A French attempt at a cannibal exploitation feature, Cannibal Terror (1981) is not one of the stronger films on the Video Nasties list, but is rendered marginally passable due to its seer levels of ineptitude and inconsistency.
For every Cannibal Holocaust on the Video Nasties list there is a Cannibal Terror. A truly abysmal piece of film-making which only warrants suffering through until the end credits for the sheer ridiculousness with which it presents itself. There seems to be some ambiguity as to who is responsible for this movie, with some accrediting it to an actor tuned director named Julio Perez Tabernero, whilst others claim that it was the work of Jesus (AKA Jess) Franco. The official directorial duties are listed as being executed by Allan Steeve, but there is very little known about him. The Franco connection stemmed from rumours circulating about the blatant similarity between Franco’s cannibal efforts ‘Cannibals’ and ‘The Devil Hunter’, right down to the same stock footage being used, and certain actors replicating roles. As we have seen, however, this has been a common feature of the cannibal genre and so it would be hard to attest any truth to these claims.
The first thing which is particularly noticeable about Cannibal Terror is the absolutely horrendous soundtrack; this atrocious piece of audio torture seems to consist primarily of a back bar room rendition of ‘La Bamba’ which plays on a loop for the first twenty minutes or so of the movie. This creates the impression of being stuck in a particularly awful Mexican restaurant while you wait to be served. If ‘Cannibal Terror’ were a restaurant, you would be presented with a menu which resembled food, but the delivery, appearance and aftertaste would leave you feeling cheated and bitter for some time to come.
The awfulness stems into the dialogue fairly quickly, with sharp putdowns such as ‘Mind your ass!’ being given the snappy retort ‘My ass is shut the fuck up!’ Such confusing exchanges are enhanced by the insertion of terms like ‘Flippedy floppedy boobies’, the like of which you wouldn’t hear uttered in a Russ Meyer picture. The plot (as such) surrounds a group of thieves who kidnap the daughter of a wealthy man and go on the run into what is known as ‘Indian territory’.
The ‘jungle’ seems to be no more than the outskirts of a city park, and when the ‘cannibals’ are brought into the equation, suspension of disbelief is not only recommended, it is mandatory. They all look absolutely ridiculous beyond belief. They have to have been drafted from a local singles bar or yacht club. The sideburns and beer bellies on show are astounding; that and the fact that not a single one of them can keep a straight face whilst portraying an indigenous tribe. The men snicker and sly eye each other, mocking the events which clearly looked as ridiculous on set as they did on screen. The overall situation resembles an office outing, when the repressed workers wrap their neckties around their foreheads and cover themselves in mud. It’s truly shameful; none of them look in anyway convincing. In spite all of this, if unintentional humour is something which provides entertainment, there is an abundance of it to be found here.
There’s nothing resembling the tone, aesthetic or savagery of ‘Holocaust’ or ‘Ferox’, the ineptitude of the filmmakers becomes the central focus, and all narrative cohesion is dispensed with. Any attempt at shocking scenes is lost completely in the amateurishness of the production. A supposedly harrowing rape scene is left feeling comedic and silly, due to the apathetic and half-hearted conviction of the actors involved. The flesh eating sequences are rendered ineffective and farcical, due to the ‘tribesmen’ gnashing their teeth directly at the camera whilst holding fistfuls of pig entrails. Credit to them for trying this technique, but it would have looked better had they actually have been taking bites out of the food, as opposed to simply playing with it.
If one was at a point where they were burnt out from the harrowing and relentless horror of other Italian cannibal movies, it may serve as quite a relief to sit through something as jolly and horrifically woeful as ‘Cannibal Terror’. Not so much bloody terror as bloody awful.
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