Pulsions cannibales

While on a mission to rescue two servicemen captured by the Viet Cong, "Captain Norman Hopper" (John Saxon) is bitten by one of these men when he attempts to pull him from the pit. Afterward both of the men are committed to a psychiatric hospital while Captain Hopper is allowed to return to civilian life. Unfortunately, it doesn't end there as one of the men named "Charlie Bukowski" (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) is temporarily released and not long afterward suddenly goes berserk which results in the deaths of at least two people. Then upon being returned to the psychiatric hospital he and the other serviceman by the name of "Tom Thompson" (Tony King) manage to escape along with a nurse named "Helen" (May Heatherly) who was bitten by one of them and shares the same craving for human flesh as they do. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this turned out to be a fairly decent type of "zombie film" even though it didn't necessarily fit the technical parameters for that particular sub-genre. The acting was decent and the plot moved along quite well. In any case, for what it's worth I liked the movie and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

With a title like CANNIBAL APOCALYPSE, one might go into this movie expecting an all-out war between humanity and roving bands of flesh-eaters, seeking out human snacks. Well, that would have been great. Instead, we get a few hungry people chomping on a few necks.

John Saxon is serviceable as the Vietnam vet plagued by anthropophagic flashbacks about his former military comrades. Also, the idea of a viral, cannibalistic epidemic is a good one, hearkening back to Cronenberg's RABID. So, the story isn't bad, as long as you don't expect it to live up to it's overblown title...

John Saxon has spoken out against this movie many times and seems ashamed for having been involved in it. The way he goes on about it you would think that he was tricked into making an exploitation movie via some kinda 'Caligula'-esque ruse. But all I can say is a)just look at Saxon's career. I love the guy but c'mon, 'Queen Of Blood', 'Enter The Dragon', 'Mitchell', 'The Bees' and 'Battle Beyond The Stars' aren't exactly Jean Luc Godard, know what I'm saying? And b) I think if you sign up for a movie that involves Vietnam vets infected with a "cannibal virus" you kinda KNOW what you're getting in for, don't you think?

'Cannibal Apocalypse' attempts to cash in on both the 70s Italian cannibal cycle started by Deodato, and the the success of 'The Deerhunter' and 'Apocalypse Now'. It is absolutely stupid in concept, above average in execution, and isn't totally successful because of its timidity in showing disturbing in your face gore. I like the way Saxon and most of the others play the ludicrous material with a straight face, but unfortunately there are too many dull sections and not enough cannibalism! The movie begins well enough in the all too brief Vietnam sequence, but never lives up to the promise shown in the first ten minutes. It's quickly downhill all the way after that, only rescued by one or two blackly humorous scenes. What you end up with is a half-baked Romero rip-off. I say go straight to 'Dawn Of The Dead' or 'The Crazies'.

Vietnam vet Norman Hopper (John Saxon) has suddenly begun to relive the nightmare of war in his dreams. He receives a phone call from an old army friend, Charlie Buckowski, that he rescued in Nam, Buckowski and another man Tom Thompson had been found in a Viet Cong prison with a craving for human flesh and both had since been in a mental hospital for psychological analysis. Hopper turns down the offer of meeting his old mate as he is struggling with demons of his own, he believes his wife may be an adulteress, he is also attracted to the very young girl next door and more importantly he is stressed at his increasing craving for raw meat and blood. Buckowski goes on a shooting rampage and kills a few people and is locked up again, but then escapes along with Thompson and he urges Hopper to help them escape the city. Saxon a fluent Italian speaker and a veteran of many Italian films, jumped at the chance of working with the great Margheriti and was immediately impressed by the directors rapport with actors and his talent behind the camera, Saxon was also attracted by the seemingly novel idea that war might be spread by a virus, he was shocked though when during filming he suddenly realised that the virus was a cannibalistic one and he refused to be in any of the scenes containing such acts. For those who like the adventure aspect of a jungle set Cannibal film, this might disappoint slightly, except for a few flashbacks this is entirely set in Atlanta and plays more like a Nam Vet action film with some gore on the side. Still though, the characters are interesting and time is given to their development, Saxon impresses as the troubled Hopper, which is hardly surprising, but he may have been helped somewhat by his depression at the time, due primarily to financial problems he had after the break-up of his marriage. His fellow actors including John Morghen recount that he was rather aloof and distant and not much fun during filming. Margheriti was renowned for his period set Gothic costume dramas and Cannibal Apocalypse was a big change of style for him, gone are all his trademark stylings and in come the more appropriate washed out colours and a steely grey look of the city. The gore is for the most part pretty tame by genre standards but its still effective. The faux disco score was tacky as hell and at times seemed inappropriate to the visuals, but this is still a fun film, and is recommend to fans of the genre

Maybe the fact that this particular cannibal movie wasn't directed by one of the usual suspects (Lenzi, Deodato) is what makes it so tolerable. Saxon plays a soldier who goes back to some south Asian country to rescue his POW buddies. He doesn't seem too bothered by the fact that when he finds him, they're eating human flesh, or that one of them bites him, and infects him with some kind of cannibal virus. Fast forward a number of years, and Saxon is gettin a hankerin for some human meat. This all happens about the time that his buddies decide to break out the mental hospital they're in. It all ends up with Saxon and his buddies infecting a bunch of people, and running from the law in the sewers. Cannibal city, baby.

Radice getting his abdomen blown clean out with a shotgun is reason alone to watch this movie (if you can figure out how they did this effect, let me know). The rest is pretty standard, as far as movies go, but it is a lot better than most cannibal movies. At least it takes place in the city and not in some jungle. Worth a look, if you're a cannibal or John Saxon fan.