Cannibal Ferox (1981)
"Cannibal ferox" (original title)

Three friends out to disprove cannibalism meet two men on the run who tortured and enslaved a cannibal tribe to find emeralds, and now the tribe is out for revenge.

Director:

Umberto Lenzi

Writers:

Umberto Lenzi (story), Umberto Lenzi (screenplay)

Stars:

Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Lorraine De Selle, Danilo Mattei

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Giovanni Lombardo Radice	...	Mike Logan (as John Morghen)
Lorraine De Selle	...	Gloria Davis
Danilo Mattei	...	Rudy Davis (as Bryan Redford)
Zora Kerova	...	Pat Johnson (as Zora Kerowa)
Walter Lucchini	...	Joe Costolani (as Walter Lloyd)
Fiamma Maglione	...	Myrna Stenn (as Meg Fleming)
Robert Kerman	...	Lt. Rizzo
John Bartha	...	Brooklyn Mobster
Venantino Venantini	...	Sgt. Ross
'El Indio' Rincon	...	Native who helps Gloria

Storyline

Anthropologists take a trip to the jungles of Colombia to study native cannibals. Instead, they find a band of drug dealers, using the natives to harvest coca leaves. After awhile, the natives are tired of being tortured slaves, and turn on their masters, as well as the anthropologists, thus filling the screen with gruesome splatter!

---

Plot Keywords:

tribe | jungle | anthropologist | cannibal | amazon | 

---

Taglines:

Banned in 31 countries!

---

Genres:

Adventure | Horror

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian Spanish

Release Date:

November 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Make Them Die Slowly

Filming Locations:

Amazon Rainforest, Colombia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dania Film, Medusa Produzione, National Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 85 min (heavily cut) 86 min (heavily cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Like Cannibal Holocaust, this movie contains several actual animal killings. Though his character kills an animal in the film, Giovanni Lombardo Radice strongly objected to the animal killings and refused to participate in them (a double had to be used). Director Umberto Lenzi tried to convince Radice to do the killings by telling him, "De Niro [Robert De Niro] would do it," to which Radice responded, "De Niro would kick your ass all the way back to Rome."

---

Goofs

Rudy wears a neckerchief bearing the OshKosh logo, but the lettering seems to switch between being a 'mirror image' of itself (so it reads hsoKhsO) and appearing as it should, often several times within one scene.

---

Quotes

Pre-credits disclaimer: The following feature is one of the most violent films ever made. There are at least two dozen scenes of barbaric torture and sadistic cruelty graphically shown. If the presentation of disgusting and repulsive subject matter upsets you, please do not view this film.

---

Connections

Featured in Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape (2010)

---

Soundtracks

"Red River Valley"
Written by James Kerrigen
Sung by Lorraine De Selle and Zora Kerova

User Reviews

Pretty decent and surprisingly watchable

"Cannibal Ferox" is a really entertaining, if mildly flawed cannibal classic.

**SPOILERS**

Arriving in the Amazon, Gloria Davis, (Lorraine De Selle) her brother Rudy, (Danilo Mattei) and their friend Pat Johnson, (Zora Kerova) venture toward an abandoned city to prove her theories about cannibalism being a racist idea towards primitive man. Stuck in the jungle, they are soon forced to go by foot to the village. Happening upon Mike Logan, (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) and his wounded friend Joe Costolani, (Walter Lucchini) out in the jungle, they tell a tale of running into a cannibal tribe doing off with the rest of their gang and themselves barely getting out alive. Joining up together, they come upon the village with the tribe, only to find that those remaining are scared and fearful of them rather than torturing them. Spending time there, they learn that there's been a series of lies involved in their story, and finally the tribe rises up to take revenge on them in vicious ways.

The News: This is a rather entertaining cannibal entry, though it's not without problems. Most notably, this one has a series of great, bloody kills that result in an over-the-top display of gore. This one contains a whole smattering of gags and scenes that are simply gruesome and nauseating. Aside from a large amount of animal deaths, there's a general assortment of torture inflicted on others. There's several impaled with a set of spikes through the chest from traps, a couple of castrations, some really graphic eviscerations, dismemberments, an infamous scalping done with a gigantic machete and a scene where a victim is dunked into a pool with live piranhas where they begin to gnaw on a wounded leg. It's most legendary scene, though, is where one is strung up with hooks through a vital part of the anatomy and hung up until they die. This is a long, torturous scene that goes on forever and is just agonizing. These look incredibly realistic and are quite disgusting, which the film has going for it. The animal violence in here, while not as graphic as would originally expect, there's certainly enough to make it feel nauseating. There's a lot more in here than expected yet they're not as graphic as others, and all of them are obviously taken from elsewhere as they don't really fit in with the rest of the film. It's the fact that they're happening which derives their effectiveness, but it's hard to look at them at face value without realizing that they're not done at the same time. The fact that this also manages to have a reasonable explanation for the trip downward, which is also quite creative in it's own right, is one of the best aspects of the film. It's also never really boring, moving along at a fast pace and really only has one small part that doesn't work. That the only real problem with the film's pacing is that it insists on cutting away from the unfolding drama to show us these pointless detective scenes in New York City. They really disrupt the flow of the picture, and every time he switches venues, it feels as if you're being physically pulled out of the movie. Ultimately, they go nowhere and do nothing to serve the movie. They don't even capitalize on a golden plot point as the group that goes to South America don't even find them. It was a bunch of other guys that rescued her. A completely pointless string of events that actually does nothing other than infuriate the viewer. There's even a little flaw with that as there's too much interfering in the good parts to go to them, and it really ruins the flow the ending develops. The animal scenes could really be taken on their own by the viewer, and is something that is to be taken on that they're into. Otherwise, this here is a completely entertaining cannibal film.

The Final Verdict: It won't be considered a classic of the genre, but it's still good enough to give it a watch for those interested. Hardcore exploitation fans are encouraged to see it at once, as well as those who have a real love of cannibal films, while those who prefer traditional horror or have an aversion to animal violence are advised to avoid.

Rated X: Extreme Graphic Violence, Graphic Violence against animals, Full Nudity and Graphic Language