Review of Anthropophagous (1980) by John K — 23 Mar 2011

The infamous Joe D'Amato's masterpiece of gore worship. Not actually as unrelentingly violent as I was expecting it to be, with only two actually ultra violent scenes to be found. The maniac ripping the fetus out of the mothers womb and eating it, and of course the maniac ripping out his own intestines and eating them.

What this does offer aside from gore is a rather by the numbers horror story about some rich kid tourists who visit a deserted island only to find that everyone on the Island seems to have dissappeared.

Slowly they realize that the Island's inhabitants have actually been savagely murdered, and more often than not eaten as well. I thought that that one flashback scene of the killer, seemingly lost at sea, and forced to eat his wife and kid to survive, was a bad move for the film.

No explanation was necassary. The guy lives in the caves of a deserted Island and eats all who step foot on it. What else would he be doing with his time? Watching televsion? Paying Taxes? Trying to over explain or rationalize horror movie maniacs behaviour (especially when it is done this heavy handedly) almost always proves to be a misstep.

When all is said and done a very enjoyable Italian gore flick and I can definently see why it is D'Amato's most well known film. It is probably his most accessible (that I've seen) and all around best.

Perhaps best known for those 2 gore scenes mentioned above, the film should be seen as a whole. I just hate when people epitomize a movie only for it's most extreme aspects and don't pay attention to anything else going on around it.

This film does also have a pretty simple, but good nonetheless story, an awesome score, mediocre (but not bad) acting, and yes good gore. Must see for gorehounds. (PS, people who complain about bad dubs in Italian horror films are a pain in the ass.

That's part of the fun. Get used to it or watch something else.).