SLAVE OF THE CANNIBAL GOD (1978)

Another of the fine tradition of Italian Cannibal flicks....This one has all of the usual traits such as nudity, animal cruelty, natural violence and of course cannibalism. I find this one to be one of the more watchable of the genre, it doesn't have the same violent extremity as say Cannibal Holocaust but still weighs in fairly heavily on the depravity scale and would have been rather graphic at the time. This one was one of the earlier films of the genre basically after Man from Deep River (1972).

The film itself revolves around Susan (played by Ursula Andress, the bond girl from Dr No) with her team of trekkers and guides going into Papua New Guinea to find her missing husband, they endure the usual hardships of going into the jungle, evading predatory animals, and the natives whilst witnessing some strange rituals and customs of the indigenous folk of the country. Having Ursula Andress in this film gave this film an air of credibility and nobody is acting above their abilities an there's nothing too corny, and you don't feel like you're watching a  film that is trying to be offensive for the sake of it.

Overall it moved well and I found it quite entertaining and if you're thinking of getting into the cannibal genre this is as good a place as any to start. Definitely worth checking out of you can find a copy of this... If you can't (and its a hard one to find)... here's a streaming version of it …. 

NOTE: My DVD of this isn't that very sharp as far as picture quality goes so I'm not sure if I got a VHS transfer or the film. My DVD is missing some of the footage you may as well watch it here AND this version  to has what is a more complete version with more of the gruesome / explicit content included

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PIRANHA (1978)

This is the original "Piranha" Produced by Roger Corman. Like many of Roger Cormans films Piranha follows closely on the heels of the success of a major studio film, in this case "JAWS".  I honestly can't remember if I'd seen this one back in the day (well my day anwyay) but I'd seen the remakes and they were pretty cool, mindless fun... High on the gore, some great CGI effects and plenty of exploitational violence and nudity. Now its time to see how the orginal compares to this.

The plot itself revolves around investigative journalist, Maggie and a local, Paul she meets who are investigating the dissappearance of two teenagers (who have been eaten by piranahs) they break into an old army testing lab and find some strange experiments in the dormant labs. At this point I have to say the creature effects on this are pretty cool. They meet an old doctor who was still lurking in the lab who informs them they've inadvertantly unleashed the experimental piranahs into the water stream. Besides the odd camper that uses the river their major problem is stopping the infestation before it attacks a summer camp upstream and a big budget water park due to open within days of the piranah being unleashed.

One by one the vicious little fish attack and devour anyone that is unfortunate to stick any limbs into the infested water streams...  I have to say after watching this one, my opinion of Roger Corman is a lot higher than it was before, this film is quite well shot and executed. The movie flows well and is overall rather enjoyable. The horror effects and gore are at quite respectable (but not extreme) levels and it doesn't look cheesy. 

Over all, I was quite impressed with this offering from Mr. Corman! 

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EATEN ALIVE (1980)

Another one from the vault of politically incorrect over the top exploitation flicks from the late 70s/early 80's. Directed by Italian director Umberto Lenzi, also responsible for Man from Deep River (widely regarded as responsible for starting up the Cannibal film genre and featuring a few of the same actors as this film) and Cannibal Ferox after this film

Basically this one follows the story of a wealthy cotton farm heiress, Sheila who is investigating the disappearance of her older sister suspecting that she may have become involved in a strange religious cult in jungles of Asia (New Guinea). She then heads off to find out what has become of her sister. Along the way she partners up with Mark, an ex Vietnam vet for protection before making her journey through the savage and cruel jungle. After an eventful run through the jungles she finds her sister in a settlement/commune type set up run by cult leader Jonas, which is of course surrounded by cannibals and dangerous animals.

The usual assortment of gore, animal killings, ritual sacrifice, nudity, primitive and violet rituals and of course cannibalism one would hope to see when watching a film like this are present to make this a pretty confronting but entertaining watch. Shot in the same grizzly reality style as other films in the genre,  it does not have quite the same feel as Cannibal Holocaust, but this will pretty much appeal to anyone  who liked that film. Probably not quite at the same level of extremity but not far off either, it holds it own in terms of gore thats for sure. Probably not recommended for the easily offended or those new to the horror genre. This is some pretty full on stuff, its sleazy and filled with atrocity after atrocity and would have been one of the most extreme movies ever committed to film at the time. Either way its a solid watch and defs worth the time to watch it.

