Mondo cannibale (1980)

User Rating:

3.5/10   

Director:

Jesus Franco

Writer:

Jesus Franco (writer)

Release Date:

28 November 1980 (West Germany)

Genre:

Horror | Adventure

Tagline:

Kidnapped by cannibals! Raised to eat human flesh!

Plot:

A man who lost an arm and his family to a tribe of cannibals returns ten years later to bring back his teenager daughter, only to find that she grew up into a beautiful blonde woman who became the cannibals' queen.

Plot Keywords:

Cannibal | Tribe | Jungle | Daughter | Goddess

Cast

Al Cliver	...	Jeremy Taylor
Sabrina Siani	...	Lana
Jérôme Foulon	...	Safari member
Shirley Knight	...	Barbara Shelton
Antonio Mayans	...	Yakaké (as Robert Foster)
Olivier Mathot	...	Charles Fenton
Anouchka	...	Lana as a child
Lina Romay	...	Ana (as Candy Coster)
Pamela Stanford	...	Elisabeth Taylor
Jesus Franco	...	Mr. Martin
Raymond Hardy	...	John
Anne Marie Rosier	...	Safari Member

Also Known As:

Barbarian Goddess (USA)
Cannibals (UK) (DVD title)
El caníbal (Spain)
Inferno der Kannibalen (Germany) (DVD title)
L'emprise des cannibales (France)
Les cannibales (France)
Mondo Cannibale Teil 3: Die blonde Göttin (West Germany) (video box title)
Mondo Cannibale Teil 3: Die blonde Göttin der Kannibalen (West Germany)
Mondo cannibal (France)
Une fille pour les cannibales (France)
White Cannibal Queen (USA)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Spain | France | West Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | UK:18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Norway:(Banned) (video rating) | West Germany:(Banned)

Company:

Eurociné

Trivia:

The version titled "Mondo Cannibale 3" was signed by Jesus Franco as Clifford Brown, supposedly an homage to the real Clifford Brown, a jazz trumpeter.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Terreur cannibale (1981)

Not up to par with other cannibal themed movies.

Jess Francos' answer to other popular cannibal themed movies of the late '70's and early 80's has adventurer Jeremy Taylor (a top billed Al Cliver, co-star of such Lucio Fulci flicks as "Zombie" and "The Beyond") taking his wife and daughter in tow to a jungle location. The wife is gobbled up by the local savages and the daughter abducted. Taylor loses an arm but manages to escape; years later, he organizes a new expedition to find and bring back his daughter. Only now, she's been treated as a goddess by the cannibals, who of course aren't going to take too kindly to another intrusion of their territory.

This just doesn't have the same palpable sense of atmosphere, or danger, as "Cannibal Holocaust" or "Cannibal Ferox". It's low in the sleaze factor, too, and the scenes of flesh munching go on too long without being particularly shocking. The natives themselves are hardly convincing; anyone watching can look (not too closely) and see that some of them are played by white performers. As a matter of fact, this film marks too much time in general with not much happening. It didn't even have any standout moments that could otherwise recommend it.

Cliver is good enough in the lead, with Franco regular Lina Romay in a supporting role and Franco himself in a cameo. Sabrina Siani is a knockout but is clearly not much of an actress.

Just barely watchable, this may please undemanding fans of cannibal movies but wouldn't be the one to start with for anyone new to the genre.

5/10