Il cacciatore di uomini

I thought this would be a jungle cannibal flick, but it turned out to be something else altogether. It takes about a half hour of boredom to really get going, but once it does it's okay. It's certainly plenty gross in parts, especially the close-ups of the creature's blood-smeared mouth.

The helicopter crashing scene and the scene where the hero is "climbing up a cliff" are particularly hilarious.

I am a huge admirer of the prolific Spanish Exploitation deity Jess Franco, whose impressive filmography includes over 190 titles so far. It is undeniable that the man has made masterpieces and total crap alike, and his attempts to cash in on the popular Italian Cannibal-sub-genre belong rather to the latter category. This movie of the delicate title SEXO Cannibal (aka. THE DEVIL HUNTER) of 1980 is better than his absolutely terrible other Cannibal flick from the same year, MONDO CANNIBALE (which is not to be confused with Umberto Lenzi's PAESE DELLO SESSO SELVAGGIO and Ruggero Deodato's ULTIMO MONDO CANNIBALE, two genre-classics which are often referred to as MONDO CANNIBALE 1&2). SEXO Cannibal is somewhat interesting for its epitomizing Jess Franco's habit to shamelessly ignore any logic and build up movies that exist almost entirely of sleaze and violence. The film is furthermore notable as it is one of the three Franco-films that landed on the UK's infamous "Video Nasty" list of banned movies, making him the most prolific Video Nasty maker alongside the Italian genius and 'Godfather of Gore' Lucio Fulci, who also made three films that landed on the list.

A model (Ursula Buschfellner) is kidnapped by criminals who ask for a ransom of 6 million dollars. Her agent asks 'nam vet and soldier of fortune Weston (Al Cliver) to free her. Out of all places, the criminals hold her hostage on an island full of savages who habitually feed young women to a rape-hungry cannibal fiend. Needless to say that the island is full of hot women with exhibitionist tendencies...

The film is fun to watch for its shameless sleaze and for the gore (though the latter wasn't as extreme as I had expected). It is also fun to watch for the lack of logic, and some parts that are downright absurd. Weston's sidekick, for example, is the wussiest 'Nam vet I've ever seen on film. The guy starts crying whenever he enters the jungle. Franco obviously picked up on the 'Nam-trauma' theme that was so popular in US-cinema in the late 70s and 80s here, and since he is Jess Franco he decided to exaggerate it more than a little bit. Overall, this isn't one of Franco's worst 80s movies, but it certainly far from being one of his better ones. Personally, I would state that Franco is best when making films about deranged Scientists or Nymphomaniac/Lesbian Vampires, his contributions to the Cannibal-genre are rather forgettable. SEXO Cannibal is still worth the time for my fellow fans of the man, who are most likely not gonna expect intriguing story lines and breathtaking suspense anyway.

The Devil Hunter (this film's UK video title) found itself caught up in the early 1980s 'video nasties' scare, for reasons I find impossible to fathom. It certainly should have been banned, but only because no reasonable human being should have to pay to sit through such junk. As with most of Jesus Franco's films, there are crash zooms to nothing, dreamy music, terrible performances, clumsy dubbing (most of the male characters are apparently dubbed by the same actor!) and several interminable sequences, suggesting that the former musician couldn't wait for a day on the set to finish - so he shot everything fast and cheap in order to get back home to his jazz records and his trumpet. Large parts of the film make no sense, and you'll run out of fingers and toes trying to count the goofs, but the really priceless ones are the actor who actually giggles when a squirt of blood hits him in the face, and the totem pole that bounces when it's supposed to be crashing to the floor. And check out those sound effects - since when did walking through the jungle sound like walking down a gravel drive? If you can find a copy of this tosh anywhere, I'll be surprised, but do yourself a favour and pass it by. If you decide to watch it, you'll want to sue Franco and his colleagues for ninety minutes of your life that you'll never get back.

Not sure if I'm referring to those who labeled this a video nasty or to the director..."Devil Hunter" sure is one bizarre 'horror' movie.

The plot is a loosey goosey combo of superior films like "Cannibal Ferox" and "Cut and Run." Chick gets kidnapped in the 'jungle' by a 'tribe' of 'savages.' The jungle looks more like a park somewhere in Mexico. The tribe is like a group of hippies who walk around in Party City-style Halloween costume renditions of tribal garb. And the savages range in race from white to Asian to black to hispanic. I suppose Franco just grabbed anyone who looked even slightly ethnic for this romp.

To make matters worse, this film has ultra-minimal gore, no real scares and a lot of unnecessary penis. Not fun. I can find something to like in just about any sleazy Italian or Euro-trash film; this one just fell WAY short.

2 out of 10, kids.

Lesser known but full-blooded Jess Franco exploitation that cashes in on the popular early 80's trend of European cannibal movies. A successful actress is kidnapped by a gang of thugs whilst shooting a movie in the South-African jungle. She's kept prisoner and gets sexually abused frequently, but this is only the beginning of her misery as the jungle homes a native tribe with strange and primitive beliefs. Their God is a spooky, flesh-eating madman with his eyeballs hanging out of his sockets. Yikes!! "Devil Hunter" features some beautiful filming locations, good atmospheric music and a whole lot of authentic euro-sleaze. Still, there are many tedious moments and redundant sub plots. The amount of gore is limited but several sequences are truly nauseating, notably the one where the lead-cannibal bites off a poor girl's labia and devour it! Oh my God!! According to the VHS-cover it was her heart, but I doubt her heart was located between the legs. Proceed at your own risk!