Cannibal Ferox aka. Make Them Die Slowly (1981)

Cannibal Ferox aka. Make Them Die Slowly
directed by:  Umberto Lenzi
starring:  Giovanni Radice, Danilo Mattei, Zora Kerowa, Ventantino Venantini, Lorraine De Selle, Walter Lucchini
Format:  NTSC 1
Grindhouse Releasing Deluxe Uncensored Letterboxed Edition

     The cannibal movies all of them are a huge favorite of mine.  The films received a large amount of hate upon being released for a lot of reasons some justifiable others not so much from where I sit.  First off the films were called racist because of the depiction of the cannibals.  I'm lost on this one for the same reason people said King Kong (1933) was racist for the same reasons.  As a confirmed hater of anyone or anything racist I'm sorry I just don't see it.  Muddy, grungy natives is exactly what I think of when I think of these types of cannibals.  That out of the way I am not impressed with the animal torture that a lot of these films for some reason incorporate into their production.  It's disgusting frankly and in fact one of the other films I will be reviewing as well Cannibal Holocaust the masterpiece of cannibal films has an animal friendly version for those of you who can't just watch the movie anyway as I can.  Ruggero Deodato director of Cannibal Holocaust claims he was forced by the producers but my personal opinion is that he is saying this because the man has received death threats in the past over the audience reaction in the 80s. 
     Back to Cannibal Ferox which is director Umberto Lenzi's original title although for once the original title is not the title I prefer.  Make Them Die Slowly is the alternate title and I'm sorry but I first bought this because of that title.  Cannibal Ferox was my first cannibal film and also one of my favorites for a lot of reasons.  First of all we have Giovanni Radice who is credited in America as John Morghen a name I despise because for me it says we are American and we are too ignorant and stupid to recognize a foreign name.  Anywho Radice is one of my all time favorite actors in so many of my Italian favorites like Aquarius aka Stage Fright, House At the Edge of the Park (also a Deodato film), City of the Living Dead by the great Lucio Fulci, and many others.  Radice is very versatile actor who in Ferox plays an absolute badass badguy while other films like Aquarius he plays a gentle homosexual theatre actor.  The man is just a pleasure to watch and I even had the privilege to have a short conversation via myspace private message one time many moons ago when myspace was popular he commented on my page and a short discussion with me mostly gushing ensued. 
     As I said Radice plays Mike a badass in Ferox and together he and his pal Joe get tangled up in a murder investigation involving the mob.  Mike and Joe flee to South America in search of jewels and meanwhile Gloria (De Selle) is researching a thesis on the questionable existence of Cannibals along with her friends Pat and Rudy in the same area.  As luck or bad luck would have it Gloria and her friends come across Joe and Mike who just had a battle with the so-called cannibals.  Mike insists they were attacked by the natives but all the time the story just seems to get fishier and fishier and Mike isn't the kind of company either Rudy or Gloria enjoy at all.  Mike claims the natives kidnapped their native guide and tied him to a pole torturing him to death.  But this all goes against everything Gloria believes about the tribe.  Gloria by the way is played by yet another favorite of mine Lorraine De Selle a regular in many Italian films most notably for me would be the Emmanuelle series by Aristide Massaccesi (Joe D'Amato) and also again with Radice in House at the Edge of the Park.
     The unlucky three fall into Mike's lies and end up back at the so-called cannibal village.  When they arrive there are no men in the village just older natives, women and children.  The men are all out in the jungle searching for the five of them.  Pretty soon Joe gets sick from being wounded in the previous fight with the cannibals and they have to lay him down in one of the huts.  Mike starts doing more coke and getting crazier and ends up trying to rape one of the young girls and kills her.  That's when it all comes clear what a ravenous killer Mike really is. 
     The movie really has some brutal and nasty killings brought to us by the great Gino De Rossi who did fx for such films as Zombie and City of the Living Dead.  Each of our victims suffers greatly most especially Pat who has her boobs pierced with rusty hooks and is left to die.  A lot of people can't handle such brutality in a film which is another reason why so many people hate the cannibal films...me I can't get enough of them.  Cannibal Ferox is a great way to start your collection of cannibal movies if you have any interest at all.  Me?  I've seen or own everyone ever made including the elusive Primitives.  Which trust me took a lot of searching to find at the time.