Also Known As:
Make Them Die Slowly (USA)
Woman from Deep River (Australia)
CANNIBAL FEROX is the 2nd best cannibal flick ever made. The best cannibal flick is, of course, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. FEROX is a lot sloppier and sleazier, but no where near as good, but it's a classic none the less.
The story starts in New York City where some bad dudes are on the hunt for a guy named Mike Logan (Giovanni Lombardo Radice, who has a gift for playing creepy assholes). Seems he's an equally bad dude who is also wanted by the cops (bad cops---everyone is fucking bad!) as well. Alas, Mike is nowhere to be found but that doesn't stop the fuzz from shaking (and beating) down Mike's friends.
 |
 |
|---|
Meanwhile, 3 college students are on their way to the Amazon to search for cannibals so one of them, Gloria (Lorraine De Selle), can write a thesis on the myths of cannibalism (how fun!). Gloria is joined by her brother Rudy (Danilo Mattai) and her blonde bimbo best friend Pat (Zora Kerova). The three head out on their Amazon adventure, Pat bitching all the way. They go by boat and then by jeep, in search of a little village where they can do their research. Everything is going fine until Rudy swerves (at Pat's screeching demand) to avoid hitting an iguana. This of course sends them into a ditch, wrecking the car. Now the gang is on foot and Pat gets even more annoying.
Like most American white devils, they make their way into the jungle and act like they own the place. As if nothing bad could befall them. Luckily, they have a mongoose that was given to them by a local. Seems its bad luck not to venture into the jungle w/out a mongoose, they're like an American Express card in the Amazon—never leave home w/out it. Well Rikki Tikki Tavi bites it real quick when he's taken down by an anaconda. One staple of cannibal movies is real life animal killings and CANNIBAL FEROX is no exception. Though to be fair, the scenes here are nothing worse than anything on The Discovery Channel or Animal Planet.
The three trek on and Pat gets EVEN MORE annoying and who do they stumble upon? Why it's Mike, remember? From the beginning of the review? Yeah, well he's also in the Amazon w/a buddy and according to Mike they just escaped some cannibals who wanted to gnaw on their junk like it was beef jerky. Gloria questions this and Mike in turn, calls her a twat. Now, let's examine that—If any man calls a woman a twat, he better be guarding his nuts. Along with cunt, twat is like, the ultimate no-no thing to call a woman. Bitch is bad, but cunt and twat are worse. Now this being said, Mike calls Gloria a twat at least 3 times in the movie and each time she has no reaction. Hmmm, maybe twat is a friendly euphemism in Italy? I don't know—anyways…
 |
|---|
Mike and his buddy Joe (Walter Lucchini) tag along w/the three and they try to make their way to safety. Except they're all morons and they end up right at the village where Mike and Joe were said to be attacked by cannibals. So do they get the fuck out of there? No, they check it out—duh! For some reason all the young men of the village are gone and all that is left are old folks and children, who seem petrified by the 5 whiteys. So they decide, as any moron would, to shack up at the village seeing as though Joe's pretty messed up and it would be hard to drag his sorry ass around.
So they all hang out. Pat fucks Mike, which was expected. They share some cocaine that Mike carries in a container on a necklace. She's attracted to him because he's a complete asshole, like any stupid women would be. He even talks her into raping one of the village girls but she chickens out. Mike shoots the girl which causes Rudy and Mike to get into a little scrap. This all causes the gang to think--maybe Mike's kind of a bad guy---YA THINK?!
Later, when Mikes away, Joe spills the beans about why they're there and what truly happened w/the natives. The two had come down to the Amazon in search of riches (and to get away from thugs and cops) and were being helped by one of the natives. Seems the native had stumbled across some emeralds and was willing to help Mike and Joe find more. When they weren't able to find any, Mike goes into a cocaine fueled rage and kills some villagers in some vile and sadistic ways that shows Mike is one sick fucker who enjoys inflicting pain on others (he also shows this side when he kills a pig in one scene). When the 3 students happened to stumble into Mike and Joe, Mike was about turn on Joe and kill him. Seems the villagers were hunting the two to get revenge—not because they were cannibals in search of their neck meal.
This info comes a little too late seeing as though the dumb asses hung around long enough that now the pissed of natives are back! Oh and yes—they get their revenge. Dicks are chomped, boobs are pierced, brains are eaten from a skull like a bowl of beer nuts and guts are devoured. All shown in its depraved glory. It's a cannibal movie, what were you expecting? The Jungle Book?
 |
 |
|---|
All in all, CANNIBAL FEROX is one of the best films of the cannibal genre. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST is a better movie but FEROX has its charm as well. Umberto Lenzi does a fine job (as usual) with directing the film and like HOLOCAUST, it has a great score—though not a beautiful one like Riz Ortolani's but more of a menacing, traditional Italian synthy-horror score. Out of other Lenzi films, personally I prefer MAN FROM DEEP RIVER or EATEN ALIVE to FEROX. Though, if you're a gorehound and you could give a shit about acting or like, a believable script, FEROX works.
During the whole movie there are cutaways back to New York City to the cops and thug who are looking for Mike. These scenes are not needed and pretty much are used for filler--At least their filled w/bad dialogue and wacca-chicca disco music to laugh at. Robert Kerman (who is also in CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST) play one of the guys looking for Mike and man, does he deliver some bad lines .
Want to see a pretty violent cannibal flick? Want to see lots of gore? Don't mind annoying characters? CANNIBAL FEROX won't disappoint. Want to see an even better cannibal flick? Watch CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. Or watch 'em both, fuck I don't care—do I have to make all your decisions for you? TWAT!
CANNIBAL FEROX trailer