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12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :- Sick, Ultra-Violent, Disturbing And Extremely Scary, 15 June 2007 Author: Benjamin Gauss from Salzburg, Austria
Immediately banned in many countries after its release, Joe D'Amato's Italian Gore Classic "Antropophagus" of 1980 is a truly disturbing and immensely scary video nasty, and fans of ultra-violent and nasty Horror should not be disappointed. Potential viewers have to be warned, however: You need a strong stomach for this! The uncut version of "Antropophagus" features some of the most graphic and disturbing and goriest acts of violence you will ever see in a movie, and if there was a ranking of the most disturbing gore scenes ever brought to screen, this sick little flick would easily make it in the top 10! I don't want to give the most shocking scenes away, but I assure that anyone about to watch this flick can prepare for extremely horrid gore scenes.A couple of tourists travel to a Greek island which they find deserted at their arrival. It quickly becomes clear that something evil is haunting the place. Something with an appetite for human flesh...Whether you like it or not, "Antropophagus" is a movie that you will not forget quickly! In case you don't like gore this is not your type of film, but in case you do, avoid any censored version and watch this extremely scary Cult-sicko uncut. There is simply no point in watching cut versions of Exploitation-King Joe D'Amato's movies, and "Antropophagus" in particular is a movie that is intended to shock, so the uncut version is essential. Apart from its shocking violence, "Antropophagus" maintains a very scary atmosphere, and its cast includes many familiar faces for Italian Horror fans, such as Tisa Farrow and George Eastman (whom Spaghetti Western fans might also know).In case you are easily offended, avoid this movie! But if you're a fan of Italian Gore films and Exploitation, you should certainly not miss this one! I advise my fellow Horror-fans to get a beer, lean back and start to enjoy the sick imagination of Joe D'Amato... When the movie reaches its climax, you will only be using the edge of your chair! 8/10
12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :- Generally despised and loathed "video nasty". I liked it., 17 September 2002 Author: Infofreak from Perth, Australia
Well, I FINALLY got to see this infamous shocker after hearing about it for years. 'Antropophagus' a.k.a. 'The Grim Reaper' is one of the most despised and loathed of all the so-called "video nasties", and director Joe D'Amato seems to be regarded as little more than a figure of fun for many. The people who hate this movie usually call it "boring", "dull", "too slow", and so on for the most part, and then complain about the bad taste of the two infamous gore scenes towards the end. One involving a pregnant woman, the other the killer. I won't go into any detail regarding either scene so as to not lessen their shock value. Now, the strange thing is I inadvertently watched the DVD of 'The Grim Reaper' which cut both of these scenes out, and while I was sorely disappointed not seeing them, I didn't find the rest of the movie dull at all. In fact I thought the movie managed to create quite an effective feeling of dread and suspense throughout. While I don't think the movie is as strong as Fulci's 'Zombie' (which also starred Tisa Farrow), I enjoyed it a lot more than say, 'Zombie Holocaust', which is generally rated higher by many hard core horror fans. So make of that what you will. My advice though is try and see the original uncut 'Antropophagus' for maximum effect.
5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :- Seriously creepy and pretty dang grisly, if kinda slow exploitation favorite, 25 July 2008 Author: t-birkhead from United Kingdom
I finally got to see this gem, my first taste of Joe d'Amato's work. I was struck quickly by two things. One, that the film is quite slow moving, as many have criticised it for. It is probably a tad too slow, which is why I can't give it the highest score, since if it had been say, five to seven minutes faster I wouldn't have had to check my watch a couple times to see how long was left. However despite the slow pace, the film, for me had a vice like unnerving grip at many points, with its flashes of grue, desolate island locale and of course the promise of some legendary gore to come. With Tisa Farrow (Zombie Flesh Eaters) and Zora Kerova (Cannibal Ferox) among the tourists present, somewhat unfortunately on this doom laden place the film is a feast for Italian horror fans, even without George Eastman lurking. Eastman, when he gets to really shine towards the end makes for a truly vicious and maniacal adversary but ingeniously, is slightly more shaded a character than your average murderous terror, giving a whole lot more interest and even an odd sort of sympathy. Sure he's evil, but one gets the sad feeling things could have been better for him. Nothing to complex, but it does go a little beyond generic yar boo hiss the evil monster territory and George Eastman conveys it brilliantly. As to the two real famous bits, well, if the principle sounds really gross to you than the scenes probably will be, though if jaded like me, they'll most likely just make you grin. I can't right now recall if there was nudity, but it doesn't matter, this is less sleaze and more a spooky horror piece. Some will no doubt find this boring, overrated, silly, etc, all the usual criticisms of this sort of thing. Personally, though not quite my top Italian horror outing, I thought this was really rather awesome stuff. At the very least, give it a whirl (uncut only).
