Such a frustrating disappointment

From my favorite movies..

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Hoping to dispel cannibalism as a myth created by 16th century conquistadors to justify the subjugation of native tribes, an anthropology student, her brother and his girlfriend get more than they bargained for when venturing into the Amazonian jungles in this Italian horror film. Banned in many places upon initial release, 'Cannibal Ferox' has acquired quite a reputation over the years and there are certainly some shocking scenes - most notably when one woman is held by hooks. From a special effects point of view, the film is innovatively shot and edited in order to make it seem like many grotesque things are happening to the friends when it is really just implied. The best aspect of the film though is the whole notion of the film's heroine wanting to disprove cannibalism, yet finding herself at odds with her theories. Much like 'Cannibal Holocaust' - to which it is often compared - 'Ferox' plays with the notion of the characters bringing their misery upon themselves, with the actions of two emerald smugglers they meet a chief catalyst. This is a far from perfect motion picture with mostly second-rate acting and a subplot involving an urban police investigation constantly subtracting from the immediacy of the jungle action, but with a spine-tingling mix of music and sound effects and a chilling final scene, there is a lot more to 'Ferox' than just its controversial violence.

(Credit to IMDb) 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.What an utter disgrace this movie is. As a guy who hated Cannibal Holocaust, I'm not sure why I decided to revisit this cheap knockoff. Lenzi clearly made this to cash in on the Cannibal Holocaust controversy. This was around the time where there were movies about cannibalism. Not only is the film grainy, but painfully dull. When you aren't busy being bored half to death, Lenzi tries to repulse you by killing real animals. This movie is a gorefest, but it is NOT enjoyable. Lenzi's blatant in your face direction during the animal killings angered me beyond belief. There are extreme close-ups that made me wince and look away. How could a man be so cruel? It tries so hard to be offensive that it becomes incorrigible. For those that wonder, there is a lot more. Innards are eaten, birds are eaten, a penis is eaten and castrated, etc. I wasn't able to enjoy it. The dubbing is predictably atrocious and the dialog is inane. The performances are nothing noteworthy. Lombardo's intense performance is probably the only solid thing in this movie. He's a bit TOO intense actually. Ostensibly, he clashed with Lenzi on set. Can't say as I blame him. Lenzi is a jackass. Most of the characters were unlikable. Anything else positive to say? The cinematography was decent.You may need a shower after this movie. There is nothing redeeming about this movie! Not a damn thing. All it did was P**** me off and nearly put me to sleep when it wasn't busy being offensive. I love horror movies that cross the line. This movie goes beyond that line and accomplishes nothing, IMO. I'm sure some sick puppies will enjoy this sort of thing. All the more power to you!DUD

Wow! Where do I begin with my review on Cannibal Ferox?! There is just so much I want to write about, I surely won't be able to fit it all in.I first saw this film just after 9/11, and it really got me thinking. We live in a world where the West are supposed to be the good guys and we are all very civilised. But then when you look at all the bad things in the world you wonder how this can be true, and that's just the point Ferox makes.So, anyway, the movie begins in New York with a young dude wondering around the city. Some might think that the music is a little bit dumb here, but that's just because it was the times, and that was very normal back then. All the time this guy is just wondering around you are thinking "Okaaaaay, who is this guy?!?". Then it happens, he runs into two thugs who just blow him away, and you are left totally shocked 'cos you think he is the main character or something. Then it goes to the jungle and we meet the real main characters, Gloria, Rudy and Pat. Gloria is the intelligent young psychology student who wants to finally prove that cannibals are not real. Rudy is her cool and handsome brother, and Pat is the free spirited sex bomb! Straight away you warm to Gloria and her brother, but maybe Pat not so much, especially after she sex with the biggest moustache ever! Then it's time they go into the jungle. They see a butterfly on the boat then when they get off they get trapped in some swamp and have to walk. This is where you know things are not gonna be pleasant. They get a small cat on a rope that I think was kinda cute. But then the first real horror thing happens, the cat is on the rope which is on a stick in the ground so it can't escape. Then out of nowhere a huge and poisonous snake comes out of the jungle and strangles it to death! Now I know some people might not like this bit, cos you can tell it is all 100% real, and the animals had to die. But I think this is just nature, and the film has to show it because that is the message it has, that we are all in nature and can not escape it. OK, they walk some more into the jungle and see an old tribe man eating maggots from the earth. If you have a stomach then turn away at this point. For me it is the worst bit of the movie, because you see the old guy biting the maggot and chewing, and I think this is worse than the animal kills and man eating that comes later. Then they run into Mike and Joe. Mike has to be one of the worst villains in all of cinema! Straight away you get the worst feeling with this guy. Joe is just his blind henchman, too scared to stand up, even though he knows he is wrong. Joe is badly injured as well. So they all wonder around some more, and Mike tells them a story about a "Portuguese guy". Yeah right!!!! This is all just a big lie, and we find that out later. So they go to a village and Mike shoots a tribe girl. She dies and her husband runs off. At this point you are thinking oh boy, the cannibals are no way gonna be happy when they get back. Joe dies of his illness. The cannibals take his body and eat his guts right in front of Gloria and Rudy!! They all try to escape but get captured. Mike gets what he deserves when his dick gets knifed off. The special effects here are so real that I literally had to hold my nuts and wince the first time I saw it. Someone said it looked like a hairy hernia, but I didn't think so. Plus this was 30 years ago, and much better than the CGI that is around today and just looks really fake. I won't spoil the rest for you. But I will say that if you are after a dumb horror movie you can just turn your brain off with, then this is not for you. This movie is brutal, heart breaking and very thought provoking. The scene where Gloria and Pat are singing to keep their spirits up always leaves me in tears. I didn't give this movie 10/10 because I think that about half way through there is a black cop who is really not right for the movie. He looks really corny and says such silly lines. It really ruined that bit of the movie for me, and I wish Lenzi had got rid of that bit, because it is so not right in this film. But the rest of the film is actually perfect and the message is as powerful today as it was 30 years ago. The film's message is just so powerful, after all who are the real cannibals?

'Cannibal Ferox' is trash, terribly dull trash. It's a shameful rehashing of Ruggero Deadato's 'Cannibal Holocaust', which is the Citizen Kane of the cannibal genre compared with this. Naturally, the acting is bad, that is to be expected from an exploitation film, however the sheer lack of talent on display is beyond anything I've ever seen – it is diabolical. It was so awful that I laughed and even gasped in shock; I really cannot stress this enough, it's like you're watching a parody. There is a particular moment where a woman in peril begins to sing in an attempt to comfort her friend and herself – it is spectacularly embarrassing.However, don't think this is an addition to the 'so bad it's good' category, because it's far from that, it's just plain rotten. The film has bad pacing issues, it appears to forget that it's merely sleaze; the majority of its 93 minute running time plots a thoroughly unengaging story concerning emerald thieves. When the film finally reaches the viscera that apparently resulted in it being 'banned in 31 countries', the viewer has been anaesthetised by just how boring and amateur it all is.In what appears to be an attempt to diffuse the viewer's boredom, there are scenes of animal killing placed at random throughout the dreariness; it's exploitation at its most unsophisticated. It is this random placement that makes you shake your head with disappointment rather than recoil in horror.Considering it was released in 1981, the film is remarkably dated; it is a product of a bygone era where films with zero production values somehow managed to secure funding and pollute cinemas the world over. At least the majority of today's smut has something of a professional sheen.www.hawkensian.com