This is the second time I've watched this and was able to absorb it a little better than the first time I watched and reviewed this film a few years back. One detail I missed the first time round was the amount of animal deaths, ie: animals eating and preying on each other. It really paints the jungle as a violent place and sets the tone for the violence of humans to not seem out of place in the jungle.

I've managed to find a version on you tube that looks reasonably sharp if you want to check it out for yourself

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CANNIBAL FEROX / MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY (1981)

Another in a long list of Cannibal / Exploitation films.... Again this one is fairly high on the gore scale and sits in a similar place to Cannibal Holocaust.

The plot this time revolves around two female university students who venture into the south american jungle one of whom is writing a thesis attempting to disprove the 'myth' that there are cannibal tribes in south America. Whilst there they meet up with two other westerners Mike and Joe. Whilst Joe seems alright, Mike is a cocaine addicted sadist and has already garnered the wrath of the local indian tribes after butchering a male tribe member. Mike is the kind of asshole that you just can't wait to be eaten,

Eventually the natives have had a gutful (no pun intended) of the white folk who've now killed a couple of their tribes people and attempted to rip them off for the gem wealth the region contains and begin to hunt the white folk and eat them in suitably gory and disgusting fashion

Over all this is a pretty cool flick, but I'm a bit of a sucker for the cannibal genre so there is a little bias in there... Again if you're new to the genre this along with Cannibal Holocaust are as suitable points as any to entre the genre. As far as the gore content goes I'd say its not as extreme as Cannibal Holocaust but not to far off either. Whilst I'm not entirely sure of the history of this film the cover says it was banned in 31 countries and there's a neat warning before the film starts warning us of its extremity. Obviously this is at the more extreme end of horror and probably best not for the faint hearted the easily offended or those new to the horror genre. Enjoy!!


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Vampyres (1974)

As a vampire film this doesn't particularly stand out.... There are many better than this one. As pornography it doesn't really stand out either.......... but when you mix soft porn and vampires into one film you have a formula for success that is hard to beat.

In all seriousness this barely even qualifies as soft porn,  its a rather thin plot that revolves around  couple of rather attractive lesbian vampires that lure men into their web/home and proceed to suck out their souls. I get the horror involved but unfortunately part of me (well one part in particular) feels a little jealous of these guys........ What a way to die! PICK ME NEXT!!!

Some rather attractive babes from the 70s star in this one from a time when girls on film had natural knockers and pubic hair, It kind of has that Hammer film vibe but also that Roger Myers exploitational vibe as well......... It's well shot ... But with all those giant natural knockers from the 70's floating around its kind of hard to focus, so maybe it wasn't ...........  who knows really

Basically if you're male (or female) fan of boobs and vampires this is pretty cool, just don't expect to come out any smarter for having watched it.

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Also its on Youtube! so check it out below!

BLOOD SUCKING FREAKS (1976)

This is one of the more extreme horror flicks in the genre, there's pretty much something in it to offend anyone, constant full frontal nudity (including beaver shots) all manner of torture and dismemberments ,explicit gore and one very creepy midget...  this film has it all!!! Its firmly rooted in the B Grade category, though it does have a solid enough plot for what it is, it is essentially the first torture porn movie.

Was this film intended to just push the boundaries of censorship or provide something more? Id say its nothing more than a gore fest but it does do that well, though it seems to have mostly negative reviews I actually didn't mind it and found myself watching it fairly intently until the end.

Plot wise it centres around the circus director / S and M master Sardhu who is running an underground live show which features nudity and torture which the audience think is fake, unknowingly they are watching people get tortured and killed right in front of them. Sardhu is seeking artistic recognition for his shows from one critic in particular who thinks the show is purile garbage (and rightly so) so he of course captures him and totures him along with the many females (who of course have no clothes on) he has stored away in his dungeons under the theatre. While most of the females are fairly anonymous he does capture one beautiful ballerina who is missed by both her boyfriend and the private investigator who start poking around the macabre theatre ... needless to say this is where i'll stop divulging the plot and let you guys see how it ends for yourself

Gore wise it would have set new standards for offensive-ness and outright crudeness .... but be thankful it was done on B grade 1976 technology, though someone did point out to me that the gore did look more full on when played on  VHS player so maybe the high def digital version does expose a few flaws in the rather primitave gore effects...  the gore does look a little like red paint if you know what I mean... I shudder to think how grim this film would be if it was remade today

Anyway I think it was a cool watch but definitely not for those who are new to the horror scene or offended by female nudity (or today's sensibilities in regards to sexism) so don't watch it around your Mom!

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