Mondo cannibale

I found the DVD at a flea market, i immediately bought it after i saw that it was a film from Bruno Mattei (well, he used the pseudonym Vincent Dawn, but i noticed that). Homewhever, i knew that this was going to be a movie in the same vein as Cannibal Holocaust.....but i didn't expected that it was going to be some kind of remake, even some of the dialogs where the same as Cannibal Holocaust ("The only thing that can scare me ? the marriage !" or something like that). Shot on digital, probably the worst digital that i saw, it looks like a Mexican soap opera. The plot is "slightly" different from Cannibal Holocaust (for some reasons it reminds me of "Cut and Run" also): Grace Forsyte lost some of her audience for her TV show, for get some audience back, she hires the war reporter Bob Manson. The Crew goes to the amazon in search of the cannibals, many situations will resemble Cannibal Holocaust, but unlike Cannibal Holocaust, there is no "real" animal cruelty. At least there are gore scenes and nudity for make this movie watchable (in my taste).

Alright I heard something was going around claiming to be Cannibal Holocaust 2 and I found what I was looking for. Bruno Mattei known for many exploitation gems of low quality but high entertainment ( at least for this person) unleashes probably as good a cannibal movie you could put out today. Every trick is pulled out from animal torture, rape, victimization, nudity, exploited locals etc.. .It follows the same type of format as the classic Cannibal Holocaust without the visceral feel of the Deodato classic. This appears to be shot on video and everything seems to have that rushed feel to it, but regardless, I have not seen any modern film try to harken back to the cannibal heyday. Say what you will but this is an enjoyable ride just don't expect the same feeling you may have gotten the first time you saw a film like this. If this is your first shot at the genre you will find it much easier to locate Cannibal Ferox, Cannibal Holocaust (with a beautiful new release by grindhouse), or even Jungle Holocaust. They can all be bought at Suncoast and the like. I only found this available as a Japanese import. Enjoy!

I don't know what Bruno Mattei got for Christmas in 2002, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if I found out that he received a bumper collection of jungle movie screenplays, and if he did receive that then he certainly put it to good use in 2003 as he filmed two jungle rip-off movies back to back! His other 2003 film 'Land of Death' was a shameful splicing together of cannibals and every key scene from John McTiernan's masterpiece 'Predator', while this film, which is known in some circles as 'Cannibal Holocaust: The Beginning' is a direct rip-off of Ruggero Deodato's masterpiece 'Cannibal Holocaust'. It's been a while since I saw Cannibal Holocaust so I can't say whether or not this is a frame for frame remake...but I can remember enough to say that this film is pretty similar! This film focuses on Grace Forsyte; a reporter for a TV channel that wants to make money by showing human suffering, which apparently is popular after the coverage of the Iraq war. So they set off into the jungle to film some real life cannibals.

This film was shot back to back with Land of the Dead, and that's not hard to believe; as while the films don't feature the same plots, they are very similar in content and feature most of the same cast members. Given Mattei's track record, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that some of the exact same footage has made it into both films. I would definitely say that this one is the better film; it seems to have more focus and the blatant ripping off isn't quite so cheeky as to rip out scenes in their entirety a la the pig scene from Land of Death (...and Predator). Naturally, most people going into this film will want some gore; and Mattei does deliver on that front. There's a fair amount of cannibalism and surprisingly it actually doesn't look too bad, which is to the film's credit. Mondo Cannibale is also fairly well made and the cinematography isn't too bad either. If you've seen Cannibal Holocaust, you will surely know exactly where the film is going and there are no surprises there either. It could be said that the film is a commentary on society; but it could also be said that it's a direct rip-off of a film that is commentary on society, and the latter is more true.

Bruno Mattei died just four years after the release of this film, but that didn't stop him making no less than nine films in-between. I haven't been able to find much info on the films he made after this one; but I'm hoping he delved into that book of jungle screenplays and at least made a cannibalised (and featuring cannibals) version of some classics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai and Apocalypse Now….