10 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :- Probably One of My All Time Favorites, 19 October 2006 Author: PCyst from The Base of Your Spine
I first watched this movie under the title of The Grim Reaper. Most of us fans of the movie probably have as well. Surprisingly, I had never heard about this movie until a few years ago. I remember watching it and think that there was something about this movie that was above most of its competition. Of course, I hadn't seen the uncut version of the film yet so I was just going off of the atmosphere. When I was told what I was missing in the uncut version I had to find it. Obviously, I did. And it wasn't through Shriek Shows new DVD.A group of people, including Tisa Farrow of Zombi 2 fame, set sail to a secluded island. Upon setting shore, they notice that no one is in site and begin to find dead mummified bodies throughout the town. They don't realize that an extremely impending figure has murdered everyone on the island and they are next.Sounds simple and it is. George Eastman who plays The Monster even says in an interview that this movie was only made to make money. There was nothing artistic about it. But, nevertheless, the movie is great. Obviously, this movie is not for everyone as some find it boring and over-hyped. I happen to love this film. The sense of impending doom covers this movie from top to bottom. And the 2 particular controversial scenes are great. Sure, the special effects are terrible but it is the thought of what is happening that makes you realize how sick this really is.I am not a huge fan of D'amato's works but this movie is excellent. For any real collector of horror, this is a must have. By the way, I did end up picking up The Shiek Show release of the movie. It is well worth having. But, if you can find the original American version of the movie I would get it also, under the title of The Grim Reaper. The music selection in certain scenes are different. 10/10
3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :- * out of 4, 21 December 2007 Author: Bleeding-Skull from Review Land
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
Julie, (Tisa Farrow) manages to get herself along on a trip with a group of friends, including Andy, (Saverio Vallone) Daniel, (Mark Bodin) Maggie, (Serena Grandi) Arnold, (Bob Larsen) and Carol, (Zora Kerova) that will take them on a trip to a small island in the Greek Sea. When they arrive, they find it completely empty and almost abandoned. Forced to spend the night in the town, Julie takes a walk through the house and finds her friend Henriette, (Margaret Mazzantini) who's blind and stricken with paranoia about the disappearances on the island. As tensions start to mount and they begin to turn on each other, they realize that a vicious killer is after them. However, it's not just kill them that he wants to do.Tedious, slow paced flick with little logic, no surprises and no brains. It fails to even create a spooky atmosphere nor does it build up any kind of suspense.Unrated for Extreme Graphic Violence, Profanity and Brief Nudity.
7 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :- Excellent Eurohorror in the Aegean Sea, 16 February 2005 Author: Jay Bethke from South Dakota, U.S.
The ideas and atmosphere of this film come from great, universal horror themes: a secluded and creepy Greek island, lost tourists, the tragic-horror story of a man who had to eat his wife and child in order to survive while lost at sea, a scary old mansion ...all wonderful horror (and with a genuinely tragic monster, the backbone of all great horror). The scene in which Tisa Farrow is hanging in the well and George Eastman (the cannibal monster) is reaching out to grab her is masterful suspense, and the scenes of Eastman eating the fetus and his own entrails remain shocking today, 25 years later. I've found myself comparing many different secluded-island horror movies to this one, most recently Stuart Gordon's "Dagon," but also "Shockwaves," both great but neither quite evoking the atmosphere and classic horror that Antropophagus does. The Greek folk music piece early in the film draws me back, whenever I hear it, to the dark side of the seclusion of the little islands in the Aegean Sea (the only other film in which I have heard this song is "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" ...needless to say, the use of the song in MBFGW came off as terribly irritating to this gorehound). Though the cuts I have seen of Antropophagus could stand to be cleaned up (and converted into one language throughout the film), these cosmetic problems should not be translated into "slow" and "dull" to modern eyes. This film is spirited and delightful, with all of the suspense and grue of its era packed into 90 minutes. Absolutely essential viewing for the Eurohorror fan.
