Happy October, everyone. As the weather cools down and the nights get longer, I always get more excited than I usually am to sit down and spend my evenings with a good horror film. It's usually around this time of year that I start rummaging through some of my collection and pull out some old gems that I haven't seen in a while rather than seeking out new films, because I always get quite a bit of horror nostalgia around Halloween time. Most die hard Euro horror fans have already heard of Joe D'Amato's infamous Anthropophagus (1980), but for those who haven't or for those who need a little reminder, here we go.
Back in the early 1980's in England, there was an infamous list of movies affectionately titles the "Video Nasties". Back in the heyday of glorious low budget, ultra-violent horror movies, concerned citizens became outraged over the ease of availability of these films, particularly to children whom they believed may become impressionable and prone to violence. The government took action, and soon passed the Video Recording Act of 1984 which severely limited what could be released by imposing a strict age classification system and censorship laws. Of course, this law backfired because it actually piqued the interest of people whom may otherwise never have heard of the films featured on this list. When I was younger I had made it my mission to seek out every video nasty and watch them uncut, and believe me many people did the same. The point of this story is that it was this infamous video nasties list that helped films like Anthropophagus earn their gross out reputations and cult like status.
The film follows a group of travelers who are vacationing on some remote islands somewhere in the Mediterranean. The group reaches one island and is disturbed to realize that the entire town is empty, save for a strange woman that is seen wandering around here and there (her fate is eventually revealed to us). The group discovers a terrified blind girl in the basement of a home, who warns them of a madman who has taken the villagers and killed them. She may be blind, but she can "smell the blood" and this skill has allowed her to survive longer than the others. It isn't too long until we meet this madman, who is brilliantly portrayed by George Eastman. Not only has he killed the villagers, but it becomes clear that he has a fondness for eating them as well. Thus begins the rest of the film, a race for survival against the quickly-dwindling group of survivors and the monster with an endless appetite for human flesh.
The film has some notable flaws, but before I get into those I want to focus on what the film does well. The film may be a low budget gore flick, but D'Amato manages to achieve some genuine scares and tense moments in the scenes with the monster stalking the group. There were a few standout scenes aside from the two "famous" ones, most notably the scene where the group first discovers the blind girl in the basement. Really good stuff for such a low budget film. There are a few great gore scenes. We are treated to a nice hatchet to the head, the monster ripping out a fetus from a pregnant lady and proceeding to eat it, and also the monster eating his own intestines. Unfortunately, there are also a few horrid scenes (head in the bucket scene, I'm looking at you) which are laughably bad even for a film of this caliber. The scenes I mentioned about the fetus/intestine eating are the two "famous" ones that I mentioned, and are also the two scenes that were heavily cut and removed by British censors. Make sure you get a copy of the uncut version, because without those two scenes the movie really is hardly worth watching.
Now, the flaws. This film has built a reputation for itself as being one of the most revolting films of all time. This reputation is not well deserved, and if you go in expecting to puke, you'll be disappointed. The two classic scenes I mentioned above are really what earned this film its reputation, but unfortunately the majority of this movie really drags on and can get a bit boring. Most of the action is crammed right into the end, and the flow of the film feels awkward and dull at times. Nonetheless, this is by far one of the better of the "video nasties", and is overall a very well made low budget film. I can almost guarantee if you're a fan of euro horror or gross-out low budget horror in general, you will enjoy this film. I can't praise George Eastman enough for his role as the monster, he really made the film for me. This is definitely not one to be missed, even if it's just to see what all the hype is about. Just don't let the hype ruin your expectations: this film really isn't any nastier than many other horror films out there. Definitely check it out, but only if you can get your hands on the uncut version.
RATING:
**** out of *****
Back in the early 1980's in England, there was an infamous list of movies affectionately titles the "Video Nasties". Back in the heyday of glorious low budget, ultra-violent horror movies, concerned citizens became outraged over the ease of availability of these films, particularly to children whom they believed may become impressionable and prone to violence. The government took action, and soon passed the Video Recording Act of 1984 which severely limited what could be released by imposing a strict age classification system and censorship laws. Of course, this law backfired because it actually piqued the interest of people whom may otherwise never have heard of the films featured on this list. When I was younger I had made it my mission to seek out every video nasty and watch them uncut, and believe me many people did the same. The point of this story is that it was this infamous video nasties list that helped films like Anthropophagus earn their gross out reputations and cult like status.
The film follows a group of travelers who are vacationing on some remote islands somewhere in the Mediterranean. The group reaches one island and is disturbed to realize that the entire town is empty, save for a strange woman that is seen wandering around here and there (her fate is eventually revealed to us). The group discovers a terrified blind girl in the basement of a home, who warns them of a madman who has taken the villagers and killed them. She may be blind, but she can "smell the blood" and this skill has allowed her to survive longer than the others. It isn't too long until we meet this madman, who is brilliantly portrayed by George Eastman. Not only has he killed the villagers, but it becomes clear that he has a fondness for eating them as well. Thus begins the rest of the film, a race for survival against the quickly-dwindling group of survivors and the monster with an endless appetite for human flesh.
The film has some notable flaws, but before I get into those I want to focus on what the film does well. The film may be a low budget gore flick, but D'Amato manages to achieve some genuine scares and tense moments in the scenes with the monster stalking the group. There were a few standout scenes aside from the two "famous" ones, most notably the scene where the group first discovers the blind girl in the basement. Really good stuff for such a low budget film. There are a few great gore scenes. We are treated to a nice hatchet to the head, the monster ripping out a fetus from a pregnant lady and proceeding to eat it, and also the monster eating his own intestines. Unfortunately, there are also a few horrid scenes (head in the bucket scene, I'm looking at you) which are laughably bad even for a film of this caliber. The scenes I mentioned about the fetus/intestine eating are the two "famous" ones that I mentioned, and are also the two scenes that were heavily cut and removed by British censors. Make sure you get a copy of the uncut version, because without those two scenes the movie really is hardly worth watching.
Now, the flaws. This film has built a reputation for itself as being one of the most revolting films of all time. This reputation is not well deserved, and if you go in expecting to puke, you'll be disappointed. The two classic scenes I mentioned above are really what earned this film its reputation, but unfortunately the majority of this movie really drags on and can get a bit boring. Most of the action is crammed right into the end, and the flow of the film feels awkward and dull at times. Nonetheless, this is by far one of the better of the "video nasties", and is overall a very well made low budget film. I can almost guarantee if you're a fan of euro horror or gross-out low budget horror in general, you will enjoy this film. I can't praise George Eastman enough for his role as the monster, he really made the film for me. This is definitely not one to be missed, even if it's just to see what all the hype is about. Just don't let the hype ruin your expectations: this film really isn't any nastier than many other horror films out there. Definitely check it out, but only if you can get your hands on the uncut version.
RATING:
**** out of *****