Hungry For Flesh? Top 10 Third World Cannibal Films!
Steve Barton
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MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD (aka LA MONTAGNE DEL DIO CANNIBALE) (1978)
The great Sergio Martino directs this star-studded excursion into the jungle. With solid performances by Stacy Keach and Ursula Andress, this well-made “search & would be rescue” film raised the bar on the genre by involving actors with a certain amount of name recognition. Even though the gore is not as plentiful as in some of the other films listed, there is some disturbing animal torture particularly where a monkey is pushed – yes, PUSHED – into striking distance of a very hungry python. In fact, if you look closely, you can see a hastily inserted matte painting of a plant that was put there only to hide the “monkey hander’s” arm. Director Martino did it all (giallos, post-apocalyptic, polizioteschi) but this film brought him fame in horror circles.
Ruggero Deodato delivers the most notorious of these types of films. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST became – mostly due to its reputation & visceral movie poster – an endurance test for many people in the burgeoning VHS boom of the 80s. I distinctly remember grainy, multi-generational dubs of this film being passed around between friends (usually with a shake of the head and a muttered “Dude…”). The film itself (which has been a template for numerous films such as BLAIR WITCH PROJECT) is an uneven affair with some moments of visceral impact. Once again animal lovers will want to walk softly due to the numerous scenes of animal mutilation. Look for porn actor Robert Kerman (aka R. Bolla DEBBIE DOES DALLAS) in a thankless lead role as the investigator sent into the jungle to find the missing filmmakers.
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