15 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :- For the fans of truly sick stuff...., 30 April 2005 Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls
This is a pretty cool movie, although I do reckon that you need to be a little sick in the head in order to truly enjoy Joe D'Amato's wicked imagination. "Antropophagus" (LOVE the title!!) is a notorious video-nasty because it contains shock-sequences that ...well...aren't exactly for the squeamish! The pivot figure is a savage and bloodthirsty man that prowls a Greek island (Greek islands are dangerous tourist places apparently...anyone remember 'Island of Death'?) and devours pretty much everything and everyone that crosses his path. The film focuses on the encounter between this maniac and a group of young tourists that coincidentally strand on the island. Apart from the downright nauseating gore (he eats a fetus, for Christ's sake!), this is a rather suspenseful and atmospheric Italian horror film that surely ranks among D'Amato's best work, alongside "Beyond the Darkness" and "Death Smiles at Murder". In case you're a fellow Italian horror fanatic, you'll love the cast that includes George Eastman, Tisa Farrow and Serena Grandi. True, there are some really tedious moments to sit through but the gore is rewarding and the music is terrific. There equally is some gratuitous sleaze to enjoy, as well as some nice photography. Due to its violent and raw nature, "Antropophagus" is one of the most cut films ever. Avoid any version that says "Grim Reaper" on the cover because that's the version that leaves out all the sweet nastiness you're so desperately looking for :)
2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :- Europe as the self-devouring beast, 11 July 2009 Author: fuzon from London, England
D'Amato's horror film is notorious from its placement on the UK's video nasties list, and certain scenes in it do push the viewer into the outer reaches of stomach churning disgust. The film also has a reputation as one of the worst films on the list, with accusations that it is boring, inconsequential, absurd. It doesn't even seem to be popular amongst D'Amato aficionados. Yet it's a striking work – full of atmospheric tension, horrific visions and the caustic misanthropy about contemporary society which was D'Amato's stock-in-trade.The film begins in the luxurious setting of a Greek island, where a couple of German tourists – swim-wear clad and equipped with the mod-con accoutrements of the early 1980s – are sunbathing and swimming only to be attacked and murdered by a mysterious figure. This offers a prologue to the main action, in which the same attacker menaces a larger group of Italian tourists who are island hopping and who happen to stop on the killer's island because they've picked up a boat-hiker who is going to be working there as the companion of a blind girl. As usually happens in a stalk-and-slash film, the killer – a giant cannibal played by regular D'Amato collaborator George Eastman (who also scripted) – picks the tourists off one by one and murders by munching into their necks and chomping on their flesh.The tourists are a typical bunch of middle-class twenty-somethings, concerned with sightseeing, their relationships and grabbing some sun. One of the party happens to have an interest in Tarot cards, and she reads those of one of her companions, a pregnant woman. Unhappily, she sees nothing in the cards, which she takes to suggest that the querent has "no future." This prophecy has an echo of the Sex Pistols' corrosive refrain in their God Save the Queen, a song which predicts the same "No Future" for English consumer society of roughly the same era. And like the Pistols' great anti-Monarchist song, D'Amato's film identifies the cause of no future as coming from those at the top of the social pile. We discover that the cannibal is a scion of a wealthy merchant family, who live in what looks like a typical mercantile, colonial mansion on the Island. This fellow has been involved in a shipwreck, and found himself forced to squabble with his wife in a lifeboat over the body of their son, whose carcass was now the only meat they had. The wife objected, and the man stabbed her in a desperate struggle for survival, after which he seems to have developed a taste for human meat which he satisfies on his murderous spree. But there's something about the scene in the lifeboat which is emblematic of the struggle for survival, the Darwinian survival of the fittest which Capitalism foists on us all. In encountering the cannibal, the tourists are encountering the truth about the system which allows them to afford such luxurious holidays in the first place.D'Amato emphasises this sense of characters encountering the truth about themselves through their encounter with the cannibal by a series of shots