as an easter egg on the main menu.
It’s important to note that both the disc packaging and the online retailers marketing this list the running time as being 89 minutes. This is a misprint, as the film on disc sports the full running time of 94 minutes. You can rest assured that Severin has presented TERROR in its complete and uncut form – I doubt they’d have had it any other way.
CANNIBAL TERROR is awful, to be sure, even more so than other Eurocine efforts may have led you to expect. That’s not to say that it isn’t fun, and I found myself enjoying it a bit in spite of [or is that because of?] the criticisms above. While I can’t recommend it as horror, those looking for the next great bad movie may want to check it out. The Severin disc is excellent, and highly recommended for those looking to complete their Video Nasties collection.
