EATEN ALIVE! (1980) (Severin Films Blu-ray Review)

EATEN ALIVE! (1980) 

Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 93 Minutes
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Audio: Italian, English, Spanish DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Cast: Robert Kerman, Janet Agren, Ivan Rassimov

It was infamous Italian director Umberto Lenzi who brought the cannibal film to prominence with Man From Deep River (1972), but it was Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust (1980) a few year's later that left the biggest bite mark on the flesh-eating sub-genre. Lenzi himself would take a bite out of that film with his own knock-off Cannibal Ferox (1981), but before that he returned to the land of the cannibal tribes with this sleazy slice of exploitation, a film that borrowed footage from other cannibal films from Ruggero Deodato, Sergio Martino and even himself. The gruesome tale is stitched together with a tasteless story line ripped from the headlines, the tragic Jonestown Massacre of 1978. 

The film opens as a lot of these cannibal films do, in New York City, where a decidedly tribal looking man is poison darting people with a blow gun on the busy streets. Enter a young woman named Shelia (Janet Agren, Lucio Fulci's The City of the Living Dead) who arrives in New York searching for her missing sister Diana (Paola Senatore, Salon Kitty), she seeks the help of Professor Carter (Mel Ferrer, Nightmare City), who shows her a 8mm reel of film found on the person of the tribal man (who was killed by a passing truck earlier. The footage contains images of Shelia's sister during a tribal ritual, the professor informs her that the footage is from New Guinea, and that the tribe is most likely cannibalistic, which leads Shelia to the jungles of New Guinea where her sister has apparently joined a cult known as the Purification Sect, under the spell of enigmatic cult-leader Jonas (Ivan Rassimov, Man From Deep River). 

Travelling to New Guinea she hires American jungle-guide Mark (Roger Kerman, Cannibal Ferox) who guides her through the jungles on a trip loaded with stock footage of various animal atrocities, running the gamut from a live crocodile being eviscerated, to an anaconda crushing squeezing the life out of a monkey (which was horrifying), plus a mongoose versus cobra fight, a komodo dragon tearing at the carcass of a snake and a bird of prey tangling with yet another snake - snake's never fare well in these cannibal films. All of it is awful and reprehensible, but I will say that for the most part the animal deaths appear more like a nightmarish episode of Animal Planet than what we typically see, with the exception of the crocodile slaughter and the forced mongoose v snake battle. While this sort of animal-cruelty is par for the course for Italian cannibal movies they're never easy to watch, and they shouldn't be. It's disgusting, serving no story purpose other than to get the stomach-acids churning, making for a wholly unconformable watch. Notably a few of these scenes are lifted from other Italian cannibal films that came before it. 

Travelling by canoe the pair journey deeper into the jungles in search of the cult compound, along the way a native guide is dismembered by a crocodile, and they find the torso of a man torn to pieces, eventually coming under assault from the local cannibal tribe who are in league with the cult-leader. Arriving at the compound the duo find the missing Diana but also the nightmare that is the Purification Sect cult, witnessing a funeral-pyre wherein the widow (Me Me Lai, Man From Deep River) is gang-banged by men in the tribe as part of some ludicrous purification ritual.  

The film is littered with lurid thrills, from multiple decapitations to drug-addled ceremonies involving Agren's character nude and covered in gold body-paint - sort of like Jill Masteron in Goldfinger (1964). The despicable film comes to a close with the sympathetic Me Me Lai character leading the Americans out of the camp through the jungle, an escape fraught with rape, disembowelment, ear-eating and tit-tearing, plus a recreation of the Jonestown Massacre poisoned kool-aid suicide pact, only this time laced with deadly cobra venom. 

Eaten Alive! is a ripe piece of trash, even by the lowly standards of a cannibal

film this is fairly awful, but it is fast-paced and entertaining, a gruesome slice of exploitation with some downright sickening moments of gore that while not impeccable are stomach-churning - and you definitely won't forget a snake-blood lubed dildo being rammed into a woman's lady parts, yeah, it's that sort of film, so bring a strong-stomach, this one is gleefully gory and over-the-top. 

Audio/Video: Eaten Alive! (1980) arrives uncut and uncensored on Blu-ray from Severin Films in 1080p HD framed in 1.66:1 widescreen.  The source while not specified looks to be a beat-up 35mm theatrical print that got some use. There's plenty of grindhouse patina by way of image softness and fading, dirt, the occasional hair, debris and scratches throughout, but it is an upgrade when compared to my old Shriek Show DVD. Grain is mostly uniform with some exceptions, the film is comprised of mixed film elements in addition to the use of cropped stock footage from other films, so it has some consistency issues. The colors are decent but not great, the greens of the jungle looking more authentic than previous versions but son't really pop, the the reds of the gore-scenes come through nicely. 

