Review of Cannibal! The Musical (1996) by Eric B — 20 Mar 2013

When "South Park"'s Trey Parker turns a true story about cannibalism into a musical, it's bound to be funny. Alfred Packer (Parker, unrecognizable beyond his wide, innocent eyes) incompetently leads an 1873 expedition through the Rocky Mountains, and desperate hunger leads to chomping on some fallen comrades.

The inserted songs show Parker's legitimate musical talents (long obvious to "South Park" watchers), and there are odd random elements such as a disgusting cyclops, an undersized guy who's keen to get laid and a tribe of Japanese people presented as "Indians.

" The film has no budget (the synthetic musical arrangements are home-studio tacky, and much of the action seems like a band of actors wandering around the same patch of snowy terrain), but Parker's wit saves the day.

Predictably, the gore is too cartoonish to be truly disturbing, so tender viewers need not be afraid.