CANNIBAL TERROR

CANNIBAL TERROR: The cannibal craze of the ‘70s had European directors feeding off each other for new and interesting ways to stage their gore. Much of the final product however was banned by Great Britain during the “video nasty” era, a notorious label that is often the only inspiration to watch what are now laughable exercises in filmmaking. And Alain Deruelle’s Cannibal Terror just may be the most hilarious of them all. After a botched kidnapping attempt, three criminals drag their pint-sized paycheck into the jungle until things cool down. But a local tribe of flesh-eaters eventually make sure that justice is served...and gangster is on the menu! Cannibal Terror is a gut-buster of a gut-muncher, so ineptly made that it transcends the genre to become an unintentional spoof of the highest caliber. The “jungle” setting is made up stock footage and one oasis of palm trees off the interstate (seriously, you can see cars driving in the background) while the natives themselves look like paunchy, painted sports fans trying hard to keep a straight face. The gore is a nauseous mix of pig intestines and latex which the extras are obviously trying not to put in their mouths. At one point Deruelle (working under the pseudonym Allan W. Steeve) films his protagonists walking mutely through the woods for 15-minutes. God help me, 15-minutes! It’s the sort of achievement that only exploitation masochists will appreciate. But thanks to releases like this from Severin Films, there are a lot more of us out there. The DVD starts off with a particularly rough credit sequence but looks terrific thereafter and also includes a trailer and “spicy” deleted scene.