Review of Cannibal Ferox (1981) by Ryan G — 01 Jun 2008

Does cannibalism exist today? Has it ever existed? And if so, in what capacity? These are the pressing questions behind this film; rather, it is it's excuse to to put our three characters (an academic, her lady-friend, and, well, a dude) neck-deep in Amazonian trouble.

We follow these three as they turn from tourists or holiday-makers into survivalists - they're stranded and helpless and at the mercy of some sort of jungle tribe. We know nothing much about the tribe themselves, other than that they are at about a stone-age level of technology, and talk very little. There even seems to be a group consciousness at some points - they are eerily silent.

Of course, our characters make some terrible decisions, and I never really felt too sympathetic towards them. Some important (and later proved to be life-threatening) decisions are literally made with the toss of a coin. This is this film's problem, it often wants sympathy for characters that frustrate you - but in effect, this just elevates my blood-lust! So whether or not it's really problem is a point-of-view.

Sure, the mutilations, desecration, amputations and lacerations are all there; no complaints can be made about that. There's a lot to look forward to if you're in the mood for some funny and grisly deaths. (One particular contraption is notably clever. What looks like a sort of kitchen table with a head-size hole acts as a nice hors d'oeuvre server).

The film makes clumsy attempts to inter-cut between the city (in this case New York) and the jungle (the Amazon). These contrasts are made poorly, and the laboured point trying to be made between civilization and primitivism never pays off well. In fact, the whole idea is flushed down the toilet by a few lines of dialogue delivered by one of our captives. "Don't you see that we're the savages?", or something along those lines, is spewed forth with terrible delivery, timing and direction.

What makes this film notable and enjoyable is it's gore, it's inventive deaths, and it's sense of disorderedness. The characters really do seem stranded and doomed, a la "Cannibal Holocaust" and more so "The Blair Witch Project". Try it out for the sake of posterity. This kind of film is long gone.