Review of Cannibal Ferox (1981) by Michael G — 16 Jul 2011

Every successful film has imitators. Jaws had Tentacles, Piranha, and The Last Shark; Halloween had Offerings, Friday the 13th, and Sorority House Massacre; and Cannibal Holocaust had Cannibal Ferox. For those of you wondering what the title means, it basically translates to "Cannibal Ferocious".

I feel its other title, Make Them Die Slowly, is more accurate though. Everything was good for the most part; The acting (the dubbing was pretty bad, though), the score, the build-up, the suspense, and the climax.

It was a lot more enjoyable than Cannibal Holocaust, because it isn't nearly as shocking or horrific. Yes, there are real animal deaths in this, but some of them were death by other animals. I guess once you see Cannibal Holocaust, nothing will shock you ever again.

The deaths are more elaborate and there aren't as many cannibals as in Holocaust. These aren't the vivacious cannibals that were in Holocaust either, these are more solemn and vengeful cannibals.

Giovanni Lombardo Radice from City of the Living Dead is great as Mike, the demented drug dealer. The plot was nicely ironic, with three researchers in the Amazon who are out to prove cannibalism doesn't exist and that it was just a myth made up by the Conquistadors, and the ending was nicely bleak.

Set aside all preconceived notions about this being an Italian cannibal flick and just watch it because you may be surprised.