There are three audio option, we get a choice of English, Spanish or Italian DTS_HD MA Mono with optional English subtitles. The dialogue isn't what I would call crisp, with some minor hiss and slight dropouts, but is does the job just fine. The disco-tinged score from Roberto Donati (Cannibal Ferox) and Fiamma Maglione, featuring some recycled cues from Ferox, but they sound great. The English-dubbed track is my preferred option, with the dialogue and music coming through crisper and more robust, optional English subtitles are included. 

Severin offer up a nice array of extras beginning with a 17-minute interview with the late director, plus a 13-min interview with production designer Antonello Geleng, both in Italian with English subtitles and both produced by Freak-O-Rama. The highlight for me was an eighty-minute documentary highlighting the career and life of actress Me Me Lai who appeared in several notable cannibal films before dropping out of the biz to pursue a life in law enforcement! It's a great High Rising Production produced doc featuring interviews with director Eli Roth and High Rising's Calum Waddell in addition to others, including the star herself who speaks about discovering via the internet that she was something of a cult-star, also detailing how when she was in law enforcement she ended up confiscating some video nasty-era VHS, of which her films were included, which must have been surreal! The disc is finished-up a pair of vintage interviews with Actors Ivan Rassimov and Robert Kerman, a trailer for the film, and a 2013 Q/A With Lenzi from the "Festival of Fantastic Films, UK moderated by Calum Waddell. 

The single-disc Blu-ray release comes housed in a black Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, the a-side featuring the what looks to be a new mock-up featuring a still of Me Me Lai with a knife to her throat, the b-side featuring a one-sheet of the alternate title 'Doomed To Die'. The disc itself featuring the a-side image of Me Me Lai and the logo. 

This release is also available through Severin Films as a Limited Edition  Blu-ray/CD soundtrack version with an exclusive slipcover, or a part of the "CanniBundle" featuring the limited edition release with the slip, CD soundtrack, t-shirt and an enamel pin. These are only available to order directly from www.severin-films.com

Special Features: 
- Welcome To the Jungle - Interview With Director Umberto Lenzi (17 min) HD
- Me Me Lai Bites Back - Feature Documentary on "The Queen Of Cannibal Movies" (80 min) HD
- The Sect of the Purification - Interview with Production Designer Antonello Geleng (13 min) HD
- Archive Interviews With Actors Ivan Rassimov and Robert Kerman (12 min) HD
- 2013 Q/A With Umberto Lenzi from the "Festival of Fantastic Films, UK" (12 min) HD 

Eaten Alive (1980) is par for the course for the Italian cannibal cycle, a heinous watch offering all the bloody gut-munching and vile human behavior we've come to expect. If you're in the proper mood for some gut churning cannibalism and can tolerate copious amounts of animal cruelty and rape you need look no further. While not on par with Lenzi's own Cannibal Ferox he comes through with another slice of tasteless cannibal exploitation that's sure to entertain a certain sick-seeking subset of horror fans. The Severin Blu-ray offers a nice A/V upgrade and a wealth of extras, if this is you're sort of thing this is the version to own. 

MOTEL HELL (1980) (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

MOTEL HELL (1980)

Label: Scream Factory

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Duration: 101 Minutes

Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo

Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1) 

Cast: Rory Calhoun, Nancy Parson, Nina Axelrod, Wolfman Jack

Director: Kevin Connor

MOTEL HELL may just be one of the strangest slasher entries of the nineteen eighties. We have a cannibal farmer named Vincent (Rory Calhoun, The Red House) and his portly sister Ida (Nancy Parsons, Porky's) who run the welcoming Motel Hello just off a country road in the middle of nowhere. The duo sell a tasty variety of smoked meats to tourist under the name of Farmer Vincent's Fritters. They're motto is "It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent's fritters!", some of these critters just happen to be of the human variety.

That fun premise alone would be just odd enough but the producers of Motel Hell take it to even weirder places. Farmer Vincent is portrayed with straight-faced comedic perfection by Rory Calhoun who sets up elaborate traps on the roadways to ensnare fresh meat. My favorite scenario involves luring would-be swingers to the hotel under false pretense and a series of cows decoys - this is just fun stuff. But wait, it gets weirder! Vincent doesn't put his meat to the grinder right away - no sir! He plants them in a secret garden buried up to their necks with a burlap sack covering their heads. He then cuts their vocal chords and are fed cream corn through a series of funnels until they are ripe for slaughter. Now they're entranced by a psychedelic translucent pinwheel and plucked like a carrot from the ground. Vincent's strange gardening activities are shared by his demented sister Ida played by Nancy Parsons who is simply exquisite with her dry delivery and strange mannerisms. It's a damn shame we didn't to see more of her in these types of roles because she is a blast. 

Apparently not all tourists are destined for the smokehouse when Farmer Vincent develops a crush on a pretty young gal named Terry (Nina Axelrod, Remote Control). Scooping her up off the road following and accident he caused he brings her back to the motel after planting her boyfriend in his special garden. When she wakes Vincent explains that her boyfriend Bo (Everett Creach, Howard the Duck) was killed in the motorcycle accident, with nowhere else to go Terry decides to stay on at the motel. Vincent and Ida set about teaching Terry how to properly smoke a sausage... if you know what I mean. Over time Terry quite improbably agrees to marry the much older Vincent to the dismay of his distrusting sister. When Vincent's dimwitted brother Bruce (Paul Linke, TV's CHiPS) develops his own amorous feelings for Terry things turn sour - even more so when he discovers that big brother is turning tourists into breakfast sausages. 

