***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS, CONCERNING MAKE-UP EFFECTS, BUT NOT PLOT*** Well, Well. After years of video collecting, countless hours of fast-forwarding, and the occasional decent flick, I have finally got my hands on a copy of the infamous Antropophagus. I used to read old Threat Theatre catalogs, and issues of The Dark Side magazine, and I heard about all the Video Nasties, and Exploitation, and Trash, and think to myself, man it would be great to get my hands on some of that stuff. It all seems so rare and obscure like a cult collectors dream! But as i started to find ex-rental copies and bootlegs at flea-markets and such, I came to an even more shocking conclusion: Most of this trash, really is trash. Hardly are any of these films truly gorey or impressive, none of them live up to their American counterparts. I would gladly trade in my Francos, D'amatos, and Fulci's, any day for old-school Raimi, Savini, and Peter Jackson(New-Zealand). The definition of a Video Nasty, in truth, is simply any film that the British find offensive. It doesn't mean it's good, or that it will even shock you, it means that the British are far too easily offended!
And so we have Antropophagus. From cult favorite, Joe D'amato. The version I own has the most ludicrous dubbing I have ever seen in my entire life, along with japanese subtitles. In the beginning of the film we are quickly treated to one of the better moments when a male victim laying on a beach receives a hatchet to the face. But sit tight, because that's all you get for the next hour, until finally the title character shows up. It's frustrating to say the least, when watching a horror movie, if the "Bad Guy" does not even appear ONCE during the first hour. I mean it, not even one shot of his face until the last 30 mins of the film. George Eastman plays the Antropophagus Beast, or the Grim Reaper, depending on which version you own. All in All, he is creepy, a good slasher'stalker type, but more laughable, than say Micheal Myers, or Jason Vorhees. All of the horror elements in this film are strictly routine, by the numbers type of fare. However the atmosphere created is unique. Although it is poorly executed, you can see the potential for something scary, within the great landscapes and sets on this island. Too bad the lame dialogue and ridiculous off time soundtrack ruin any possibility of suspense. I will admit one thing... unlike Jesus Franco and Lucio Fulci, I do like Joe D'amatos directing. This may sound like a long shot, but I like the way his films look, especially Emanuelle in America. He has good camera movement, and his films benefit greatly from a widescreen presentation.
But back to the issue at hand. The gore scenes in this effort were far and few between (Yes, I have the UNCUT version!!!). Perhaps, judging by the cover and by the general buzz about this "Nasty" I was expecting some over the top gore-fest similar to Evil Dead or Bad Taste. Well I couldn't have been further from the truth. The amount of blood and guts in this film amounts to about 1 min of screen time. Theses moments consist of 1 hatchet to the face, 1 sword to the back, a couple of slit throats, 1 hanging and of course both the infamous "Fetus for Lunch" and "Auto Cannibalism" scenes. The first, is so quick and built up that its done before it even begins. Antropophagus reaches into the pregnant character and pulls out what looks like the fetus of a small animal, proceeds to take a single bite- and then Bam! -the scene ends!!!!!! What??? All that controversy over 20 seconds of that?? I could have made a more shocking scene on my Dads camcorder with a $20 budget. Talk about a rip-off. Anyone expecting some grotesque display of horror of the most graphic nature, will either throw their remote at the television set, or laugh themselves silly.
On to the only other highlight or "lowlight"- depending on your point of view- of this movie. The scene in which Antropopo eats his own intestines. Again, i can't say enough how much of a disappointment this was. Antropopo takes an Axe to the chest (albeit, it's a hefty blow to the sternum), which looks incredibly fake. He then stuffs his mouth with some (half-decent) looking intestines that he pulls from said axe-wound which opened his chest. Then he collapses, and the movie is over. To be honest I found the goriest scene in the whole film to be when a girl victim is lifted through a hole in the roof by her neck. That seemed to be more shocking than either the fetus or intestines. I was expecting the most visceral thrills but this and the few other glimpses of gore were so quick and unimpressive, that as a gore-hound I was truly disappointed. There were no painfull close-ups or slow motion techniques used to glorify the bloodshed, which may make me sound sick and desperate, but I argue that this is what the typical fan of this kind of film will be looking for. If not, why would someone bother to go through all the trouble of locating an UNCUT copy, I ask??
Bottom line- If your looking for a good fun romp with lots of carnage, try Don't Go In The Woods (1980), or Night of the Demon (1980, or more standard stuff like Dead Alive. If it's D'amato your looking for, I would suggest some of his more entertaining work like Troll 2, or the any of the Ator series. He also has quite the line of Porn and Erotic material, most of it easy to find, if that floats your boat. But if you MUST HAVE Antropophagus, I wouldn't recommend paying more than 10 bucks, as the best part of the movie is looking at the classic cover of the box it comes in. * 4/10