Cannibal! The Musical (1993)

The sole survivor of an ill-fated mining expedition tells how his taste for gold was replaced by that of human flesh.

Director:

Trey Parker

Writer:

Trey Parker (screenplay)

Stars:

Trey Parker, Dian Bachar, Stephen Blackpool

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dian Bachar	...	George Noon
Stephen Blackpool	...	Black Cat
Stan Brakhage	...	Noon's Father
Dan Brother	...	Guard #2
Duster	...	Liane
Brad Gordon	...	Mills
Ian Hardin	...	Shannon Bell
Dave Hardin	...	Drummer
Edward Henwood	...	O.D. Loutzenheiser / The Cyclops
Jon Hegel	...	Isreal Swan
Andrew Kemler	...	Preston Nutter
Steve Jackson	...	Sheriff of Lake City
Jessica James Kelly	...	Tiny Tim / Baby Packer
M.K.	...	'The Dropout' (credit only)
Martin Leeper	...	Sheriff of Saguache (as Marty Leeper)

Storyline

Alfred Packer was a mountain guide and sole survivor of a party of pioneers that got lost in the mountains in winter. Accused and convicted of murdering and eating his travelling companions, he was to be executed by hanging.The movie begins at his trial, where he pleads his innocence to an unsympathetic audience. Only reporter Polly Pry will listen to his story, which is then related to the viewers in the form of flashbacks. As Packer and his gold-prospecting clients make their way through the forests and mountains, they encounter bemused Japanese Indians, an unimpressed group of mountain men and the brutal Rocky Mountain winter, all of which inspire the travellers to break out into song and dance.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | alfred packer character | mountain | song | flashback | 

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Taglines:

In the tradition of Friday the 13th Part 2... and Oklahoma comes the first intelligent movie about cannibalism!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Thriller | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for comic gore/violence and some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Japanese Indians were students from the University of Grand Junction the crew met that morning. According to Jason McHugh, they were the only two Japanese people in Grand Junction. Masao Maki, who plays the Chief, is the owner of Sushi Zanmai in Boulder, Colorado. He also sings Karaoke every night. Parker says they put him in the movie, because they knew they would get a year's worth of free sushi if they did.

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Goofs

When George walks past the Indian woman, his car keys are heard jingling in his pocket as he goes out of the shot.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Title Card: The film you are about to see was originally released in 1954. Upstaged by the overwhelming popularity of "Oklahoma!", it's short lived theater run was canceled, and "Alfred Packer: The Musical" soon fell into obscurity. The original negative, re-discovered just last year, has been painstakingly restored using state-of-the-art color enhancing and computer reconstruction technology. The film's violent scenes have been edited out for your viewing pleasure.

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Crazy Credits

(At the end of the closing credits) Due to the graphic nature of this film, it should not have been watched by small children.

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Alternate Versions

The film was originally prepared as a three-minute joke "trailer" shown at Trey Parker's college in Colorado. The cast is largely the same, although there is no Polly Prye yet, and most of the scenes in the "trailer" are matched in the final movie, including the songs "Let's Build a Snowman" and "On Top of You." There are also one or two songs not used in the final movie, though. In this version Packer, upon seeing the bodies of his mutilated companions, lets out a loud scream which gradually changes into a musical note, and he starts to sing a funky number. He sings something similar at the end of the trailer too. Although in the final movie, characters played by Matt Stone and Dian Bachar never develop facial hair, this version shows everyone growing at least a moustache, even Matt. This cheap and amusing "trailer" is sometimes actually used as the trailer for the final film [Although the final film does have its own trailer]. The title of the original trailer [And the original cut of the movie] was "Alferd Packer: The Musical," but of course all Troma releases replace the title cards with new ones reading "Cannibal: The Musical." Versions of the original trailer and the final film with both titles are circulating somewhere.

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Connections

Spoofs The Legend of Alfred Packer (1980)

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Soundtracks

That's All I'm Asking For
Music & Lyrics by Trey Parker
Produced by Rich Sanders
Performed by Trey Parker, Dian Bachar, Ian Hardin, Jason McHugh, Jon Hegel and Matt Stone
Arranged by Sean Hedgecock & Trey Parker
© 1993 by The Avenging Conscience, Inc.

User Reviews

Absolutely brilliant, though many will not think so.

Yes, I have to say it, I am a South Park fan. I watch the show religiously, and that is the reason why I watched this brilliantly entertaining film. That's probably the only reason anyone ever watches it. This film is one that you either love or hate, and I can't imagine anything in between. It's wildly uneven, poorly paced, poorly acted, and has rather bad sound quality at times. And I love it for all those reasons. It's simply a student project that Trey Parker and his buddies put together over one spring break, and with such a small budget, and limited film-making skills, they created something brilliant, and inspirational.

Alfred Packer (Trey Parker) is a lonely miner who seems to be in love with his horse, Leanne, and has recently been put on trial for murdering his mining crew and eating them. He tells the real story to a reporter named Polly, and it goes like this. One shpadoinkle morning, he is chosen as a replacement guide for a gold mining expedition to Colorado, though he doesn't exactly know the way. With his five crew members, he sets off on the journey. Of course, when his horse runs away, he ends up leading his crew on an agonizing search in the wrong direction, which leads them into the cold, snowy mountains, becoming hopelessly lost. As they fight to survive, they soon realize that they may need to resort to eating each other...

This movie is a hysterical comedy with many big laughs, but I personally think it works better as a musical. A real challenge with this movie is to see it, and then try and get the songs out of your head. The music is so catchy, and if the film was really popular, I wouldn't have to constantly explain to the people around me what I'm whistling/humming. Sometimes, I leave my iPod playlist of the movie's songs running all night as I sleep, as they provide me comfort. Most people won't love the music that much, but you can't say the music isn't wonderfully catchy. "Shpadoinkle Day," That's All I'm Asking For," and Let's Build A Snowman" are my favorites, though I love them all. The first former and the latter would be considered classics if the film had a wide release.

Now, the main problem with the film that most people have is the pacing, which is extremely slow. The thing is, is that Trey Parker had little knowledge of making a film, and with a tiny budget, the film is of poor quality. The acting, sound, and agreeably the pacing, are all bad. But the film's bad quality is one of it's charms. Much of the humor is unintentional, due to some of the funniest, and most obvious errors ever put on film. They are easy to spot if you pay attention, and don't let the pacing get you down. By the way, if you don't like it the first time, try it again with the hilarious, and helpful directors commentary on the DVD in which Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and the rest of the main cast get drunk and watch the film. They point out many things that you probably couldn't care less about the first time, and their insight makes it really funny (not to mention, it helps the pace quite a bit

Cannibal! The Musical is one of my favorite comedies, and everyone should give it a try. It gets an 8/10 in my book.

It is rated R for Comic Gore/Violence and some Language. Sex: 3/10 Violence: 9/10 Swearing: 6/10 Drugs: 1/10

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Troma

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

30 August 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cannibal! The Musical

Filming Locations:

Lake City, Colorado, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$125,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Avenging Conscience, Cannibal Films Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min 97 min (video)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1