Cannibal! The Musical

Let's get the inevitable out of the way: the movie looks absolutely horrible. There's a reason most of Trey Parker's work has been in animation. Then again, it's Troma, so we can be a little forgiving. It's not so much the budget as general incompetence in the film-making that's a bit annoying here, but it's still a Trey Parker cannibal Western musical comedy from Troma based loosely on the true story of Alfred Packer.

Yes, it's as silly and ludicrous as it sounds, and although it's not quite up there with the best Troma has to offer ("Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead", "The Toxic Avenger", "Tromeo and Juliet", and a less well-liked favorite of mine, "Troma's War"), it's still absolutely demented and crazy throughout, the songs are still good, and the movie has a lot of fun with Western conventions.

This is really Trey Parker's movie through and through, it's his excellent performance as Packer which carries the movie, and it's his songs that immediately made me forget about all the jokes which fell flat in the preceding scene. This movie is far from perfect, and I think I laughed a bit harder at "Orgazmo", but this is still one of Troma's more worthwhile movies, and interesting as an example of the work of a very young pre-"South Park" Trey Parker.

7/10

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.

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.

I didn't expect for ALFERD PACKER: THE MUSICAL to be that good since Troma movies are usually pretty bad. Boy, was I wrong. The movie was way better than the anything I had seen in a while. Featuring some of the most outrageous, crude, and funniest scenes in history, ALFERD PACKER: THE MUSICAL is the perfect independent film.

Made in 1993 by Trey Parker while he was still in college, the movie tells the story of Alferd Packer, Colorado's only convicted cannibal. Packer is played brilliantly by Trey Parker in what is his funniest performance to date. The guy is a genius. From ALFERD PACKER: THE MUSICAL to ORGAZMO to SOUTH PARK: BIGGER LONGER & UNCUT, Parker has proved to be one of America's most underrated comedy directors.

10/10

"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.