Mangiati vivi! (1980)

Director:

Umberto Lenzi

Writer:

Umberto Lenzi (story)

Release Date:

20 March 1980 (Italy)

Genre:

Adventure | Horror

Tagline:

They didn't have a chance!

Plot:

A young woman teams up with an adventurer to find her missing sister in the jungles of New Guinea and they stumble upon a religious cult led by a deranged preacher whom has located his commune in an area inhabited by cannibals.

Plot Keywords:

Cannibal | Jungle | New York | New Guinea | Dart

Cast

Robert Kerman	...	Mark Butler
Janet Agren	...	Sheila Morris
Ivan Rassimov	...	Jonas Melvyn
Paola Senatore	...	Diana Morris
Me Me Lai	...	Mowara
Fiamma Maglione	...	Alma (as Mag Fleming)
Franco Fantasia	...	Brother Reeves
Franco Coduti	...	Karan (as Gianfranco Coduti)
Alfred Joseph Berry
Michele Schmiegelm	...	Native girl
Mel Ferrer	...	Professor Carter

Also Known As:

Doomed to Die (USA)
Eaten Alive by the Cannibals! (Europe: English title)
Eaten Alive! (International: English title)
Eaten Alive: Mangiati vivi! (USA) (DVD box title)
Mangiati vivi dai cannibali (Italy) (alternative title)
The Emerald Jungle (USA) (video title)
Ad kannibalov 2 (Russia) (DVD title) [ru]
Antropofagos (comidos vivos) (Spain) (poster title) [es]
Cannibal holocausto 2 (Argentina) (video title) [es]
Comidos vivos! (Spain) [es]
Fate tous zontanous (Greece) [el]
La secte des cannibales (France) [fr]
Lebendig gefressen (West Germany) [de]
Massakren i junglens dyb (Denmark) [da]
Omänsklig fasa (Sweden) (video title) [sv]
To ourliahto ton kannivalon (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
Vivos Serão Devorados (Brazil) [pt]

Runtime:

92 min | UK:85 min (heavily cut)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | UK:18 (re-rating: 1987) (heavily cut) | UK:X (original rating: 1981) (heavily cut) | Italy:VM14 | Germany:18 | Netherlands:16 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Argentina:16 | Ireland:18 (cut UK version) | Norway:(Banned) | South Korea:18 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:(Banned) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Italy

Trivia:

Scenes originally from the movies Il paese del sesso selvaggio (1972) (crocodile being killed with a small knife, and a woman being killed and eaten by cannibals), Ultimo mondo cannibale (1977) (Me Me Lay's death sequence), and La montagna del dio cannibale (1978) (castration scene, footage of a snake eating a monkey, and a man being pulled into the water by a crocodile), were edited into this movie.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Although this movie is set in New Guinea, you can see several animals like Green Iguanas and Macaws that only live in South and Central America.

Quotes:

Jonas Melvyn: Their idea of lunch is fresh, hot entrails soaked in blood.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Il paese del sesso selvaggio (1972)

Soundtrack:

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

An OK waste of time

While I don't think that Eaten Alive is particularly very good, it's an OK waste of time. If you're used to cannibal films like Cannibal Holocaust then this will seem tame in comparison. It's not a particularly interesting or original story and you don't care much for the characters. But there are a few nice gore touches and shocking rape sequences to keep you awake (if that's your sort of thing). There's also a few decent action and fight sequences. The best scene is probably when one girl is literally eaten alive and her skeleton turned inside out. There's not a lot of gore and it's rather amateur, but it's not too bad.

Since this isn't my sort of film, I wouldn't recommend seeking it out unless you're a die-hard fan of the cannibal horror genre.