Leave it to Bruno Mattei to hit the cannibal subgenre 20 years after its highpoint. This entry, filmed as CANNIBAL WORLD, shows that he still has that special touch to make xerox cinema as this is almost a scene by scene remake of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. Reporter Grace Forsyte heads into the Amazon jungle with Bob Manson and their crew to capture images of cannibalism for the TVN Network. Naturally, the civilized people end up being the savages as they burn down a village and kill natives to stage entertaining television. Intercut with the jungle adventures are the arguments of two TV execs, one who loves the ratings bonanza footage and the other who loathes it. In case you forgot the point, the dissenting executive turns directly to the camera and asks, "I wonder who the real cannibals are." Bruno hits all of the CH main points from the "stop smirking" bit to the rape scene. Unfortunately, he also felt it necessary to include a real animal killing as well. Also on the downside, the characters are never consistent in their views. One minute Bob is chastising Grace for being exploitive and the next he is going hog wild in the staging of a burning village. The same thing happens with Grace. Ah, whatever. The movie is gory and has nudity. Plus, Mattei shows he still has a knack for making the funniest dubbed dialogue. Filmed on location in the Phillipines.

Released and promoted in some countries as "Cannibal Holocaust 2: The Beginning", this really isn't a sequel (or prequel) to Ruggero Deodato's legendary exploitation-classic, but more like a shameless and unscrupulous imitation with absolutely no new ideas or innovating concepts to add to the original . The screenplay is almost an exact copy of CH, with a group of power-horny TV people supposedly descending into the Amazon jungle to shoot a documentary about the lives of the last remaining genuine cannibal tribes. The crew, led by the reputedly unrelenting anchorwoman Grace Forsythe, very well knows they'll only get high viewer ratings when they serve their audiences copious amounts of action, bloodshed and repulsive images, and realize their show will be canceled and their careers will be finished if the jungle adventure doesn't turn out to be a success. So when the natives behave a little too tame and peaceful, Grace & C° see it as their own normal duty to burn down villages, kill defenseless villagers, poach innocent animals and rape the local virgins themselves, all for for the sake of sensational TV-making. Also, in good old-fashioned Cannibal Holocaust style, there's one remotely human TV-executive among the bunch who condemns the sick footage and even turns straight to the camera to raise the classic debate "I wonder who the real cannibals are?". Needless to say the beastly film crew eventually gets what they deserve, when they encounter the feared community of the Invisibles; a very primitive and downright savage tribe of which the members clearly aren't interested in a TV-career. It's rather difficult to judge Bruno Mattei's "Cannibal World". It's a thoroughly unoriginal, repetitive film and it nearly doesn't feature the same raw & shocking atmosphere of its Italian ancestors of the early 80's. Being entirely shot with modern video techniques, "Cannibal World" looks too clean and obviously fake whereas the old cannibal films literally dropped you in the middle of the jungle along with the characters. On the other hand, I can't help feeling more or less obliged to appreciate this film, just because it attempts to bring back the relentless heyday of Italian exploitation cinema! After all, you got to have some respect for writer/director Bruno Mattei! The man has passed the age of 70 and yet he's the last of the old guard of Italian horror directors who still has the courage to travel towards the Philipinian jungles and shoot a film with inexperienced actors and limited financial means. That alone deserves the respect of every person who ever showed interest in Italian horror cinema. Moreover, "Cannibal World" is literally stuffed with nasty gimmicks, gory massacres and super-sleazy footage. Fans of explicit disembowelment certainly won't be disappointed, as we extendedly get to see the intestines of nearly every character who walks through the screen. The unknown Helena Wagner is rather terrific as the grade-A bitch Grace and the unearthly beautiful Cindy Jelic Matic provides the slower parts of the film with essential nudity. All together, I personally think us vintage exploitation-fans owe Bruno Mattei a big and sincere "Thank You".