Product Details

• Actors: Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Lorraine De Selle, Danilo Mattei, Zora Kerova, Walter Lucchini
• Directors: Umberto Lenzi
• Format: Collector's Edition, Color, Director's Cut, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Full length, Letterboxed, Original recording remastered, Restored, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Italian, Spanish
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Expressions in Anima
• VHS Release Date: August 2, 1999
• Run Time: 130 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (115 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0967417708
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #413,766 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Italian exploitation legend Umberto Lenzi birthed the cannibal subgenre of Italian horror with Deep River Savages, but he turned out one of the so-called classics of the genre with this 1981 effort, a blunt, brutal story of five New Yorkers who face the wrath of angry Amazon cannibals. Three completely clueless would-be anthropologists set out to disprove the racist myth of tribal cannibalism perpetuated by colonial Europeans. Turning a blind eye to danger at every turn, they join up with a pair of drug-crazed psychos on the run from supposed cannibals (in truth, the reign of terror has been perpetrated solely by greedy Americans) and then wait patiently for the bloody vengeance of the tribal survivors. Lenzi is no stylist, and his attempts at irony are crude at best, but he delivers all he promises (or threatens): evisceration, emasculation, gouged eyeballs, and a sick twist on the initiation scene from A Man Called Horse. His generous budget allowed him to shoot on location in South America and New York (where a police detective searches for the homicidal drug dealer in a subplot) and lavish attention on his carnage, elevating it to near cult status. More than simply gory, this is a sadistic, cynical, mean-spirited film, for hardcore fans of the genre only.

Lenzi and star John Morghen (the only animated actor in the otherwise flat cast) offer commentary on an alternate track, but Lenzi is all but unintelligible through his thick accent at times. A supplemental interview with Lenzi is helpfully translated by his interviewer. --Sean Axmaker

Steve Bissette, DEEP RED HORROR HANDBOOK

"The definitive cannibal film."

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars good dvd, interesting movie, August 12, 2000

By 

Charles Read (Devon, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cannibal Ferox (A.K.A. Make Them Die Slowly) (DVD)

The DVD itself is a very satisfying package - we get commentaries, a beautiful transfer. Whether the film itself really has any merit depends on personal taste really. For my money, this is not a patch on Deodato's excellent Cannibal Holocaust, which is just as gory and a hell of a lot more realistic, with believable actors and an intelligent script. In comparison, Ferox seems like just an exploitative rip-off. But taken in its own terms, Cannibal Ferox does deliver the goods (I'm talking gore-wise) with hard-to-watch sexual violence accompanying genuine animal deaths. The music is cheesy, and again not up to the standards of Holocaust, but it grows on you.

Overall, this Holocaust rip-off is obviously a must-buy for italian cannibal/gore fans (legions ahead of rubbish like Eaten Alive etc). People new to the genre may do best to check out Cannibal Holocaust (availible on import from europe) first, as it is cinematically far better although harder to watch. But if you're in the mood for a little mindless gore, and don't mind certain scenes looking a tad unrealistic not to mention the laughable dialogue, you could do far worse.

62 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Thought I Had Seen It All!, January 1, 2005

By 

P. B Rubalcaba "PR Guy" (Redlands, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cannibal Ferox (A.K.A. Make Them Die Slowly) (DVD)

Happy New Year...I think! I spent the last two hours
watching my first flick of 2005, and just when I
thought I had seen it all, along comes Umberto Lenzi's
1981 horror classic "Cannibal Ferox". After the first
30 minutes I had a true understanding as to why this
feature has been banned in 31 countries. This deluxe
uncensored letterbox edition was filmed in New York City
and in the Amazon (very similar) Perhaps the movie
poster says it all. "Warrning! Due to its shocking
and violent subject matter, no one under 17 should
view this film." Seventeen??? I'm 55 and I'm not too
sure the ratings commission shouldn't have banned it
in this country. Believe it or not, I purchased it
from Amazon.com.

As most of you know, I am a horror film connoissseur.
This isn't horror...it's gore. Those who don't easily
feel nauseated over blood, guts and ooze, will adore
this "classic" (???). But be forewarned, it is
definitely not for the squeamish. I can't destroy the
shock value by telling you the explicit nature of this
grizzly stomach turner, but the letterbox states..."98
on the vomit meter".

[...]

The premise of the film is simple. A young college
student sets out to write her thesis on the "myth"
that cannibals do not eat humans. Her journey is well
worth a PhD.

To provide you with one last clue as to the extreme
sadistic focus of this flick, here's the opening
credit.

"The following feature is one of the most violent
films ever made. There at least two dozen scenes of
barbaric torture and sadistic cruelty graphically
shown. If the presentation of disgusting and
repulsive subject matter upsets you, please do not
view this film."

If you are a horror/gore fan, it gets a resounding
"10" on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest). If
not, please (and I warn you), DO NOT SEE THIS FILM. I
honestly thought I had seen it all, until Lenzi
released this ^&*%(^ on DVD. I'm still catching my
breath.

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good release, not so good film, January 1, 2000

By 

"marc01" (hawaii) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cannibal Ferox aka Make Them Die Slowly [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I am a horror video fan and seeing that there are not that much reviews for the rerelease of this infamous video, I will contribute my opinion to the curious. The best parts of this release are the trailers, the director and actor commentary (they travelled all the way to Rome to interview Lenzi himself exclusively for the video), production stills, background on making the film, movie posters from other countries, and a very special "Cannibal survival kit" which is just too hilarious to reveal.

However, the movie itself is not at all the "most violent film ever made." It drags on a lot and takes a long time for the action to start going. It goes back and forth between city scenes and the amazon scenes, probably just to have a longer running time. Lots of zoom-ins of monkeys in trees...is Lenzi trying to say something? The monotonous music makes it even drag more. The pros are the gore, which feature realistic scenes of eye gouging, hanging by breasts, severing of a guy's you-know-what, and a worm going in and out of a native, but there are other scenes like slicing the top of a guy's head off, or a spear going through a chest which look very fake and corny. What is real is the animal cruelty, over 5 scenes of animal deaths, which has caused the controversy of the film in some countries. Otherwise, if you've seen "Dead Alive" or "Pink Flamingos" it's pretty tame. The gore won't make you cringe but actually chuckle at the way it's presented in the movie. Overall, a must have collectors item for horror fans, but stars go down for the actual film itself. Good release, not so good film.

P.S. Keep on the lookout for more RMM agency/Grindhouse releases. They will release many more horror videos, complete with special features like this one.