When it is revealed to Bruce that his demented brother is stuffing his sausage with more than just pork products we are treated to a classic chainsaw vs. chainsaw battle that pre-dates Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) with farmer Vincent wearing a pig's head! Motel Hell is a strange and wonderful slasher with lots of quirk and black humor -  the wit is wry and the happenings are bizarre. The film has left an indelible mark on horror cinema - it's influence can  be seen in the indie film Porkchop (2010) with a pig-faced killer to Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror featuring a chef doubting his choices just before expiring. 

Motel Hell is a true cult-classic that just gets better with each subsequent viewing. This is one of my favorite movies and it comes highly recommended. It might be interesting to note that Tobe Hooper was originally tapped to direct this film but jumped ship to direct the carnival-slasher The Funhouse (1981). Watching it one cannot help but notice the similarities with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) which shares not just a weird sense of humor but the dueling chainsaw battle.     

Blu-ray: Having picked-up the Arrow Video Blu-ray last year I was still pretty damn excited to see this bizarre entry get a US release from none other than Scream Factory who are just on fire with a string of quality titles. Just in the past few months we've seen the first-ever DVD/BD releases of The Final Terror (1983) and Without Warning (1980) and jam-packed editions of genre favorites. From what I can see comparing the UK disc with this it's the same HD transfer and is a significant improvement over the previous MGM DVD with very nice colors reproduction, clarity and moments of fine detail. Some of the darker scenes can be a bit grainy but I've never been one to complain about a little grain - just glad it's not rampant with digital noise or marred by excessive DNR. Staying true to the original exhibition we have a DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo Audio is nice if unremarkable. The dialogue, Lance Rubin's score and effects come through crisp and clean with no distortion. 

Onto the extras lets begin with a few High Rising Productions produced extras carried over from the Arrow Blu-ray. Co-star Paul Linke gets a video interview with Another Head on the Chopping Block (14:50) as does former Playboy Playmate, Rosanne Katon with From Glamour to Gore (11:26). Porky's alum Nancy Parsons gets her own retrospective in Ida, Be Thy Name (18:07) with interviews from Scream Queens Elissa Dowling and Chantelle Albers, genre commentator Staci Layne Wilson and critic Shelagh Rowan-Legg.

We don't get the director commentary from the Arrow version but instead get a brand new audio commentary from the director moderated by Dave Parker - the director of The Hills Run Red. The new making of doc It Takes All Kinds: The Making of MOTEL HELL (24:33) is exclusive to this release with new interviews from director Kevin Connor and producer Robert and Steven Charles Jaffe plus actor Marc Silver - a fantastic new feature and the one that pushes this one past the Arrow release as the must-own edition of Motel Hell. The other new video feature is Shooting Old School with cinematographer Thomas Del Ruth (15:45).

The Collector's Edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory comes with a limited Edition slipcover featuring new artwork from Nathan Thomas Millner featuring the chainsaw wielding pig-faced killer bathed in that ominous neon-red.Millner who also did the artwork for one of my favorite pieces commissioned by Scream, that being the The Burning Blu-ray. There's also the standard sleeve of reversible art featuring the original theatrical poster art. 

Extras:
- NEW Audio Commentary with director Kevin Connor, moderated by filmmaker Dave Parker
- NEW It Takes All Kinds: The Making of MOTEL HELL featuring interviews with director Kevin Connor, producers/writers Robert Jaffe and Steven Charles Jaffe and actor Marc Silver (24:33)
- NEW Shooting Old School with cinematographer Thomas Del Ruth (15:45)
- Another Head on the Chopping Block: An interview with actor Paul Linke (14:51)
- From Glamour to Gore: An interview with actress Rosanne Katon
- Ida, Be Thy Name: A look back at MOTEL HELL’s frightful female protagonist Ida Smith (18:09)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:40)
- Behind the Scenes Gallery (19 Images) 
-  Poster and Production Gallery (73 Images) 
- Scream Factory Trailer (7:05) 

Verdict: A strange and quirky slasher entry with an awkward balance of skewed humor and straight faced horror which makes for an odd but awesome viewing experience that just gets better with every viewing.  I love me some Motel Hell and can safely say that this is the definitive edition of the film - a must own slice of offbeat slasher cinema.

