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By one of those lucky accidents in life, I ran into this movie while leisurely browsing online. It immediately brought back childhood memories of me walking inside a video club, and seeing the movie box in the shelves, but my brothers would never let me rent it. The images I saw back then were so powerful that they stuck to my brain to this day, as sure enough, they came back as soon as I got back in touch with this little diddy.
When I started reading more about it, my curiosity burst into flames. I just had to watch it. And I am so glad I did. This is not just a stunning work of gore, it’s a masterpiece! Everything about this movie is incredible: from the genius found footage concept idea (the first of its kind! honestly, how cool is that?... take that Blair’s witch!), its intriguing ultimate message, and of course, all the glorious non-stop carnage. Deodato takes no prisoners. This film goes all the way like its publicity says!
I found the decision of using Robert Kerman as the leading actor an odd one (but one that in the end, worked). By the late seventies, Kerman had not really done anything of importance except porn (the notorious Debbie Does Dallas at that, one of the most famous movies of that genre), so he was a non-obvious choice, to say the least. I think he does a decent job in this film, in part probably because he’s someone who wouldn’t feel intimidated by its gruesome nature (and definitively would not bother being “groped” by a group of enthusiastic native women). His acting is all you would expect from a porn actor, “stiff” (pun intended) and subpar, but after all it serves the purpose, because this is not a film about great acting, but about great “being” (especially in regard to the cannibals).
Filming real native tribes (I doubt they were actual cannibals) appears to many as an unsurmountable challenge. How the hell do you direct natives on film? The answer, surprisingly, is pretty simple, and it’s given by Deodato in the full length commentary. You just ask them and they obey. As simple as that. They do whatever they are told. Apparently, being on camera (whether they understood what it meant or not) was a real treat for the natives, and they all were making fun among themselves thinking these light skin people were crazy! But, free meals and lots of fun, hey who would say no to that??
The extra materials in this DVD are a real treat which makes it a must for real fans. The booklet contains two posters of the movie in different languages and some liner notes. The audio commentary was very revealing, particularly of the personalities of Deodato and Robert Kerman. They ended up being the total opposite of what I expected them to be. You would think of Kerman, as the alpha male porn star, pricky, arrogant, full of himself, but instead here’s this sweet, insecure, slightly depressed quiet little man. On the other hand, I was thinking of Deodato as the humble, professional, introvert director, but he happened to be all what I thought Kerman would be. Blunt, stuck up, and quite a jerk at times. Throughout the commentary audio, you could tell that Robert just couldn’t stand being with that guy. He must hate Deodato with a passion. There was zero chemistry between the two. To make things worst, between Deodato’s broken English and Kerman’s one word per minute speech pace, the commentary was very painful to listen to. Its contents could also have been more interesting. I think there were far better things to discuss than what was included, so tragically, this commentary was a lost opportunity.
Now let’s move on to the on-camera interviews. Kerman’s interview produced in me a shock only comparable to watching the movie for the first time. Now it makes sense why there is virtually no interview of him to be found anywhere in the internet. I wonder if he ever gave interviews at all. The conversation starts with Kerman sitting at the weirdest, most uncomfortable angle with respect to the camera, so you can see him most of the time almost from behind. He’s sitting in front of a mirror, so you can see the camera (and Kerman) reflected on the mirror all the time (seriously!?). It’s all so unprofessional that it looks like a 3-year old set the whole thing up. Later, the cameraman moved to another, slightly better angle, revealing that the interview is taking place in a locker room of sorts, where you can see things thrown over the floor everywhere. Kerman’s appearance is thoroughly pathetic, he obviously did not care about his looks at all (I wonder if they even told him this would be a filmed interview, as opposed to just audio). He keeps on sipping his coffee making annoying noises, rubbing his face, and speaking at the aforementioned one word per minute pace. All those years in porn must have eaten half of his brain away! In the end, the interview leaves you with a bitter taste, you can tell that his life nor his acting career went where he wanted them to go. He gives the impression of being a total failure in life. And it looks that he didn’t even like the movie after all!
The other interviews were much better. Yorke’s interview was by far the best of the three, giving a structured narrative of the whole filming process, unlike Kerman’s which was a hot mess. The rest of the extra materials in the second DVD are really tasty for a fan of the film.
Finally, I want to talk about the music, composed by Riz Ortollani. Part of what makes Cannibal so epic is precisely this soundtrack masterpiece. The main theme and many of the incidental pieces are not the dissonant cheap scares you would think (though there is some dissonance in the sound at some point), but rather some of the sweetest, most melodic music of its time. It may sound funny, but the continuous use of the “pew pew” bite works extremely well and one of the most original ideas for a horror movie soundtrack ever! I guarantee you, it will stick to your head for weeks after you’ve heard it. The extreme contrast of the brutality of the scenes and the ethereal music is part of what makes this movie so powerful and memorable. Deodato himself has said that this approach was borrowed from him by directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone to recreate the overly dramatic effect. I imagine it could also be the inspiration behind the final scene of “The Mission” by Roland Joffe.
Deodato is unquestionably a legendary director. He deserves much more praise than he gets. Maybe it’s the kind of movies that he chose to make what relegated him to “cult” director status. However, Cannibal is far from being the B movie garbage that many people think it is. Leaving aside the gruesome gore and the obscenely graphic scenes (not speaking about the infamous animal butchery, of which Deodato does not seem all that regretful in his interview… it looks as if he’s just sorry that he was caught); the theme, rhythm, shock and ultimate message of this movie are all of everlasting value, and this film will always be among the most dreadful, daring, horrendously delicious pieces of degenerate art there will be. And if you want to know who the real cannibal was, his name is Ruggero Deodato!
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July 1, 2014 "Please retry" | DTS HD-MA 2.0 Stereo | 3 | $26.99 | $26.99 | — |
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Excelente producto para coleccionistas
Me gustó mucho lo completo que es este producto, que cuenta con dos versiones de la película (sin cortes y libre de crueldad animal), además de extras como trailers, entrevistas, galería y el soundtrack oficial, sin duda una excelente pieza para todo coleccionista, aún así me hubiese gustado que la película tuviese subtítulos.
Top reviews from other countries
Diego Illescas
Un must para un coleccionista de terror
Reviewed in Mexico on February 7, 2024