Eaten Alive! The Rise and Fall of the Italian Cannibal Film

I watched Eaten Alive! The Rise and Fall of the Italian Cannibal Film in January, and thought it was superb and easily the most in-depth and academic documentary High Rising Productions has made. I have seen it a couple of times since then and haven't changed my mind at all. It works as a simple overview of the cannibal cycle of films, as a critique of the films and such things as the racism, sexism, ethnography and cultural supremacy generally contained in the films. It also includes quite a bit of humour, with the rivalry between Ruggero Deodato and Umberto Lenzi palpable even though the two men were interviewed separately.

The main academic contributors – Dr Shelagh Rowan-Legg and Dr Mikel Koven – are very informative and enlightening without being dry and speaking in a way which will alienate those who solely see the films as entertainment. There is a lot of really interesting stuff from Deodato and Lenzi, actors Me Me Lai, Robert Kerman, and filmmakers Luigi Cozzi and Sergio Martino about the productions themselves in terms of stories from the set and how they feel about them now. As usual, Kim Newman is great entertainment with his own, unique and extremely knowledgeable, opinions about films and the genre/cycle in general. The contrast between his views and those held by the academics makes for an interesting subplot in itself.

Eaten Alive! The Rise and Fall of the Italian Cannibal Film is a thoroughly informative and thought-provoking piece of documentary filmmaking, which should make the 88 Films release of Zombi Holocaust (or the Cannibal Ferox Blu-ray set from Grindhouse) a must-own title for all genre fans. Overall, it's an excellent documentary and makes me want to check out Emmanuelle and the Last Cannibals and Island of the Fishmen, probably the only films discussed I haven't seen.

Ah, those crazy Italian Cannibal films.

Where men were men, women were mistreated, natives were racially stereotyped and animals were terrified and quite frankly doomed. Throw in some fun times dubbing and plenty of gratuitous nudity, grue and sleaze and you have yourself a fun night. Unless you don't like Cannibal films and rather than... erm, not watch them, what better way to highlight your dislike of a sub genre, by making a documentary about it focusing on (and taking at face value) all the politically incorrect aspects of it, by getting some talking head critics to read to much into things and highlight how for all of their knowledge and wisdom, they just plain don't get Italian exploitation or indeed any exploitation? Or at least that's the impression I got from this nonetheless quite entertaining and informative documentary. One critic opines that violence against women' and misogyny is "par for the course" in horror films (such as The Innkeepers and The Thing) and of course the animal cruelty aspect is visited yet again, although one can understand this at least and the exploitation of natives are also finger wagged at. Thing is, we're all aware of this and recognise that exploitation cinema can be at times genuinely exploitative and not in a good way at all, yet we still watch such films, meaning we've made peace with it to a degree and recognise that these films were films of their time so to hear somebody yet again pontificating about how horribly politically incorrect those rotten Italians could be 40 years ago is a tad grating at this stage.

Yet... it's still a freaking documentary about Cannibal flicks and when it comes to delivering the goods interview wise, it totally delivers, with amusing interviews with both Ruggero Deodato and the apparently notoriously difficult to secure an interview with Umberto Lenzi having them both strongly claiming it was one and not the other who pioneered the sub genre, with Deodato suggesting that Lenzi simply ripped off a Man Called Horse. We also have contributions from Luigi Cozzi, Sergio Martino, (who still insists the snake accidentally ate the monkey when filming Mountain of the Cannibal God), Roger Kermann (who REALLY dislikes Cannibal Holocaust) and Giovanni Lombardo Radice, who's remarkably restrained when it comes to sticking the boot into Lenzi, considering their dislike of each other, as well as a charming Me Me Lai, who gives some very amusing anecdotes and comes across as a lovely person.

So, as Cannibal gut crunching documentaries go, (and it's not like we're spoiled for choice here either) it's overall a way entertaining offering from director Calum Waddel, even if the hand wringing condemnation kinda annoyed me.

But overall I quite liked it and give it a 7.5/10 and it's recommended viewing for any horror or exploitation fan.

Eaten Alive! The Rise and Fall of the Italian Cannibal Film (2015)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

If you're familiar or unfamiliar with the Italian Cannibal cycle then this documentary will certainly be a must see. If you're not familiar with these controversial movies then you're going to understand why they're still popular today while at the same time being hated. If you're familiar with these films and are fans of them then you're going to get a kick out of seeing the clips as well as hearing from the movie directors. Sergio Martini, Umberto Lenzi, Ruggero Deodato and actors like Giovanni Lombardo Radice and Me Me Lai are also interviewed. Critics including Kim Newman and Shelagh Rowan-Legg are also on hand to share their thoughts on the films.

MAN FROM DEEP RIVER, JUNGLE HOLOCAUST, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, CANNIBAL FEROX, MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD and ZOMBI HOLOCAUST are just a few of the films that are discussed and we get clips from those movies as well as getting to see lobby cards and posters from around the world. If you're familiar with these films it's interesting to hear the directors discuss and defend their work. It seems Lenzi and Deodato wants to fight one another in regards to which one of them started the genre. There are some hilarious stories told by Giovanni Lombardo Radice and he doesn't hide his hatred for CANNIBAL FEROX. Some of the most fascinating stories come from Me Me Lai who appeared in three of these movies and talks about the rough shootings, being naked and the dangers in the jungles.

The documentary does a very effective job at going through the entire genre, although I do wish that they had discussed some of the other cannibal movies that came from other countries. These are briefly discussed but more details would have been nice since it's doubtful we'll see another feature documentary on the subject. Of course, the film's racist nature is discussed and there's also plenty of talk about the real animal violence. EATEN ALIVE! THE RISE AND FALL OF THE Italian CANNIBAL FILM is certainly entertaining and it's always beneficial when so many of the main filmmakers are still with us and able to share their stories.

Great doc touching on most italian cannibal films of the 70s and 80s the good and the bad.if youre a fan of this genre its a must see. 8 out of 10