Cannibal ferox (1981)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Umberto Lenzi

Writers:

Umberto Lenzi (screenplay)
Umberto Lenzi (story)

Release Date:

November 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Horror

Tagline:

They raped and killed his sister while he watched helplessly. Now it's his turn to Make Them Die Slowly

Plot:

Three friends out to disprove cannibalism meet two men on the run who tortured and enslaved a cannibal tribe to find emeralds, and now the tribe is out for revenge.

Plot Keywords:

Tribe | Jungle | Anthropologist | Cannibalism | Emerald

Cast

Giovanni Lombardo Radice	...	Mike Logan (as John Morghen)
Lorraine De Selle	...	Gloria Davis
Danilo Mattei	...	Rudy Davis (as Bryan Redford)
Zora Kerova	...	Pat Johnson (as Zora Kerowa)
Walter Lucchini	...	Joe Costolani (as Walter Lloyd)
Fiamma Maglione	...	Myrna Stenn (as Meg Fleming)
Robert Kerman	...	Lt. Rizzo
John Bartha	...	Brooklyn Mobster
Venantino Venantini	...	Sgt. Ross
'El Indio' Rincon	...	Native who helps Gloria
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Giovanni Bergamini	...	Hotel Administrator (uncredited)
Larry Dolgin	...	Blond Brooklyn Mobster (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Richard McNamara	...	Older Brooklyn Mobster (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Riccardo Petrazzi	...	Hunter (uncredited)
Perry Pirkanen	...	Paul, blond mobster (uncredited)
Dominic Raacke	...	Tim Barrett (uncredited)
Gregory Snegoff	...	Rudy (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Susan Spafford	...	Myrna Stenn (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Pat Starke	...	Gloria Davis (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Jake Teague	...	College Professor (uncredited)
Frank von Kuegelgen	...	Mike Logan (voice: English version) (uncredited)

Directed by
Umberto Lenzi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Umberto Lenzi		screenplay
Umberto Lenzi		story

Produced by
Antonio Crescenzi	....	executive producer
Mino Loy	....	producer (uncredited)
Luciano Martino	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Roberto Donati		(as Budy)
Fiamma Maglione		(as Maglione)

Cinematography by
Giovanni Bergamini

Film Editing by
Enzo Meniconi

Production Design by
Giuseppe Bassan

Costume Design by
Giuseppe Bassan

Makeup Department
Giuseppe Ferranti	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Vito Di Bari	....	unit manager
Evi Farinelli	....	unit manager
Giovanni Masini	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Riccardo Petrazzi	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Sergio Basili	....	special sound effects
Aldo Ciorba	....	special sound effects
Ezio Marcorin	....	special sound effects
Raul Montesanti	....	sound

Special Effects by
Gino De Rossi	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Roberto Belli	....	chief electrician
Renato Doria	....	camera operator
Giorgio Garibaldi Schwarze	....	still photographer
Mario Pizzi	....	key grip
Maurizio Zampagni	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Alessandro Gabriele	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Carlo Maria Cordio	....	music arranger
Carlo Maria Cordio	....	musical director

Production Companies

• Dania Film
• Medusa Produzione
• National Cinematografica

Distributors

• Replay Video (1981) (UK) (VHS)
• Video Instant Picture Company (VIPCO) (1981) (UK) (VHS)
• Commodore Films (1982) (France) (theatrical)
• Aquarius Releasing (1983) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Video Classics (1984) (Australia) (VHS)
• Thriller Video (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• MPM Production (1991) (France) (VHS)
• Astro Distribution (1998) (Germany) (VHS)
• Grindhouse Releasing (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Grindhouse Releasing (2000) (USA) (all media) (restored) (uncut)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD) (in collaboration with)
• Laser Paradise (2000) (Germany) (DVD)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Siren Visual Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Filmfreak Distributie (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Another World Entertainment (2006) (Denmark) (DVD)
• Continental Film Distributors (CFD) (????) (Hong Kong) (VHS)
• Firebox (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Neo Publishing (????) (France) (DVD)
• Nikkatsu Video Films K.K. (1988) (Japan) (VHS)
• Ropponica (1988) (Japan) (VHS) (as Cine Ropponica K.K.)
• Video Invest AB (????) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Video Programme Distributors (VPD) (????) (UK) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Make Them Die Slowly (USA)
Woman from Deep River (Australia)
Caníbal Feroz (Portugal) [pt]
Caníbal feroz (Spain) [es]
Cannibal ferox (France) (video title) [fr]
De kannibalen vallen aan! (Netherlands) [nl]
Die Rache der Kannibalen (West Germany) [de]
Jaget af kannibaler (Denmark) [da]
Kannibalen massakren (Sweden) [sv]
Lefki sarka sta dontia tous (Greece) [el]
Los últimos canibales (Argentina) [es]
Terreur cannibale (France) (video box title) [fr]

Runtime:

93 min | South Korea:85 min (heavily cut) | UK:86 min (heavily cut)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | Norway:18 (re-rating: 2005) (uncut) | UK:18 (re-rating: 2000) (heavily cut) | UK:(Banned) (1984-2000) | Norway:(Banned) (1984-2005) | Canada:R (Alberta) | Sweden:15 (uncut) | South Korea:18 | Netherlands:16 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | West Germany:18 (cut) | Finland:K-18 | Italy:VM18 (VHS rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Canada:(Banned) (Ontario) | France:-16 | Italy:VM14 | New Zealand:R18 (cut) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Amazon Rainforest, Colombia

Company:

Dania Film

Trivia:

When filming the death of the wild boar, Giovanni Lombardo Radice nearly severed the hand of his double. Although Radice refused to kill the pig himself, a shot of Radice slashing the knife downward was needed to show that his character killed the pig. (The shots of the pig's death were later spliced in between.) To create blood splatter for this shot, Radice's double, who actually killed the pig for the film, was to hold a bowl of fake blood, which Radice would then stab. However, the double held the bowl from the bottom, and when Radice stabbed the bowl, the knife went through and cut his double's hand badly. Because of this accident, Radice saw himself as possibly "avenging" the pig's death.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the group arrives at the village, the corpse of the Portuguese is decomposed far more than it would normally be after one day, even in the rain forest. Also, other people who died before him weren't decomposed at all.

Quotes:

Gloria Davis: Oh God, please let her die soon. Oh, let her die soon. And let me die soon too, please.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ban the Sadist Videos! (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Red River Valley

A few mates, on a Friday night, a few cans, snacks and a copy of this - you can't go wrong!

You can't take it seriously. It's really silly, poorly acted and really cheesey in parts. But it does have a hefty bucket load of blood to keep gorehounds like my good self happy. Make sure to see it uncut, because to be honest, there isn't much else going for it(!) I just wish they left the animals alone in these films. But keep your eyes out for the highlights; the unfortunate John Morghen, who has his manhood sliced clean off and eaten by one of the Cannibals. This film is not as bad as it is supposed to be, though.

Otherwise a good Cannibal flick, better than the rest of them, but naturally nowhere near as good as Deodato's masterpiece - Cannibal Holocaust, which sits safely on it's throne.