Blu-ray Review: CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980)

CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980)

LABEL: Shameless Screen Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: September 26th 2011
REGION CODE: Region FREE
RATING: 18 Certificate
DURATION: 135 mins / 136 mins
VIDEO: 1080p MPEG-4 AVC Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO: English DTS-HD MSTR 2.0 Stereo, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
DIRCETOR: Ruggero Deodato
CAST: Robert Kerman, Perry Pirkanen, Francesca Ciardi, Carl Gabriel Yorke, Luca Barbareschi
TAGLINE: The Most Controversial Film Ever Made

Ruggero Deodato's CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST lures us in with a TV documentary telling of four American documentary film makers who have set off to the Amazon jungles to observe the indigenous cannibal tribes. The documentary team consist of docu-director Alan Yates (Carl Gabriel Yorke, IDLE HANDS), his girlfriend and script girl Faye (Francesca Ciardi, THE TUNNEL) and cameramen Jack (Perry Pirkanen, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) and Tomasa (Luca Barbareschi. CUT AND RUN). The four have gone missing while documenting the Amazonian tribes. The news reports spur NYU anthropologist Harold Monroe (Robert Kerman, DEBBIE DOES DALLAS) to form an expedition to rescue the group with the help of a skilled jungle guide named Chaco with a penchant for snorting cocaine (Salvatore Basile, COBRA VERDE) and his assistant Miguel. They are also involuntarily joined my a member of the Yacumo tribe who we see rather brutally captured by the Colombian military just prior to Prof. Monroe's arrival as they decimate a small party of tribesman, completely blowing the face off one of the indigenous people at close range, it's the first of many atrocities visited upon the primitive people of the film.

Not long into their jungle trek they discover the worm infested corpse of Felipe, a jungle guide who accompanied the documentary crew they seek. It's a discouraging sign to say the least, setting up camp next to a river Miguel captures and slaughters a muskrat, it's death shrieks are grotesque. Further on they observe a tribesman who come ashore on a boat, his wife in tow. He binds her with rope to a stake on the muddy embankment and proceeds to vaginally rape her with a phallus-shaped stone implement. He then packs a mud ball with slivers of wood and seems to cram into her vaginal cavity, it's bloody and gut-churning, then killing her with several strong blows to the head then placing her corpse into the wooden canoe shoving it off into the river. Chaco tells a stunned Prof. Munroe that what they've seen is tribal punishment for the woman's infidelity. They follow the tribesman who's now  travelling on foot back to the Yacumo village where they use the captive tribesman (and apparently Miguel's mighty schlong) as leverage to negotiate with the villagers for information pertaining to the missing documentarians. They learn that the film crew were indeed in the area recently and caused great unrest among the tribes.

The following day Munroe, Chaco and Miguel knowing their on the right path head further into the "Green Inferno" when they come across a macabre scene of waring cannibalistic tribes savaging each other. The Yanomamos and the Shamatari are engaged in a brutal battle with the Yanomamos on the losing end until the group intervene with a flurry of gunfire, which earns them an invite to dinner back at the Yanomamo village. What's on the menu? Human flesh, of course! The group are treated with some suspicion until Dr. Munroe earns their respect by bathing naked in the river, these primitive cultures certainly do respect the sight of some schlong, just saying. With his wiener exposed and their trust gained a group of villagers take Munroe to the grotesque and obviously gnawed on skeletal remains of the documentarian crew, they're camera equipment hanging from their remains, including canisters of films they'd shot prior to their grisly deaths. Munroe plays a tape recording of tribal chanting for the villagers who are awestruck at his mighty power that enables him to steal their voices and he is able to strike a deal for the canisters of film in exchange for cassette recorder.


Reversible Artwork Option


Next thing we know were back in New York City and Prof. Munroe strikes a deal with a broadcast TV channel who want him to host a documentary of the recovered film but he wants to screen the "found footage" before he agrees to air it for all the world to see. Here is the genius twist of the film as Munroe and the TV execs screen the "found footage" we watch it with them and experience the true horrors caught in film as we catch glimpses of the crew's journey from New York to Columbia and into the Amazon jungles in search of cannibalistic tribes, a film within a film.

Without spoiling anymore than I already have let me just say that the images caught on film are grotesque, disturbing and unsettlingly potent. There's leg amputation, beheadings, cannibalism, several graphic rape scenes, a forced abortion, murderous arson and the quite infamous impalement from anus to mouth - these are truly soul-rendering acts of human indecency and the effects works from Aldo Gasparri (MAD DOG KILLER) is astounding real, so much so that after the film's premiere in Italy it was siezed by the local magistrate and Deodato was arrested for obscenity and still later charged with making a snuff film, that's right, they believed he murdered his actors. Goddamn that's some potent cinema right there. Eventually Deodato presented the actors on live TV thereby proving his innocence.

This release contains two versions of the film; one is the original version of the film minus 15 seconds of compulsory cuts for what the BBFC calls "unsimulated animal cruelty" aka the muskrat death scene. The second versions is Ruggero Deodato's newly created "re-edit" further removing the animal cruelty beyond the compulsory BBFC cuts. Most notably the gruesome death of a turtle is now obscured by natural looking print damage and the death of the aforementioned muskrat happens off screen though it's unnerving death shriek is still heard. Also, a few frames of the spider monkey deaths are trimmed but it's no less affecting. Be forewarned my animal loving friends there are still despicable acts of cruelty exploitively perpetrated upon a turtle, muskrat, pig, spider monkeys, and a tarantula, so don't go into this thinking what you are getting is a sanitized "clean" edit, it's still plenty repugnant and that's on top of the degradation, rape and murder of the painfully stereotyped indigenous people. Either version of Deodato's most notorious film found here are still full-on cannibal exploitation films. It should be noted that most if not all the animals killed were eaten by the indigenous cast of the film if that helps you sleep better at night.