in which they see themselves reflected shortly before seeing him. The German tourist sees himself reflected in the cannibals knife, the first dead Italian confronts a mirror shortly before death and later the boat-hiker has to smash a huge mirror in which she is reflected in order to find her way into his lair and discover his secrets. The cannibal, as in Sondheim's contemporaneous 1980 Broadway musical Sweeney Todd (later filmed by Tim Burton) is a ideal image of a Capitalistic society in which man devours man, a rampage of anthropophagy which ends here with the cannibal literally chewing on his own entrails, a self-devouring monster.The film's most infamous scene depicts the fate of the pregnant woman, whose unborn baby is ripped from her by the cannibal and the foetus devoured, fresh from the womb. There can be no more visceral an image of a child born into the world of No Future than this, yet those who see it as mere unnecessary nastiness on D'Amato's part might reflect that it has a partial real life analogy in the treatment meted out to Sharon Tate's unborn child in the Manson gang murders as well as a rather more classical forebear in the famous Goya painting of Cronos devouring his child (in D'Amato's film, the father looks on as his child is eaten by the cannibal, but if the mirror analogy holds, he is looking at an image of himself).Often in D'Amato's films, white Europeans are seen as cursed with a culture which is deadly, cannibalising and exploitative. In setting Anthropophagus on a Greek Island, D'Amato traces that cannibalistic tendency back to its source in the classical civilisation of the Greeks, here stripped of its Romantic, idealized associations and seen as a devouring demon – a Minotaur in its island lair, feasting upon the young who are delivered by ship for sacrifice.
2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :- It all depends on how you look at it..., 23 August 2009 Author: (Vomitron_G) from the Doomed Megalopolis of Blasphemous Technoids
I tend to shy away from Joe D'Amato's more sleaze & sex orientated efforts. But I don't mind giving his horror outings a watch. Up until now, I thought "Buio Omega" (aka "Beyond The Darkness") was about the only film I found to really live up to its notorious reputation, while still being a reasonably good film. And as far as I'm concerned, after just having watched "Atropophagus", it still is the only one. Plain and simple, "Antropophagus" was a mild disappointment of the boring kind. It couldn't fascinate me the way "Buio Omega" did, mainly because it drags in so many places, it becomes tedious very quick. So, a bunch of characters on a holiday - all good folks, as they don't drink alcohol, they don't smoke, do drugs or have sex either - get stranded on a Greek island. Not ship wrecked, just stranded as they loose their boat. They find an abandoned village, decide to spend the night there, and rather later than sooner, some mysterious killer starts abducting and killing them off one by one. It takes even longer for them to figure out exactly what's going on behind their backs.Now, D'Amato sure knows how to present us grisly images, creepy settings and at times inject his film with a bit of atmosphere. He also knows how to make gore look good on screen. But building up tension, clearly isn't his strongest skill (he does try, but doesn't really succeed). Also, the man has absolutely no clue how to make a decent film (with an interesting plot or how to construct a proper mystery) nor does he know how to get on with the story. The acting is awful, the dialogues are close to moronic and the movie suffers too often from scenes in which nothing is going on, really, and even senseless & illogical things occur. Like for instance, those two guys deciding to leave the village to go down to the beach to try and look for someone who was still left on the boat. Now, instead of walking down the hill, to the sea, one of them is suddenly seen walking up the mountain for no apparent reason, only to find some ruins of a castle. Him finding them by coincidence, is very convenient to the plot, of course, as it proves to be one of the hideouts of George Eastman, our demented Cannibal Man from the title of this film. And when it comes to his character, I'll admit I was thankful they gave him some sort of background story, as to why he became what he is. Though it was a very thin explanation, with little info and no elaborations, at least there was one. That did put my fear for this being merely a film about an unknown cannibalistic lunatic (of whom we learn nothing) on some island to rest.On the other hand, the subplot about the mysterious woman in black was severely - shamefully, even - underused. Of course, you suspect from the get-go that she has certain ties with Eastman's character, but all she ever does, is