Cannibal Terror

Well, that was... uhm, different. I've been putting off buying this one for far too long. I knew it was only a matter of time, besides, I've seen all the others. As revoltingly interesting as the others are, I had to know what the black sheep of the Cannibal sub-genre was really like, and if its bad reputation was nothing more than a bad reputation.

This Spanish-French obscurity has the reputation as a cheap knock-off just because the gore, the cannibals, as well as the entire vibe of the movie is completely different, not to mention no real jungle to speak of, but mainly because of the obvious lack of an Italian director.

Alright, well, that about sums it up. Cannibal Terror is a cheap knock-off of an already "misunderstood" sub-genre, but that doesn't mean this movie deserves to be hated. Besides having a swell score, and unintentionally humorous dialog, there's a little girl who's voice is dubbed by an adult, which always goes over well in low-budget European horror.

Let the unfitingly inspirational music begin. Some quaint Euro-scenery. Now, as the story goes, a trio of inept kidnappers who steals the little girl of a rich couple and figure that a fake French Jungle with crickets dubbed in the background would be a suitable place to hide out, besides, the local cannibals are fake, yes they do eat human flesh, but it's also very, very fake-looking, so, it's all good.

The original plan for collecting a ransom is derailed when one of the kidnappers decides to rape the wife of the guy lending out his place for a hideout. New plan, rapist gets tied to a tree near fake-cannibal country by angry husband while the other 2 run off into the jungle and suffer perhaps an even worse fate.

Ouch!! This film constantly screams "Not Italian" at the top of its lungs, which is the only thing drowning out the fake crickets. If Italian Cannibal icons such as Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox is what you're used to then Cannibal Terror will seem like a Cannibal movie from another dimension, or perhaps a sick joke posing as something it clearly is not... Or is it?

There are subtle qualities in this one that I prefer over "the real ones", although, they are few and far between, but I think the biggest problem most fans of the genre would have is the gore quality, I've just never seen gore like that before, but wow, it sure was a hell of a lot, regardless of what that stuff actually was.

The Cannibals, who I swear I heard one of the characters refer to as Indians are plain and simple, the worst cannibals ever. Some of them are clearly white, some of them have sideburns, but in their defense, they seem a bit more level-headed and fair than their authentic counterparts.

When watching Cannibal Terror, don't compare it to the others, compare it to something overrated from Jess Franco and you won't go wrong. Awkward dubbing, pointless one-liners, unintentional humor, an obvious euro-vibe and ineptness from all directions is what you should expect. because it's exactly what you're getting. Don't hate Cannibal Terror, it tried. 7/10

This is a total mess of a movie. A Spanish/French co-production, this was accredited to Jess Franco for a long time until the real culprit (a Spanish ex-actor by the name of Julio Tabacana) was revealed. However, the fact it shares cast/scenes/plot with Franco's THE CANNIBALS, which was released at a similar time, hints that his veiled hand may have been at work somewhere in the production. Other "Franco-isms" include looping stock sound track (in this case, the same bird call repeated ENDLESSLY) and long shots of characters doing absolutely nothing and wandering endlessly through the jungle.

Getting through this is an ordeal. The "natives" are clearly white in origin (possibly cast members?)- many of them have coiffured hair and beer guts, and the only thing to distinguish their cannibal nature are smatterings of paint on their flabby bodies. In some scenes they clearly can't hide their amusement at the "tribal rituals" they are involved in. Their "cannibal village" is quite obviously not in a jungle, as the lawn is neatly mowed and in some shots you can see a road in the background with vehicles parked on it. Adding insult to injury, the disembowelment scenes are all achieved by shamelessly swapping the victim's torso for that of an actual pig corpse wrapped in clothing. Seriously.

For the cannibal enthusiast only, this is painfully boring and inept. It is an insult to CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST that the films share a genre.

It's safe to say that cannibal films are an acquired taste, but I think it's safe to say that it is one that I have acquired. However, even I am struggling for good things to say about Cannibal Terror. The best cannibal films hail from Italy, so the fact that this one was a French and Spanish co-production may have something to do with its sub-par quality. The plot follows two would-be kidnappers who end up hiding out in a house near the jungle. However, when one of them rapes the home-owner's daughter, the bunch is left to the nearby cannibals. Cannibal Terror was one of the handful of cannibal films banned by the DPP back in the eighties. Indeed, there is some rather nasty gore on display; but it's nowhere near as gory as the best films that this genre has to offer, and the gore is hardly shocking as the whole production is so badly done. Director Alain Deruelle never manages to impose the jungle atmosphere on his audience, and the film feels like merely a rip off of better cannibal films. Needless to say, the plot doesn't really go anywhere and the overall effect is really rather dull. Overall, I can't recommend this film as the only reason for watching is that it was once banned! Avoid.

Many suspect that this film was directed by Jess Franco because it's very similar to (and at least as bad as)two Eurocine films he DID direct--"Mondo Cannibale" and "Sexo Cannibale". The movie in fact was made by some of Franco's cronies at the low-rent French production house Eurocine. One of the directors on record was another Spaniard, Julio Tabernero, who directed the superior film "Sexy Cat", but since that film has no cannibals in it, it will probably never get the kind of upscale DVD release this one--and the two Franco cannibal films--have gotten in recent years. There's just no justice in the world.

There's no point in rehashing the idiotic plot again. Everything about this is laughably unconvincing from the horribly dubbed dialogue to obviously European "cannibals" to the "jungle" setting which was obviously a European zoo. The canned sound effects include one bird who seems to be chirping all the time in every single place in the "jungle". The public domain music is imported entirely from Mexico (with horrid variations on such standards as "La Bamba" and "La Cucaracha"), a country not exactly famous for its cannibalistic tribes. (If this had been an actual Franco film, it would have at least had better music).

Franco-regular Anthony Mayans has a small role here. Pamela Stanford has a nice nude scene, which is literally the ONLY worthwhile scene in the entire movie. Sabrina Siani, the heroine of "Mondo Cannibal" has a a don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it cameo, which (aside from her not being naked) is probably her best role ever since she makes no attempt whatsoever to act (actually she made no attempt whatsoever to act in "Mondo Cannibale" either, but the horny producers still insisted on casting her as the lead). But I'm obviously really grasping at straws to find ANYTHING nice to say about this. This movie has nowhere near the power of an Italian cannibal flick like "Cannibal Holocaust" and frankly it barely rises to the level of a bad Jess Franco imitation. Avoid with extreme prejudice.

Well, what else can you say about this movie other than it sucked royally. I don't normally use such mediocre words to describe a movie but nothing else could come to mind. The acting was bad, the script was bad, the story was bad, the gore was disgusting (but still bad), and the cannibals take the cake as being the worst looking I have ever seen. It looks like a bunch of French guys got together and decided to put on make up and pretend to be cannibals... wait a second!

Anyway, the story is about 3 crooks who kidnap a little girl and demand a ransom. When the heist fall apart they escape out to the jungle (which looks like a forest) and take refuge with a Spanish couple. When one of the crooks rapes the Spanish wife, the husband leads the crooks to the cannibals and now there is Hell to pay... yeah, right.

I can't help my sarcasm with this movie. It was just dreadful. I read other reviews that say something about Jess Franco having something to do with this movie. Man, if that's true he must have come to a real low point in his career.

This movie is strictly for people that have to see all of the cannibal films. If you aren't into that sort of thing, stay far FAR away from this train wreck. Even I who love the genre struggled to sit through this. 2/10