dworldeater
In this Italian horror classic, the war in 'Nam drove some people so mad they turn into cannibals. Like rabies, cannibalism is contracted through a bite and spread to others. This is a great premise for a horror film I think, but sold somewhat short due to inconsistent storytelling and a low budget. Even so director Antonio Marghetiti made an interesting and entertaining horror flick. Mostly a horrific post war cannibal movie, there is a good deal of action here also. John Saxon is the lead and gives a very, grim, somber performance. Frequent Italian horror actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice is cool here also as crazed vet ''Charles Bukowski". Although very controversial for the time for gore and violence other cannibal movies like Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox are way more nasty then this. I would say this has much more in common with Dawn Of The Dead and Rabid, but with less money and less talent than George Romero and David Cronenberg. In summary Cannibal Apocalpse is a flawed ,but original war/horror flick. Cool movie in my opinion.
tomgillespie2002
On a rescue mission in Vietnam, Norman Hopper (John Saxon) is bitten by two of his old drinking buddies Charlie (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) and Tom (Tony King) who are trapped in a pit and are feasting on the flesh of a charred Vietnamese woman when they are discovered. Back home, Norman is haunted by his memories, and has a strange urge to bite people. Charlie calls Norman after recently being released from hospital and wants to meet up, but before Norman can act, Charlie manages to kill some people and finds himself cornered and barricaded in a mall. Soon enough, more people are infected with this strange virus that seems to cause cannibalistic urges.Another cannibal/zombie cash-in that was riding the wave caused by Lucio Fulci's Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979) and George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978), Cannibal Apocalypse attempts to blend the two horror sub- genre's but ends up being a bit of a mess. I never thought I would say this, but there is too little cannibalism, and certainly no apocalypse. There are brief moments of horror surrounded by long moments of police procedural and our flesh-hungry heroes running through sewers. The one saving grace is John Saxon, recognisable from many B-movie turd-fests, he provides a welcome familiar American face in this mainly Italian production from horror and western 'legend' Antonio Margheriti. Yet the film is entertaining enough to waste 90 minutes of your life on, and thankfully avoids being as unpleasant as other cannibal entries such as Cannibal Ferox (1981 - also starring Radice).www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
Michael_Elliott
Cannibal Apocalypse (1980) ** (out of 4) Italian mixture of horror and action has John Saxon playing a Vietnam vet still suffering from memories of a mission, which sent him back to the jungles to rescue two of his men who had been turned into cannibals. Years later back in Atlanta one of the rescued men (John Morghen) bites down on a woman and soon the cannibal virus is running wild. If you're expecting non-stop gore then you're going to get some but this film isn't as wild or over the top as you might expect since it does have a social message about vets. Overall the film isn't too bad but it's certainly not as entertaining as some of the genre's better movies. One big plus is the performance of Saxon who's really, really strong here. Morghen, best known for his role in Cannibal Ferox, is also fun in the over the top way that only he can do. The rest of the cast members are rather lame and don't add too much to the film. The biggest problem with the film is that at 96-minutes it runs too long and at times gets very slow and boring. I'm not sure what the point was of going for a social message in this type of movie especially when it was sold as exploitation but it wasn't needed. The action scenes are all cheap looking but they do have that certain charm that only an Italian B movie can have.
ultra_tippergore
I think the best about this movie is the title, i mean, "Apocalypse domani"(Apocalypse Tomorrow)like a spoof-reference to the big hit Apocalypse Now, and both about Vietnam in some different ways. Well, that the title is the best of this movie doesn't mean the movie is bad. Its a good Italian action-horror movie, but i think it lacks in some entertainment value. I believe the movie takes itself too serious and thats a minus in this kind of Italian gore-fest(well, this one ain't a gore fest but have a decent amount of blood and some cool gore). Worth a look but don't expect a great, non-stop Italian gore fest. PS: The image quality of the DVD is superb. 6/10.