Eaten Alive!

 



Director - Umberto Lenzi (Cannibal Ferox, Nightmare City)
Starring - Robert Kerman (Night of the Creeps, Cannibal Holocaust), Janet Agren (City of the Living Dead, Red Sonja), and Ivan Rassimov (Body Count, Emmanuelle Around the World)
Release Date - 1980
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "A relentless feast of human flesh"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Horror goes in many directions.  Some are ones that I love and will always be open minded about while others are difficult to sit through.  Not because of the gore or subject matter but because I find them boring.  Most horror fans are obsessed with the Italian cannibal flicks of the late 70s and early 80s.  The gore is usually fun but the story just seems to be lacking for the most part.  They all follow Americans in the jungle getting hunted by primitive cannibal tribes.  Sometime ago Severin sent me the 1980 Umberto Lenzi flick Eaten Alive!  I had never seen this one and had high hopes for it.  Thanks Severin for letting Horror Society check this one out!
     The film follows a young woman who is searching for her sister who went missing after joining a cult.  She follows a lead to New Guinea where she finds an America who fled the Vietnam war and convinces him to help her find her sister who is now believed to be in the cult compound in the most dangerous part of the jungle surrounded by cannibal tribes.  They find her sister but are informed that they are never to leave the cult's compound again and her sister expresses concern for their safety. After some time they decide to flee through the jungle but her sister doesn't make it and falls victim to the cannibals.  They make it out of the jungle alive and the authorities fly in to find them and discover that the cult had committed mass suicide. 
     My biggest complaint with these Italian cannibal flicks is that they all share the same story.  Most toss in little things to make it stand out but they all follow mostly white (American's or British) who venture in savage or primitive lands where uncivilized tribes eat them. Sadly, Eaten Alive! is no exception.  The acting in this one isn't bad but the dubbing did make a few scenes almost laughable.  The dubbing is rarely able to match the emotions we are seeing on screen.  The cast does a solid job but the voiceover is a little off.  The story for this one is just like the other cannibal flicks of that time.  Our white cast finds themselves in the jungle while cannibals lurk around every tree.  The cult angle is a new one to me but I haven't seen enough of these to make the claim that it was original.  The story is painfully slow and relies heavily on the death scenes.  Finally, this is a brutal one.  The film used bright blood with some solid effects to pull it off.  The bright blood does take away from the impact of the gore but it works for the most part.  The killing of the baby alligator was unnecessary but nothing we can do now.  Overall, Eaten Alive! is a must for horror fans who want a bloody flick but aside from the gore this one has nothing else going for it.  The film is out now on blu from Severin.