Spring Break
Sadistic gore unmatched in "Cannibal Ferox"
Ryan Jarcy
Staff writer
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"Cannibal Ferox," directed by famed Italian gore master Umbeto Lenzi, was released in 1983 and stands as a milestone of gore cinema more than 20 years after.
Arguably the most vile work ever recorded up to its release, this masterpiece of horror/gore is a shock to the senses with an extremely graphic glorification of pain throughout.
The story begins with a group of students traveling to the Amazon jungle, hoping to disprove the myth of cannibalism set forth by colonial Europeans. Instead, they stumble upon a drug cartel and the native labor it uses to harvest their stock.
The natives subsequently revolt and bring with them some gory retribution for the hapless foreigners.
Cleary, a complex and layered plot is not the forte of "Cannibal Ferox." Lenzi aimed to make a violent splash on the horror/gore scene with the movie's release and did not seem to care much for anything else.
The acting is poor, the dubbing is unintentionally hilarious and the overall production is sub-par. The soundtrack, though cheesy, has its moments within analog synthesizers and muddy guitar chords.
The sheer gore and brutality of this film make it a classic in its own right, and nearly every scene has something to turn the viewer's gut. Various tortures performed upon the group are twisted and sick. In one scene a man is castrated with a machete. Another depicts a young woman hanging from hooks in very uncomfortable spots.
However, though the cruelty inflicted upon the characters is disgusting, the real shock of the film is in the treatment of animals. Numerous times throughout the movie, live animals are seen being killed and mutilated.
This kind of animal abuse makes up the bulk of what has gotten the movie banned in 31 countries and what people are turned off by. The scenes with human suffering are staged, whereas the deaths of the creatures are not. Groups such as PETA and the SPCA are staunchly opposed to the film for this reason.
The appeal of this repugnant cinematic gut-stabbing is no doubt narrow, but to the fans of the genre it's got all the style it needs.
Simultaneously panned by many as an exploitative excuse to nauseate crowds and revered by those who love to see things that shock them, "Cannibal Ferox" is a classic, regardless of moral or social boundaries.
