Anthropophagus

Anthropophagous (1981)

Director: Joe D'Amato
Writer: Joe D'Amato, George Eastman
Stars: Tisa Farrow, Saverio Vallone, George Eastman

The Skinny:

A bunch of tourists decide to take a trip to a remote greek island to get their chill on. Only problem is the island is home to a deranged lunatic who is very, very hungry...and the tourists just landed on the menu.

My Two-Cents:

Ok, first off, many of you may be wondering just what the hell "Anthropophagous" means. Well Uncle Ani is gonna school ya, cause he's smart and shit...sorta. Anthropophagous (Pronounced Anthro-po-fay-gus) is basically another word for Cannibal. It means to eat people. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!

Anyway my little fucknado's, I watched this little gem that managed to slip by me after it was recommended to me. (Big up's to Monster the Kid!) I knew nothing about it going in except that it was an Italian film and it was supposedly full of gore. Actually, saying it's an Italian horror AND has gore is fucking redundant. Us wop's love our catsup, yes we do.

When the opening credits started (Those mofo's were shaky as hell! Whoever was in charge of them must have been drunk as shit!.) I learned this flick was directed and written by the infamous Joe D'Amato. Horror fans generally either love his shit or hate it. Doesn't seem to be a middle ground. D'Amato's work is of the rather low-budget variety and is usually, shall we say...sleazy. Personally I dig D'Amato's stuff. "Beyond the Darkness" is an awesome flick and his soft core porn "Emmanuelle" is..uh...interesting. Yeah, the guy ain't no Argento or Fulchi, but his work has a charm of it's own. He's sorta like the Roger Corman of the Italians.

Ok, so let me set something straight. This film DOES have gore, but it's not over flowing with it. In fact, there's only two particular scenes that really push the envelope (Boy do they!). Everything else is by the numbers and nothing we haven't seen. The one complaint I've read about concerning this film is that it's boring. Yeah it's slow, but I wouldn't say it's boring. D'Amato paces things and builds the tension bit by bit. I never lost interest. D'Amato seem's to take a page out of Tobe Hooper's book. A lot is implied, but little is shown, which I think really works for this flick. Especially when shit does finally get shown. The impact is that much more powerful.

George Eastman, who co-wrote the screenplay, also play's the wack-job killer, and boy does he deliver! He has a presence about him that chills you to the bone. That may have something to do with him being like fucking 7 feet tall but I think it's more then that. The killer here is a purely psychotic, ape-shit, grade A, lunatic. I mean this guy is gone baby, gone! Ya know, the motors running but there's no one behind the wheel. This fucker just doesn't care. He lives to sleep, shit, and eat people....and shit some more.. Eastman bring's the insanity of this savage completely to life. D'Amato does the right thing and doesn't give us a peek at him till mid way through the flick and even then he keep's him confined to shadows. Very effective.

The rest of the cast? We'll it's hard to judge acting with a flick like this because it's all dubbed. The dubbing, as is to be expected, was not great, but it wasn't as fucking annoying as many other flicks I've seen. That said, beyond the dubbing, the actors really didn't impress me, in fact, it was kinda shitty, but it is an italian horror. They aren't exactly made to be Oscar contenders.

The score was pretty good and really helped to create a creepy atmosphere. Speaking of which, the desolate island back drop was both beautiful and eerie. It really set the tone and made you feel just how alone these characters really were.

Now for the bad parts: The characters in this make some of the dumbest, mind numbingly, stupid choices. I mean these people must live in Burma, because bodies piling up didn't seem to impress them. In probably the most infamous scene in the movie, one of the characters is watching something unbelievably sickening happen to a loved one and doesn't seem that upset. I wanted to reach through the screen and slap the stupid off the fucker. There is no way a rational human being can witness THAT and not lose their shit, especially when it's happening to someone so close to you! I know it's a horror flick, but I expect the characters to show some emotion. That shit takes me right out of the flick. Thankfully Eastman's sick ass kept me invested.

In the end, I feel this film missed it's chance at being a serious horror classic. Something on par with TCM. If certain thing's were handled differently and the actors emoted a bit more, this could have been something great. As is, it's a good flick and def worth checking out. But let me make something very clear. Unless your a hardcore horror fan and a fan of Italian horror in particular, your probably not going to enjoy this. It'll probably bore you and you'll find it's low production values a real problem. Your pussy ass may also end up offended by the nasty bits. So don't go commenting that I recommended a turd or some shit like that if your one of these peeps. You've been informed. Nuff Said! All you hard core horror heads tho, check this shit out, it's worth it. The two aforementioned scene's are worth the price of admission alone, especially if your a gore-hound. I give it three blood soaked knives out of five

Oh, one other thing. There's a sequel. I haven't seen it yet, but from what I've read it's decent, though not as good as this one. D'Amato returns to direct and co-write with George Eastman, who once again plays the killer, though not the same killer, if that makes sense. There is also a remake of sorts that was released in 1999 called "Anthropophagous 2000". The word on it is that it's lame. D'Amato and Eastman have nothing to do with it. So watch at your own risk.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go eat...my neighbor.