Alferd Packer: The Musical

Though i count myself a fan of South Park ive never felt that the unique humour of the shows creators has come through in films such as Orgazmo or BASEketball.Here in their first incarnation as filmmakers and purveyors of Monty Python inspired madness,can you see SP's roots."Alferd Packer"or "Cannibal"is a little gem of low/high brow wit mixed with the kind of idiotic banter that makes Cartman so popular.And the songs!to quote :"lets build a snowman/we can make him our best friend" or the Micheal Boltonesque ode to a horse that includes the lines "the sky was a lot more blue/when i was on top of you".Trey Parkers grasp of the essentially idiotic nature of musicals and such will have you hailing him as a Genius even if you hate SP (and some do)and i rate this as a must see.

"Alferd Packer: The Musical" is an early showcase for Trey Parker's various talents: acting, writing, directing, composing and singing. The man is virtually doing it all by himself and with low to no budget. As a movie made by a film student "Alferd Packer: The Musical" (or "Cannibal: The Musical" as the movie is commonly known) is breathtaking and it's almost scary that if it hadn't been for the Christmas Card incident nobody would have recognized Parker and his movie.

From today's point of view, however, "Cannibal: The Musical" isn't among the funniest things Parker and Stone (who's in the movie, too, but wasn't involved as much as in later projects) have ever done. Much like "Orgazmo" and "BASEketball" the two comedy greats can't really convince in real life movies. The jokes are kinda slow and strewn in between and the whole thing just isn't as funny as "South Park" or "Team America".

Still, one must not forget when this movie was made and how. For a student movie this is a great, no, gigantic achievement. The songs are every bit as hilarious as latter day material by Parker and - I'll say it again - they showcase some serious talent for writing melodies. So, yes, "Cannibal: The Musical", this strange mixture of Comedy, Musical, Western and Horror (just a wee bit) can be recommended to every fan of Parker and Stone.

Cannibal! The Musical is now a small cult classic thanks to DVD. It deserves more because this is simply a great movie, with songs that will leave you laughing for days and some great pop-culture references. Oh yeah, and Japanese Indians. And Confederate solider Cyclopses.

I actually read about the real Alfred Packer on the internet and believe it or not, the movie stays true to what happened. Scary, huh?

Historical background aside, the one-liners and musical numbers (`Let's Build a Snowman' is unbelievably funny) are a good reason to get this movie. If you have a DVD player, get the DVD and listen to the cast/crew's drunk commentary. It's not very informative but it sure is fun. Grade: A.

Rated R for graphic comic violence/gore and strong language. Suggested for ages 14 and up.

While my statement could be provided because it is a comedy about a cannibal, I think the film is as strange as it is because it's a comedy/musical about a cannibal. I bet that if the South Park movie didn't have songs it wouldn't make much of a difference of it's greatness (despite them being classics), but in Cannibal, the songs make this film even funnier and turn it from being a lame film about a cannibal into a surprisingly funny if really dumb comedy.

Anyway, Trey Parker's first feature film is presented here and while Matt Stone isn't writing he is a co-producer along with Parker. The film focuses on the only cannibal convicted in America named Alfred Packer. It could've become an equally boring and gruesome film about the scarcely known guy, but it is actually lame for the right reasons by having songs at exactly the wrong time (where else are you going to see frontiersmen sing about dead animals and then argue about being in the wrong key). Not the greatest musical or comedy for that matter, however it is a keen, if ludicrous, freshman effort by the guys who would later go on to make a masterpiece with the South Park show and movie.

This film shows that if you have energy, love and the want to do something, it can become something great. Even with only a little money. This feels as much like a Troma movie as it is a Trey Parker movie. Anyway, I would assume Parker has watched Troma movies, who wouldn't? What would be better to, say, a child growing up? And of course to us "adults" also. OK, the film is really hilarious. Acting, cutting, photography, script, MUSIC!, everything. It's perfect. There isn't many boring moments in this film. Parker's Packer is a quite funny character, just as every other character here also. I'm not very enthusiastic of Parker's other work, not that I would hate them either, they just don't mean nothing to me. But here he does good job, and has his film distributed by one of the world's greatest production companies.