gavin6942 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.Of the Italian cannibal films, this is the first one I ever saw. It did not offend me as it does many people, but it certainly intrigued me. Was the film defensible? Were the acts of animal violence cruel, or were they natural? And could they be explained away by this being a very thin metaphor for European colonialism? I do tend to think most of the animal violence is not as bad as many think. It may seem cruel, but if the natives truly eat the animals, how is this different than what we (Americans) do to pigs and cows? For all practical purposes, there is no difference.The film itself is decent, though not great. The dubbing is rather silly at times, and the soundtrack could use a few more tracks. We hear the same musical cue over and over. But for the sort of low-budget stuff Lenzi was pumping out, this may be among his better works.

callanvass (Credit to IMDb) 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.What an utter disgrace this movie is. As a guy who hated Cannibal Holocaust, I'm not sure why I decided to revisit this cheap knockoff. Lenzi clearly made this to cash in on the Cannibal Holocaust controversy. This was around the time where there were movies about cannibalism. Not only is the film grainy, but painfully dull. When you aren't busy being bored half to death, Lenzi tries to repulse you by killing real animals. This movie is a gorefest, but it is NOT enjoyable. Lenzi's blatant in your face direction during the animal killings angered me beyond belief. There are extreme close-ups that made me wince and look away. How could a man be so cruel? It tries so hard to be offensive that it becomes incorrigible. For those that wonder, there is a lot more. Innards are eaten, birds are eaten, a penis is eaten and castrated, etc. I wasn't able to enjoy it. The dubbing is predictably atrocious and the dialog is inane. The performances are nothing noteworthy. Lombardo's intense performance is probably the only solid thing in this movie. He's a bit TOO intense actually. Ostensibly, he clashed with Lenzi on set. Can't say as I blame him. Lenzi is a jackass. Most of the characters were unlikable. Anything else positive to say? The cinematography was decent.You may need a shower after this movie. There is nothing redeeming about this movie! Not a damn thing. All it did was P**** me off and nearly put me to sleep when it wasn't busy being offensive. I love horror movies that cross the line. This movie goes beyond that line and accomplishes nothing, IMO. I'm sure some sick puppies will enjoy this sort of thing. All the more power to you!DUD

Max Renn Cannibal films were all the rage in the 70s and 80s. This was mainly in Italy and due to Deodato, who directed the acclaimed Cannibal Holocaust, and the first real cannibal film Jungle Holocaust, that was just a test run before the big show. Cannibal Holocaust's success was due to the films unbelievable brutality and the awesome marketing. The hand-held camera, the research crew and the "accidentally found" film wasn't invented by the Blair Witch Project but by Cannibal Holocaust and Ruggero Deaodato. Of course the Italian copies made after the classic are nowhere near the same quality and are lacking in the whole production that surrounded it. One type of copy just kept the cannibals and became an adventure movie, the other type just built on the brutality, the second is the case with Cannibal Ferox. The producers didn't leave anything to chance so they hired someone who was at home in every genre Umberto Lenzi. Lenzi pounded out two films just to be sure on was Cannibal Ferox. It is one of the best copies of Cannibal Holocaust. Lenzi does his job perfectly, 'cause what is the point of a film like this? That is brutal and faced paced and this film is those things. After Holocaust this film has the most brutal visuals, but that's just one of the important parts of the film. Apart from that the director gives us a great atmosphere too. Helping it along is the professional cinematography and the awesome music that was also used in Eaten Alive. The actors can't be criticized either they are Italian stars, they were just as good at playing Americans as the actors in Cannibal Holocaust. We can just come right out and say the script is garbage, but with these types of films it would be a miracle if they weren't that. Unfortunately it follows in Holocausts footsteps by killing animals for real and that's reprehensible. It is interesting that just like all the rest of the great Italian productions it has a bunch of names. In Australia it was Woman from Deep River based on a previous Lenzi film and Make Them Die Slowly in the States and the tagline wasn't even about this film. In conclusion I'll just say if you liked Cannibal Holocaust I Ferox is a must see. If you didn't then run far far away. It's only really problem is that after Holocaust its basically just a copy, but it had potential to be more but Lenzi was satisfied with just making a good clone. 6/10 https://www.youtube.com/user/silverscreenreviews1

Scarecrow-88 Despite it's notoriety, I was so surprised that CANNIBAL FEROX was so positively dull. The film concerns a student of anthropology, Gloria(Lorraine De Selle) her research assistant brother, Rudy(Danilo Mattei)and gal pal(..with loose morals)travel to the Amazon to prove that cannibalism doesn't exist. They encounter a vile, violent coke-addict diamond hunter, Mike Logan(Giovanni Lombardo Radice) and his poisoned friend, Joe(Walter Lucchini) soon discovering that they had attacked primitives in a nearby village, setting off horrifying circumstances.The premise is indeed a yawner as is Lenzi's unbearable pace as he relies heavily on the killing of animals(..villagers feasting on turtle and gator;a tiger eating a monkey;an anaconda smothering/squeezing the life out of a rat in it's massive tail as the poor creatures cries out for help)and the Americans wondering/contemplating how they would be able to get out of their present situation intact. There's a lot of conversation, but the dialogue is painful to listen to. The approach is straight-forward yet stretches the action beyond what needs to be, letting the viewer sit impatiently on an alternate plot regarding a detective seeking out the whereabouts of Mike due to his involvement with drug dealers, including his girlfriend who may know where he is. I think the film could've trimmed the New York City scenes practically altogether, but alternating between the jungles of Amazon and the "civilization" of a big city does provide an interesting sub-text, but the heavy-handed message of who is actually the savage is rather loud and pretentious. Anyway, Gloria and Rudy are a sympathetic pair, but their decision to descend into the depths of a jungle without a guide is sheer lunacy. And, Pat(Zora Kerova), the wild friend who accompanies them, makes a really bizarre decision to mess around with Mike, an obvious cretin from the get go. MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY differs from CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST(..for which it's often compared)in that, this time, you have people who aren't to blame for what happens to the villagers, yet in associating with scum like Mike, place themselves in great jeopardy.I will say that the film delivers in the grisly violence. A top of a victim's skull is chopped off, his brains eaten..the same victim's pecker is hacked off and his testicles eaten! A female victim is hung by hooks through her breasts as she slowly dies. One is hiding from the villagers, during an escape attempt, in a watery hole containing piranha which gnaw at his knee wound. A poor villager is bound as his eyeball is plucked out. A victim dies from a blood disease, he's disemboweled, his innards removed and eaten. A villager is shown eating slithery bugs. A villager is helping Gloria to escape and pays a great price when he sets off a spear trap that stabs him in the chest. Plenty of ultra-violence with Lenzi attempting to dethrone Deodato in sadistic grue. Radice is gleefully obscene and viciously ruthless in his treatment of the villagers which provides the viewer a chance to cheer for his execution. Radice's Mike Logan is a selfish sadist, coked up beyond the normal limits, and actually coerces Pat into leaving her friends without any supplies, to die. I'm pretty sure Lenzi directed this as a message movie, but that got lost within the blood-letting and unnecessary sub-plot involving the police's search for Mike.