Few films are as notorious as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and with good reason, there's no other film quite like this one, it's despicable but undeniably a cinematic masterpiece in my mind. Taking it's cue from the MONDO CANE films that came before it Deodato has infused the film with a disturbingly realistic aesthetic, the documentary footage shot on 16mm in cinema verite style puts you right there with 'em as they perpetrate impossibly heinous acts upon the indigenous people, you are complicit in the act unable to stop them from happening before your very eyes, it's a film that deeply troubles you and may have you questioning your taste in films.

The acting is top notch from a cast of inexperienced unknowns at the time (and mostly even still now) aside from Robert Kerman who was already the star if numerous adult pornos unbeknownst to Deodato. Yorke is particularly effective as the cruel documentarian, outside of the that I thought Francesa Ciardi was quite impressive and quite possibly the most relatable character if I could even dare say that about any character in the film.

BLU-RAY: Shameless Screen Entertainment's release marks this exploitation classics world debut on region FREE Blu-ray and is presented in an MPEG-4 AVC encode that's 1080p HD anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1).  Admittedly it's been a few years since I last sat down with my Grindhouse Releasing special edition DVD but I think it's quite safe to say that the film has never looked any better that what I see here. It's a gorgeous transfer from a very nice print, colors are vibrant and deep though a few instances of softness do appear throughout, as much of the film was shot on 16mm and blown-up to 35mm it's just to be expected. There's a fine layer of film grain present throughout  with some fine detail and the image is plenty sharp for a film of it's age. The two audio options are English DTS-HD MSTR 2.0 Stereo and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. For the sake of the review I only listened to the DTS-HD track and it sounds fine, not overly dynamic though what would one expect from a "found footage" film realistically? Dialogue, effects and the wild sounds of the jungle canopy sound well balanced, scoring particularly well is Riz Ortoloni's fantastic score, a work of disturbing beauty from start to finish with a combination of sweet orchestral arrangements and disturbing electronics sounds. SPECIAL FEATURES:

Outside of a the very fine PQ Shameless have commissioned brand new features that are exclusive to this edition beginning with introductions to both the original version and the new re-edit from director Ruggero Deodato who in the latter explaining his reasining behind the re-edit. Film And Be Damned (40:28) is a new interview with Ruggero Deodato and actor Carl G. Yorke. The director speaks to the MONDO CANE inspiration, casting the actors, his surprise at finding out about Kerman's porn career considering his "average sized manhood", scouting locations, selling the film, creating the infamous impalement scene, the score, a deleted piranha scene and the film's reception, censoring and his trial for making a snuff film among other topics. Actor Carl Yorke discusses his experience on the film, including many difficult days on set and his interactions with the director, his co-stars and the difficulty filming the rape sxcene and choosing not to shoot the swine. The Long Road Back From Hell (40:20) is a specially commissioned documentary by Cine Excess featuring Kim Newman, Professor Julian Petley, Professor Mary Wood, Ruggero Deodato, Carl G. Yorke and actress Francesca Ciardi. It's a comprehensive examination of the film that's sure to please fans of the film.

It's definitely a sweet package and makes for a compelling argument for purchase despite being an edited version of the film, then again it's a director approved edit that he supervised himself, further stating in the press release and during the interview that the inclusion of animal slaughter in the film was at the insistence of the producers at the time and not his true vision. Here in the US we have the uncut Grindhouse Releasing special edition DVD, and we take for granted the availability of uncut films on DVD and Blu-ray to the point that unrated DVD editions are a bit of a marketing gimmick and thankfully we don't have the BBFC to contend with. This past week I've been a bit up in arms over not only George Lucas's revisionist editing but what I consider ruinous meddling with his STAR WARS films over the years, from the laserdisc edition to the new Blu-ray set and it got me to thinking about not just Deodato's "re-edit" but UK film censorship as a whole and I've come to the conclusion that THANK GOD I LIVE IN THE USA. For those in the UK this arbitrary censoring is a reality with no end in site but there is light at the far end of that slippery sloped tunnel with recent reclassification of other video nasties like ISLAND OF DEATH now finally released uncut after years of censorship. Praise should be given to UK distributors like Shameless and Arrow Video who regularly submit, re submit and take to task the BBFC in an ever vigilent struggle to give fans uncut versions of censored films.

