Jungfrau unter Kannibalen (1980)

A Vietnam veteran heads to an island inhabited by cannibals to save a kidnapped model not only from her kidnappers, but also from the cannibals' lurking Devil god.

Director:

Jesús Franco (as Clifford Brown)

Writers:

Julián Esteban (story) (as Julius Valery), Julián Esteban (screenplay) (as Julius Valery)

Stars:

Ursula Buchfellner, Al Cliver, Antonio Mayans

Cast

Cast overview:
Ursula Buchfellner	...	Laura Crawford (as Ursula Fellner)
Al Cliver	...	Peter Weston
Antonio Mayans	...	Jack (as Robert Foster)
Antonio de Cabo	...	Thomas
Bertrand Altmann	...	The Devil (as Burt Altman)
Gisela Hahn	...	Jane
Muriel Montossé	...	Girl on Yacht (as Victoria Adams)
Werner Pochath	...	Chris
Melo Costa	...	Pablito (as Leonardo Costa)
Aline Mess	...	Cannibal Priestess (as Lynn Mess)
Claude Boisson	...	Cannibal Chief
Tibi Costa
Óscar Cortina
Ana Paula

Storyline

The story is set amongst jungle tribes that live in fear of the devil. Laura Crawford is a model who gets kidnapped by a gang of thugs whilst working in South America. They take her into the jungle and demand a huge ransom. Laura is guarded by some ridiculous looking native who calls himself "The Devil" and has to go through all manner of unpleasantries until the gang get their ransom. Chained maidens are offered in supplication and the devil demonstrates eating pussy in a grossly excessive literal manner. Enter Peter Weston, the devil hunter, who goes into the jungle in true Indiana Jones style to try and rescue her.

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Plot Keywords:

disembowelment | sexual perversion | perversion | impalement | sacrifice | 

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Taglines:

Hunted, raped, and tormented out of her mind...

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Spain France West Germany

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

5 December 1980 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

The Devil Hunter

Filming Locations:

Archena, Murcia, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eurociné, J.E. Films (Julian Esteban Films), Lisa-Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The demon's bug-eyes were created with ping-pong balls that had tiny holes poked in them to allow the actor to see.

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Quotes

Jack: [having a flashback] Peter!
Peter Weston: What's the matter, Jack?
Jack: It was just like this place... all those bombs. Oh! Oh my poor head. I hate the jungle and its humidity.
Peter Weston: Come now. It's all over now.
Jack: ...and these shadows...
Peter Weston: We're not in Vietnam now.
Jack: This heat...
Peter Weston: Come on!
Jack: The blood was all over the place. I can't take it. Not again. Get me outta here. I can't get these painful memories out if my head
Peter Weston: Calm down. Come on... you most control yourself
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Fear, Panic & Censorship (2000)

User Reviews

Entertainingly Nonsensical Franco-Ultra-Sleaze

I am a huge admirer of the prolific Spanish Exploitation deity Jess Franco, whose impressive filmography includes over 190 titles so far. It is undeniable that the man has made masterpieces and total crap alike, and his attempts to cash in on the popular Italian Cannibal-sub-genre belong rather to the latter category. This movie of the delicate title SEXO Cannibal (aka. THE DEVIL HUNTER) of 1980 is better than his absolutely terrible other Cannibal flick from the same year, MONDO CANNIBALE (which is not to be confused with Umberto Lenzi's PAESE DELLO SESSO SELVAGGIO and Ruggero Deodato's ULTIMO MONDO CANNIBALE, two genre-classics which are often referred to as MONDO CANNIBALE 1&2). SEXO Cannibal is somewhat interesting for its epitomizing Jess Franco's habit to shamelessly ignore any logic and build up movies that exist almost entirely of sleaze and violence. The film is furthermore notable as it is one of the three Franco-films that landed on the UK's infamous "Video Nasty" list of banned movies, making him the most prolific Video Nasty maker alongside the Italian genius and 'Godfather of Gore' Lucio Fulci, who also made three films that landed on the list.

A model (Ursula Buschfellner) is kidnapped by criminals who ask for a ransom of 6 million dollars. Her agent asks 'nam vet and soldier of fortune Weston (Al Cliver) to free her. Out of all places, the criminals hold her hostage on an island full of savages who habitually feed young women to a rape-hungry cannibal fiend. Needless to say that the island is full of hot women with exhibitionist tendencies...

The film is fun to watch for its shameless sleaze and for the gore (though the latter wasn't as extreme as I had expected). It is also fun to watch for the lack of logic, and some parts that are downright absurd. Weston's sidekick, for example, is the wussiest 'Nam vet I've ever seen on film. The guy starts crying whenever he enters the jungle. Franco obviously picked up on the 'Nam-trauma' theme that was so popular in US-cinema in the late 70s and 80s here, and since he is Jess Franco he decided to exaggerate it more than a little bit. Overall, this isn't one of Franco's worst 80s movies, but it certainly far from being one of his better ones. Personally, I would state that Franco is best when making films about deranged Scientists or Nymphomaniac/Lesbian Vampires, his contributions to the Cannibal-genre are rather forgettable. SEXO Cannibal is still worth the time for my fellow fans of the man, who are most likely not gonna expect intriguing story lines and breathtaking suspense anyway.