Mangiati vivi!

Eaten Alive (by the cannibals) is the least known of the three major Italian gut-munching cannibal movies, the other two being Rugero Deodato's "Cannibal Holocaust" and Lenzi's own "Cannibal Ferox". I use the words 'least famous' carefully because this film is still highly popular among cult collectors and a definite must see for exploitation fanatics. Even though Cannibal Ferox is more notorious, it's actually Eaten Alive that tells the most intriguing story! The feared cannibals of the New Guinean jungle are secondary to the story of a mad purification sect, of which the leader – Jonas – holds a wealthy American girl captive. Her younger sister goes on an expedition to rescue her, accompanied by a nihilist desperado who deserted during the Vietnam War. Eaten Alive (by the Cannibals) features loads of nudity, repulsive gore and inhuman cruelty and it is, of course, better not viewed by the faint-hearted and/or easily offended people. Even those with the strongest stomachs will have a hard time sitting through some of the nauseating sickness featuring! I can only say: Well done Mr. Lenzi!! But, if you do love this type of extraordinary film-making, you'll be impressed by the beauty and style Umberto Lenzi brings to the screen. The anthropology aspects as well as the stunning locations and images of wildlife are some of the most intriguing shots ever featuring in controversial cinema land. And then of course, there's the score! These films are actually worth watching for the music alone. The mesmerizing tunes that guide this atmospheric jungle adventure are almost too beautiful for words. Ignorant opponents of the horror genre will most likely disagree but I think "Eaten Alive" is essential viewing for the fans of extreme shock-cinema. Just make sure you watch a fully uncut version.

'Eaten Alive' is a profoundly stupid movie, but despite that, or more accurately, BECAUSE of that it's extremely entertaining trash. It rehashes plot elements (and even footage) from previous Italian cannibal movies and adds a Jim Jones-ish death cult in for good measure. Italian exploitation star Ivan Rassimov plays Jonas, the cult leader, Janet Agren (Fulci's 'City Of The Living Dead') the sister of a missing woman, and Robert Kerman (Deodato's infamous 'Cannibal Holocaust') the man hired to find her. The cast also includes Paola Senatore and Mei Mei Lai, both favourites with cult/sleaze buffs. The version of 'Eaten Alive' I watched was the British cut which has most of the more infamous scenes censored or completely removed. I really don't know if this was a good or a bad thing. I believe most of this stuff was recycled from earlier Lenzi films or "borrowed" from my fave cannibal movie 'Mountain Of The Cannibal God', so if you're familiar with this genre you've probably seen it all before already. Anyway, most people run away screaming from this kinda stuff, but if you're into movies like this you'll find much to enjoy here. Neither the best nor the worst cannibal movie, but definitely worth a look.

The film begins in Canada and New York, with an Asian hitman killing his victims by blowing poisoned darts at them. He is then run over by a truck and killed. The police find some film on him, and wouldn't you know, the film contains scenes of a cannibal ritual, which includes a woman named Sheila's(Janet Agren) missing sister. A professor tells Sheila that the ritual is from a tribe in New Guinea, so she travels there and finds Vietnam war veteran Mark Butler (cannibal film regular Robert Kerman) and pays him to find her sister.

The film then goes off into the usual cannibal film thing. The odd animal is killed, they find parts of bodies etc. It turns out that her missing sister is part of a religious community in the jungle lead by a character named Jonas. He brainwashes all his followers, and has strict rules, like no drinking of alcohol. The version I watched was sadly cut, and some gory scenes that were about to be shown then quickly jumped to another scene. The music deserves mention too, a catchy tune plays during the opening credits. The other music during the film is ok. It's not nearly as good as Cannibal Holocaust, or even Lenzi's other cannibal flick Ferox, but if you like cannibal films it's worth checking out.

This is not so much a film as it is a clip-show "best of" reel with about 60 minutes of original footage to fill in the gaps. Most of this film was shot in Sri Lanka with a few (quite obvious) sections shot in southern Italy and a few completely gratuitous New York scenes thrown in to try to pass the film off as American. Mel Ferrer makes a completely pointless cameo appearance as a professor who gets to interact with two porn actors playing cops (the poor guy!).

Lenzi is usually a great director, but he clearly was not on his A-game with this Cannibal turkey. Not one scene goes by without something completely laughable happening. I'll give you a few examples.

A) one scene showing Mel Ferrer entering a police station features his voice dubbed by another actor! Ferrer then can be heard with his actual voice moments later! B) Ferrer's audio is quite obviously recorded practically, while the other actors in the scene with him are dubbed. Jarringly obvious shift in quality.

C) shamelessly over-acting police-man saying "WHAT?".

D) a scene where a Sri Lankan (well this movie takes place in New Guinea though these people don't look it at all) allows an alligator to effortlessly chomp his dangling arm off. This scene gets double the embarrassment for actually being culled from another movie! E) when the actors "interact" with the Animal cruelty scenes, it's all just close-ups of them reacting intercut with shots from a different film with different filmstock.

F) When Kerman throws a spear at a native (haphazardly), it clumsily falls sideways into the dirt. The next shot shows a screaming native with a spear sticking out of his chest! G) One of the Sri Lankan helicopter pilots (who is dubbed, even) blows his line and they left it in! H) Kerman nonchalantly knocks Agren out with a punch so she doesn't see a gory evisceration.

I) whopping continuity error involving a character's body parts magically reattaching after they were eaten.

J) said scene includes a woman missing her right leg, with a native seen nearby eating a leg... but with a LEFT foot attached to it! Seriously! The list goes on and on. This film is so riotously daft, yet oddly competent in its staging and cinematography, that it's totally unique in the annals of film. The only other film coming close to the lunacy of this is Lenzi's NIGHTMARE CITY which was far more respectable.

This film, at least, is never boring and very accessible to those unfamiliar with bad Italian cinema. Personally I find it funnier than most intentional comedies, which is why it gets such a high rating from me. Whether Lenzi had this in mind or was seriously trying to make a good film is anyone's guess.

"Mangiati Vivi" aka "Eaten Alive" is a decent cannibal flick.Yes,it is also a big mess.You've got Stone Age cannibals,a Jim Jones-type cult,hired assassins and brutal animal butchery thrown on-screen every five minutes just to keep the viewer awake.As for the gore,one has to wait an inordinate amount of time for the crimson to really start flying,but the last half-hour has some truly revolting mayhem on display.One native has his penis cut off before being speared.A woman has her breast cut off then eaten;another girl is completely dismembered."Eaten Alive" is quite nasty at times,but it is a joke in comparison to "Cannibal Holocaust" or even "Make Them Die Slowly".If you love Italian splatter cinema you won't be disappointed.Highly recommended.