What do you think of a Deodato's new director approved "re-edit" of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, think it's worth a purchase? I think so but I'd love to hear what you fiolks think wether you're from the UK or elsewhere.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Introduction to the original film by director Ruggero Deodato (:09) 16x9
- Introduction to the new Director’s Edit by Ruggero Deodato. (1:49) 16x9
- “Film And Be Damned”  (40:28) 16x9 - interview with Ruggero Deodato and actor Carl G. Yorke.
- “The Long Road Back From Hell” (40:20) 16x9 A specially commissioned documentary by Cine Excess featuring Kim Newman, Professor Julian Petley, Professor Mary Wood, Ruggero Deodato, Carl G. Yorke and actress Francesca Ciardi.
- Theatrical Trailer (2:54) 16x9
- Shameless Trailer Park: HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK, DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING, NEW YORK RIPPER all presented 16x9 widescreen.
- Easter Egg.

VERDICT: CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST remains a haunting and gut churning commentary on the depraved nature of civilized man and sensational journalism. It's a must-see film but it may well be a film you only watch once, that's enough for most folks I know. After all there's only so much depravity and nausea a person can take and even by hardened horror standards this is shockingly gruesome still do this day 31 years later. This was my entry into Shameless's catalog and I'm suitably impressed with the presentation and supplemental materials. I went in wary of this "re-edit" and am pleased to report it's not ruinous to the film in anyway and the newly created interview and documentary are top shelf from start to finish. It's CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST on region FREE Blu-ray and playable worldwide, what more do you need to know?

DVD Review: The Real Cannibal Holocaust (1974)

THE REAL CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1974)

LABEL: One 7 Movies

REGION CODE: All Regions NTSC

RATING: Unrated

DURATION: 99 mins

VIDEO: 1.33:1 Fullscreen

AUDIO: Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono with English Subtitles

DIRECTOR: Akira Ide

SYNOPSIS: In 1975, Papua New Guinea obtained its long desired independence from the British Empire. A movie crew traveled to the island in order to shoot a film that would allow the Queen to better understand the laws and traditions of the natives. Looking for reality and truth, the cinematographers eventually got a lot more than they had bargained for...

 

FILM:  'The Real Cannibal Holocaust' is an exploitative re-titling of the film alternately known as 'Guinea Ama' and 'Nouva Guinea L'isola Dei Cannibal' by the upstart cult and exploitation DVD label One 7 Films. It's a mondo documentary along the lines of 'Faces' of Death' (1980) or the grandaddy of shockumentaries 'Mondo Cane' (1962). It's definitely not the preeminent film of this sub-genre of films but it  manages to offer up some unsettling imagery lacquered with the typical narration that tends to condescend towards it's subjects. The film is set in Papua New Guinea and focuses on the ethnocentricities of the indigenous tribes and their strange-to-us customs beginning with a visit from Queen Elizabeth II who plasters on a plastic smile and waves like she's at a beauty pageant the way you might expect royalty to. The narrator tells us that the natives don't seem to understand why the Queen is so revered, and why would they? She doesn't parade around in exotic feathers and animal bones to signify her mighty stature, she merely condescends to the primitive people in the most polite way possible. 
 

'The Real Cannibal Holocaust' is pretty typical of mondo filmmaking in that it is crammed with shocking footage, nudity and exotic locations. Even some thirty-six years later I found watching that it still holds a few nasty surprises. In fact, a few bits had me gagging with repulsion and I have a fairly strong stomach for disgusting imagery. There's a woman shares a hut with the body of a deceased family member. The body is fetid with decay as she snatches maggots from it's face and consumes them. Perhaps all is not what it seems though as it would appear that the film has been intercut with footage to make it appear as though the woman is feasting on the fly larvae from the rotting flesh when in truth perhaps not. It may surprise you to learn that it's not beyond the mondo filmmakers to manipulate and misdirect us, or it may not. In a similarly grotesque scenario mourners approach the corpse of a tribesman, his belly is engorged like an gut-stuffed balloon, his penis and testicles are similarly distended, it's grotesque stuff. It was right about here my imagination kicked-in with the purely imagined scent of decay and it tripped my gag reflex causing me to  endure a short spasm of dry heaves. Mind you this was before we see that the mourners scoop handfuls of the fermenting corpse's juices and rub the rotting liquids onto their own flesh like a moisturizer in a ritual that is said to help maintain the memory of the departed. Yeah, that's definitely not something you would soon forget.
 

For a film rather conspicuously re-titled 'The Real Cannibal Holocaust' any connection to Deodato's 'Cannibal Holocust' (1980) is tenuous at best. For one this is a documentary and not a film of fiction (more or less) and there's no actual cannibalism on display though we do see what appears to be the apprehension of a man accused of cannibalism. The one true connection between the two films would seem to be the footage of cruelty to animals. What we get here is the killing of wild boars as the swine squeal and convulse after being brutally clubbed upside the skull. Killed not for sport but for a wedding banquet, the narrator sensationally informs us that the natives think the swine flesh is rather chewy and cannot compare to the taste of human flesh. Of course this film is meant as an exploitation of the Papua New Guinea tribal customs and not an educational document by any mean, this is pure stomach churning exploitation in all it's leering glory. While this may not one of the better mondo films I'll say that my appetite has been suitably whetted to further explore the jungles of mondo cinema.

