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.
