Antonio Margheriti, a veteran of Italian horror and western films, directs this cannibal film at the height of the cannibal film boom following Fulci's Zombie. This time around we have an opening sequence of a pair of POWs being rescued in Vietnam by their captain John Saxon. Stuck away in a pit awaiting release, Giovanni Radice and Tom King get an unexpected visitor in a Vietnamese woman half burned from a flamethrower falling into their pit. Do they rally for release? No, instead they quickly grab the charred woman and begin biting into all sections of her body to quench their desire for human flesh. Captain Saxon is alerted to the presence of the pit, opens it and recognizes his men, rejoices at finding them and extends an arm to help end their imprisonment. The men continue to gnaw on their Asian buffet and finally Tom King jumps up and gets some Italian by biting into Saxon's forearm. The film then goes to the present where the two cannibals have been in hospital going treatment for many months and Saxon has nightmarish dreams and trouble looking at raw meat in his fridge. Well, to spin a long story short...Radice is released and soon feels compelled to bite into the neck of a beautiful blonde while she is being licked all over in a movie theater. He runs and walls himself in a strip mall flea market(the film was effectively shot in Atlanta) besieged by one of the most ridiculous groups of bikers in film history and the cops. Soon Saxon convinces him to leave and go back for treatment, but people everywhere now have been bitten and a new cannibalistic human rabies engulfs the hospital and other sundry areas of plot exposition. Cannibal Apocalypse is really an absurd film but is done very effectively on many levels. Don't see the bastardized version put out by Vestron Video but be sure to see the new DVD. It has a pristine print of the film, lengthy interviews with Saxon, Radice, and Margheriti and many other bonuses. It is a bloody film with about four or five scenes maybe going beyond good taste. There is also a rather sick storyline of Saxon and a babysitter. A European perspective perhaps. Saxon is quite chilling in his stoic manner and Radice stands out in his role. King is laughable any time he opens his mouth. The rest of the cast - though mixed with Americans and Italians - comes off pretty well. The nurse is gorgeous. I liked the fellow playing Dr. Morris and particularly like the guy in charge of the police. He has this craggy, dour look and some great lines for a film of this ilk. Despite a ridiculous story and dubious subject matter, Cannibal Apocalypse comes off rather well because of Margheriti's artful direction. His directorial eye managed to create several good scenes - not just the hyperbolic guts scenes but other scenes as well. The opening is very effective as is the chase through the sewer. Certainly not a great film but better than you might initially expect.- The musical score definitely is a standout.
Review of Cannibals in the Streets