DVD: This is definitely one of those transfers that puts you right in the seat of a 42nd Street grindhouse theatre. It's a nicely worn print with plenty of grain, fading and print damage throughout, and it's probably the better for it to be honest. The film is presented in a 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio, not sure if that the original framing or not. The Italian language 2.0 Mono audio is on par with the video, it's rough with optional English subtitles. The lack of fidelity and pristine print do little to detract from the film though and may actually enhance it. There's a new wave of exploitation films that pay good money to look this shitty.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Nada.

VERDICT: If you're the type to gravitate towards shockumentaries that stir your morbid curiosities and that more or less degrade the indigenous people it documents while sensationalizing their cultural curiosities 'The Real Cannibal Holocaust' may just be a mondo movie for you. I wouldn't say this is a purchase for there are better mondo films out there but if you've seen the rest One 7 Movies have dug this outta the vaults for your viewing pleasure. 2.5 outta 5

DVD REVIEW: Dismal (2010)

DISMAL (2009)

LABEL: Cinema Epoch 
RATED: R
GENRE: Backwoods Horror
RUNNING TIME: 90 Min.
DIRECTOR: Gary King
CAST: Lydia Chandler, Tim Morris, Jack Harrison, Bill Oberst, Jr., Laura Kimsey, Will Triplett, Capel Kane
RELEASE DATE: December 21st 2010
TAGLINE: Eat Or Be Eaten


PLOT: Dana is failing Biology. To pass she must attend an extra credit assignment with several classmates that will lead them into a remote region of the Great Dismal Swamp, a place teeming with life... and death. While the group keeps one eye out for hungry bear, deadly snakes and lurking gators, they are unaware of the real danger. For the top of the food chain lives in a dingy cabin not too far from their campsite, and he has an appetite for human flesh.


FILM: I do enjoy a good ole backwoods horror film, them rural folk sure is scary. From TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1973) onwards through to the under-valued WRONG TURN films there is some goodness to be had with this sub-genre of horror. How does DISMAL fare? What we have here is a pretty standard group of college-type characters that include survival-girl Dana (Lydia Chandler), good gal Kimmy (Laura Kimsey), good guy Gary (Will Triplett), token black dude Jamal (Jade Arnold) and his sex-crazed gal-pal Shelly (Capel Kane) who head out to the Great Dismal Swamp to earn extra credit in their college biology class. Leading the trip is teaching-assistant Curt (Tim Morris).

Once settled in the group pitch their tents and separate into small groups and head out into the wilderness to take notes, samples and observe nature in action or something. Gary and Kimmy spend time together and develop crushes on each other, it's innocently sweet. Jamal and Shelly find a nice quite spot in the swamp and get their freak on. These two are a couple of horn dogs and Shelly provides a more than adequate amount of nudity to the film. That's a plus. Meanwhile back at camp Dana and Curt get to know each other a little better, it's pretty obvious that Curt sees Dana as more than a student but she's definitely not interested. Curt's a strange one, better keep an eye on him. As night settles in over the swamp the group start getting picked-off one by one by a hulking 7ft. freak called Idiot (Jack Harrison) that's fond of bashing people upside the head with a spiked club and occasionally snagging them with a grappling hook. The gore in the film is pretty good with the exception of some laughable CGI that wounds some otherwise well executed gore scenes. My favorites is a nasty little scene as one of the gals runs through the swamp and it tripped up by a bear-trap that takes her leg resulting in her falling face first into another bear trap, good stuff. Turns out the 7ft. freak is not alone and there's actually a trio of human flesh craving cannibals prowling the Great Dismal Swamp. Bill Oberst, Jr. as Dale (the patriarch of the cannibal clan) is a foreboding and demented son-of-a-bitch and he's got screen presence to spare - the definite stand-out performance of the film.
 

The story well paced but not original by any means. Your typical group of stereotypes out of their element hunted by cannibalistic backwoods folks, it's been done a zillion times (and better) but this one is decent if not very memorable. The swamp setting is a great set-piece and the shots are well-composed but the film is pretty standard backwoods horror that hits all the beats you'd expect and little else.

DVD:  DISMAL is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with 2.o stereo surround. It's a good looking film and the presentation looks great. Not much in the way of special features aside from previews of other Cinema Epoch titles.

VERDICT: This is director Gary King's first foray into the horror genre and I must say it's a decent effort but it's derivative and familiar material that we've seen time and time again. That combined with some lacklustre special effects work knocks the grade down a bit on this one. It's strives to be a WRONG TURN (2003) or HATCHET (2006) but falls short of the mark. Not quite a recommend but perhaps a rental. DISMAL (2009) comes to DVD December 21st 2010 from Cinema Epoch. 