stand behind a couple of windows. Well, actually, she does something else too (later on in the film), her act making up for a fine, short-lived scene. But what she does, doesn't add anything to her character, nor the story. To switch to a positive note again, Eastman's make-up was good. It really succeeds in making him look gruesome and menacing.Then there was that one scene, earlier in the film, when a couple was investigating a basement. Another highlight, that's at the same time also a low-point. Suddenly and very obviously, some set assistant out of frame, just throws a kitten on a piano. A fantastic fake jump scare, of course. Well done, D'Amato! But then, the real shock-scare comes on, and that one really is priceless. Behind our couple, is a barrel. Suddenly, a woman covered in blood from head to toe, jumps out, screaming, waving a knife. Great shock-moment, I agree. But only if you don't think about it. If you do, for a second, then explain this to me: The barrel was filled to the top with blood - I presume, or was it wine? Inside, was a woman (waiting to jump out). Now all that time our couple was searching the basement, that woman was holding her breath in that barrel of blood? Or was she drinking the wine? This is typically D'Amato throwing logic and plausibility out the window, only to favor presenting us his precious shock-moment. It turns a cool moment, into sheer stupidity.The musical score was at times, uh, both amusing and interesting. The big mansion near the end was a great location. And the film had that typical late 70's/early 80's gritty feel to it. But it takes more than all this to make a good film, doesn't it? The couple of death scenes we do see, are fine and bloody, with decent make-up effects. And the two most notorious gory shock-moments (which only happen near the end), are well worth seeing. But the whole film really isn't worth sitting through just for that. You might just ask a friend who was the film, to show you the nasty bits and be done with it. But make sure it's the complete uncut version.I understand the cult following this film has (D'Amato, George Eastman and the few gory bits, I imagine), and I am glad I finally saw it myself (it is kind of a must-see, if you are into obscure & vintage Italian exploitation horror). But I can't say I watched a good film here. I would like to flunk it, even, but looking at it from all possible perspectives, I find myself able to conclude that as an exploitive shock horror feature, trying to be sickening & unsettling (and hoping to upset your stomach), well... it does succeed. So there you have it.
2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :- Another Reason to Avoid Greek Islands, 5 August 2008 Author: Gavin Schmitt (gavin6942@yahoo.com) from Kaukauna, Wisconsin
A group of young adults go to a Greek island, where things go from bad to worse when they find that everyone on the island -- with the exception of a blind girl -- has been killed. Clearly, they didn't see the exploitation film "Island of Death" to learn why Greek islands are bad. What they encounter is a man who is more beast than anything, with an insatiable thirst for human blood and flesh.This film has floated around under various names -- "Grim Repaer", "Man Eater" and the misspelled "Antropophagus" to name a few -- for quite some time, gaining notoriety for its banned status in England and two scenes which had to be cut when it was finally released (one involving a man eating his own intestines and the other with a baby being ripped from a womb and devoured). The hype is more than enough to get people to see the film, though it's tame by today's standards. (I hate to reference "Island of Death" yet again... but if you want to be shocked, the goat scene in that one easily outdoes anything shown here).I enjoyed this one. There's something about older horror films, even those with poor film quality, that have a value to them modern films lack. And the cannibal, played by George Eastman, is a disgusting creature in his own right. Even without the publicity or the previously cut scenes (now restored in many versions) Eastman is convincing and works well. (For what it's worth, the blind girl is also pretty cool -- on par with the blind girl in "Castle Freak" -- and I'm very glad they scripted her in to this one.) Decent plot, decent characters, decent blood and gore. Unless you're impatient with older films, this is one that is worth your time and I can see myself seeing it again and again if the opportunity presents itself. Make sure you get an uncut copy. You don't need those extra scenes to enjoy this film, but if you're going to view it, you may as well get the full effect and see what lead to the banning in the first place. You'd be surprised what gets people riled up.
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