Writer(s): D'Amato and George Eastman
Starring: Tisa Farrow, Saverio Vallone, Serena Grandi, and George Eastman
Skip this paragraph if you’ve
heard me talk about my boring, movie-themed childhood, or want to avoid ruining this film's "pivotal" scene: When I was a late-teen/early-twentysomething, I went
through a long phase where I tried seeking out the most graphic movies I could
find. Anthropophagus was consistently
mentioned as one of the “pinnacles” of such movies, and yet, for whatever
reason, I never saw it. It has gained
infamy based on one harsh sequence, so known as the “fetus-eating scene”,
because, in it, a pregnant character’s fetus is eaten, making it an appropriate
nickname.
As I have mentioned in a
previous review, slasher movies are the mainstream movie equivalent of hardcore
pornography: no one cares about the story, they just want to get to the graphic
bits. Well if that analogy is considered
accurate, than Anthropophagus: The Grim
Reaper is the equivalent of a sex addict having to settle for softcore porn;
there are long buildups to nothing, and despite its notoriety, there is
surprisingly little violence, at least until its finale. But by then, we have waited 70 minutes for
something to happen, and it’s too little, too late.
It’s the kind of movie that
makes much better background noise than it does actual viewing material—there’s
really no mystery to speak of, save for what happened to an island’s previous
inhabitants—but the answer to this is pretty clear from the outset. To pay Anthropophagus any close attention is
to simply waste your time; and by doing so, we have already put more effort
into the whole production than the filmmakers themselves.
Tisa Farrow (of Lucio Fulci’s
Zombie fame) plays Julie, a woman who
solicits the help of some tourists looking to take a tour of Greek islands. She, too, is looking for an island, but
(surprise!) even though it’s along the way, it’s not one of them featured on
the tour. She talks them into dropping
her off, where she can be reunited with some friends who inhabit the almost-uninhabited island. With some reluctance
(one of the tourists reads tarot cards, and gets a bad vibe about the place),
they all agree to go.
There, they are hunted,
one-by-one, and usually in long, drawn out sequences that end up with the
characters being completely fine. It’s
seriously around the 50-minute mark that we even get our first glimpse of the
“grim reaper” of the title, and even then he doesn’t become a main focus until
we’re more than an hour in. I suppose I should be grateful that director Joe
D’Amato at least tries to build some suspense, instead of just focusing on the
graphic deaths, but it simply feels like padding, rather than anything of
substance.
About the highest accolade
that I can give it is that the killer’s makeup is pretty decent. I have seen the actor (George Eastman, aka Louis
Montefiori, who also co-wrote the film’s screenplay) in another production
(Mario Bava’s excellent Rabid Dogs),
and in complete makeup, even in close-ups, he is completely
unrecognizable. The gore scenes, for the
most part, are pretty standard, save for the aforementioned infamous scene;
though I didn’t find it to be as stomach-churning as I was expecting, I still
have to give D’Amato props for at least trying something new.
Unless you are either a
die-hard Italian horror fan, or a slasher film completist, there’s really not
much here that’s worth the time investment required to watch it. About the only thing that might make it worthwhile, is the fetus-eating scene, but that’s available in several locations on
YouTube—if that’s the main reason you want to see this, as it was mine, then
just spend the two minutes watching it online, and skip the rest. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.
RECAP: A slow-moving
“slasher” movie about a group of tourists being hunted on an uninhabited
island, Anthropophagus has received attention for a nasty sequence that got the
movie banned in several countries. As
grotesque as it is, it’s shockingly the only bit of creativity in this droll
mess, which features no suspense, a bloated run-time of 90 minutes, and
drawn-out scenes that are meant to build terror, but only end up leading to
yawns. If you’re merely curious about
the infamous murder sequence described above, then save yourself 88 minutes and
watch the clips of it online.
RATING: 2/10
FETUS SCENE (WARNING: NOT FOR SQUEAMISH OR MINORS)
TRAILER
No comments:
Post a Comment