***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** I remember seeing this on the bottom shelf in the 'HORROR' section of my local independent video store. The cover looked pretty old (a dark red cover with the words "CANNIBALS" above a pair of terrified eyes) and it certainly hadn't been rented too many times, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
I didn't really know what to expect. This was a Vestron Video release and it had one of those tiny video descriptions on the back that said something like "A family of vacationers are attacked by... CANNIBALS!" and below that were two box cover previews of other soon-to-be-released videos like "DEATH SHIP" and "THE NEVER DEAD (aka PHANTASM)".
When I put this on, I discovered that this appeared to be another one of those "CANNIBAL FEROX"-cum-"THE WOMAN FROM DEEP RIVER"-type movies. It was yet another Italian production with extremely bad dubbing and it stars Al Cliver(!!), (of "ZOMBIE" fame).
A boat captain, his wife and their young daughter (probably about 8 years old) are vacationing in some Amazon-type location. They dock in some desolate swamp while enjoying the sights. A band of native men sneak aboard the boat from the water and attack the family. The father is knocked out while the mother is eaten alive! (Yes you heard me right). The native cannibals hold the mother down while they tear flesh from her stomach. We spend about five minutes watching the mother moan in agony as she becomes cannibal food. We don't see too much of the actual flesh tearing, but we do get to see some awful shots of the cannibals munching on what looks like chunks of cantaloupe covered in ketchup, and all the while the camera pans on the mother's face while she whimpers and moans. When they're done with her, they kidnap the daughter and disappear.
It is now about 20 years later and we cut to the 'present' day and Al Cliver has been hired by the Captain of the boat to help him locate his daughter (like the probabilities of her being alive are high!). He believes he has found the exact location of the cannibal tribe deep within the jungle.
How could Al Cliver say no? He certainly couldn't resist taking two strangers to Zombie island in "ZOMBIE", but I digress. So the two men and a group of other local natives (not cannibals) of the country set out on an expedition to find the daughter. Meanwhile, we shoot to shots of the cannibal tribe and the daughter is indeed alive. She is now a voluptuous young beauty with long blonde hair who spends most of her time walking around with her breasts in full shot, covered in body markings and tattoos. We even get to see sleazy shots of her having sex with the young man who will become leader of the tribe when it is his time. It appears as though she has adapted to the locale and barely has any recollection of her natural parents. There are no reasons as to why she didn't become cannibal food - I guess she was just a set precedent so we could be introduced further down the line to a naked blonde woman.
Meanwhile, Al Cliver and his troop are attacked along the way by the cannibals. Of course, the native men of his troop are the first to die. We get to see them getting attacked and eaten the same way we got to see the mother die. 5 minutes of slow tedious shots of moaning and whimpering and ridiculous face shots of the cannibals munching on pieces of cantaloupe. I've never seen anything so ridiculous!
Cut to the chase, the next 30 minutes shows the rescue attempt of the daughter by Cliver, the slaying of the young man she was having sex with and a great deal of slaughter of the cannibal tribesmen.
I couldn't wait to return this garbage to the video store. And to think this was a 5-day rental! Why are all these Italian horror genre movies the same! They all appear as if they were filmed by some grainy tinny little camera, they always hire the WORST actors/actresses, (I've seen Al Cliver in about three of them now), and the dubbing is worse than what's usually featured in a Bruce Lee movie (the dialogue continues even after their mouths have stopped moving!)
I give this movie a Grade Z - It rates about the same as "THE VIDEO DEAD".
I didn't really know what to expect. This was a Vestron Video release and it had one of those tiny video descriptions on the back that said something like "A family of vacationers are attacked by... CANNIBALS!" and below that were two box cover previews of other soon-to-be-released videos like "DEATH SHIP" and "THE NEVER DEAD (aka PHANTASM)".
When I put this on, I discovered that this appeared to be another one of those "CANNIBAL FEROX"-cum-"THE WOMAN FROM DEEP RIVER"-type movies. It was yet another Italian production with extremely bad dubbing and it stars Al Cliver(!!), (of "ZOMBIE" fame).
A boat captain, his wife and their young daughter (probably about 8 years old) are vacationing in some Amazon-type location. They dock in some desolate swamp while enjoying the sights. A band of native men sneak aboard the boat from the water and attack the family. The father is knocked out while the mother is eaten alive! (Yes you heard me right). The native cannibals hold the mother down while they tear flesh from her stomach. We spend about five minutes watching the mother moan in agony as she becomes cannibal food. We don't see too much of the actual flesh tearing, but we do get to see some awful shots of the cannibals munching on what looks like chunks of cantaloupe covered in ketchup, and all the while the camera pans on the mother's face while she whimpers and moans. When they're done with her, they kidnap the daughter and disappear.
It is now about 20 years later and we cut to the 'present' day and Al Cliver has been hired by the Captain of the boat to help him locate his daughter (like the probabilities of her being alive are high!). He believes he has found the exact location of the cannibal tribe deep within the jungle.
How could Al Cliver say no? He certainly couldn't resist taking two strangers to Zombie island in "ZOMBIE", but I digress. So the two men and a group of other local natives (not cannibals) of the country set out on an expedition to find the daughter. Meanwhile, we shoot to shots of the cannibal tribe and the daughter is indeed alive. She is now a voluptuous young beauty with long blonde hair who spends most of her time walking around with her breasts in full shot, covered in body markings and tattoos. We even get to see sleazy shots of her having sex with the young man who will become leader of the tribe when it is his time. It appears as though she has adapted to the locale and barely has any recollection of her natural parents. There are no reasons as to why she didn't become cannibal food - I guess she was just a set precedent so we could be introduced further down the line to a naked blonde woman.
Meanwhile, Al Cliver and his troop are attacked along the way by the cannibals. Of course, the native men of his troop are the first to die. We get to see them getting attacked and eaten the same way we got to see the mother die. 5 minutes of slow tedious shots of moaning and whimpering and ridiculous face shots of the cannibals munching on pieces of cantaloupe. I've never seen anything so ridiculous!
Cut to the chase, the next 30 minutes shows the rescue attempt of the daughter by Cliver, the slaying of the young man she was having sex with and a great deal of slaughter of the cannibal tribesmen.
I couldn't wait to return this garbage to the video store. And to think this was a 5-day rental! Why are all these Italian horror genre movies the same! They all appear as if they were filmed by some grainy tinny little camera, they always hire the WORST actors/actresses, (I've seen Al Cliver in about three of them now), and the dubbing is worse than what's usually featured in a Bruce Lee movie (the dialogue continues even after their mouths have stopped moving!)
I give this movie a Grade Z - It rates about the same as "THE VIDEO DEAD".