 **1/2 (2.5 out of 5 stars)

- McBASTARD

DVD Review: Raw Meat (1972)

RAW MEAT (1973)

"Beneath Modern London Lives a Tribe of Once Humans. Neither Men Nor Women.... They Are the Raw Meat of the Human Race?"
MGM Home Entertainment


RATED: Unrated
RUNNING TIME: 88 Min.
DIRECTOR: Gary Sherman
CAST: Donald Pleasence (Inspector Calhoun), Norman Riossington (Detective Searrgeant Rogers), David Ladd (Alex Campbell), Sharon Gurney (Patricia Wilson), Christopher Lee (Statton-Villiers, MI-5)


SUMMARY: People are disappearing in the Tube tunnels underneath London. When a prominent politician goes missing they call in Scotland Yard's Inspector Calhoun. What he discovers is that the lone survivor of a family of tunnel dwelling cannibals is on the loose and prowling the tunnels in search of RAW MEAT.

FILM: This is one of those films that I've heard about for years from connoisseurs of obscure horror. It definitely has a cult following though I don't think it's widely known or appreciated by most genre fans. RAW MEAT is the British film debut from American director Gary Sherman whom would go onto to direct DEAD & BURIED (1981), a first class suspense horror film featuring an amazing performance from Jack Alberts whom you will know as Grandpa Joe from WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971). Also known as DEATH LINE in the UK, the title was changed to RAW MEAT in the U.S. in an attempt to market it as more of a 70's Grindhouse style film.

As the film begins we see a pervy old chap in a bowler hat propositioning a hooker as he gets a knee to the balls for his troubles. Shortly thereafter the horny bastard is attacked by a snarling figure and is knocked unconscious. A young American college student Alex (David Ladd) and his British girlfriend are on their way home and discover his unconscious body on the stairs of the Underground. They report this to a policeman only to discover that his body has gone missing when they return to the scene. It turns out that the victim is a  local politician and Scotland Yard is called in to investigate. We're then introduced to quite possibly my favorite performance from Donald Pleasence as the sharp tongued, tea sipping Inspector Calhoun. It's a lively performance that outshines his portrayal of Dr. Loomis from HALLOWEEN (1978).  As Calhoun condescendingly interrogates Alex he comes across as a sly prick who's having a great deal of fun at the expense of the long-haired American. Novice actor Ladd just cannot match the character and intensity that veteran actor Pleasence brings to the role, he's like a deer in headlights and the scene suffers for it. Later in the film Pleasence spars with a more worthy opponent, none other than Christopher Lee, in a cameo as MI-5 agent Statton-Villiers. It's a brief but memorable appearance with some snippy banter back and forth between the two horror icons.

Bodies continue to pile up and it is discovered that murders are being committed by a diseased cannibal man that lives in an abandoned part of the subway. He's the lone surviving descendant of a group of miners that were trapped in the tunnel after it collapsed during construction of the Tube in the 1800's.  Apparently these unlucky folks not only survived but procreated and flourished for over a century through a strict regiment of incest and cannibalism. While they've been able to escape the tunnels to occasionally slaughter fresh victims no one along the way figured out to escape to the surface and perhaps stop fucking and eating each other? Okay, so there are a few leaps of logic one must overcome to buy into this scenario, but we as horror folk have turned a blind eye to more than our fair share of inconsistencies in the name of horror, am I right?

There's a great continuous tracking shot in the film within the living space of the cannibal set to the creepy sound of dripping water as the camera slowly pans 360 degree around the room and  reveals numerous mutilated bodies of victims including our horny perv from the start of the film. The maggot ridden corpses are rotting, their facial features having been chewed off and eaten, real grotesque stuff. It's an eerie, disturbing sight as the camera reveals the man crying over the body his dead companion. For a film from 1972 this must have been quite startling sight to theatre goers who had yet to see THE EXORCIST (1973) or THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974). The image of the bearded cannibal man stalking the dark tunnels with gas lantern in hand is a chilling sight indeed. Occasionally mumbling the only words he knows, "Mind the doors", a refrain that he has apparently picked up from the automated PA system on each of the subway cars, it's a nice touch.


I love this film, but that is not to say it's without flaws; its a bit pacey in places and the characters of Alex  (David Ladd) really got on my nerves. If he had disappeared from the film after the initial interrogation I wouldn't have minded. Pleasence and Hugh Armstrong as the cannibal man carry this film for me, particularly Pleasence's iconic performance.


DVD: RAW MEAT is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with mono audio and English language subtitles. It's a good looking print with good depth of blacks though not the crispest image you've ever seen. The mono soundtrack is adequate but I think a newly created 5.1 surround mix could have greatly enhanced the viewing experience and immersed you in the cavernous setting. It's one of those bare bones MGM editions and includes only a theatrical trailer as supplemental material, sometimes just having the film is enough, but after seeing the 2-disc edition of DEAD & BURIED from Blue Underground it really is a bit of a shame that more effort was not put into this release.

VERDICT: My buddy Zachary says RAW MEAT is like THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1977) set in a subway, and I don't think that's too far off the mark. This is a great watch and I strongly recommend it. A great debut from director Gary Sherman, definitely check out his follow-up film DEAD & BURIED (1981). ***1/2 (3.5 out of 5 Stars)


- McBASTARD