The Devil Hunter (this film's UK video title) found itself caught up in the early 1980s 'video nasties' scare, for reasons I find impossible to fathom. It certainly should have been banned, but only because no reasonable human being should have to pay to sit through such junk. As with most of Jesus Franco's films, there are crash zooms to nothing, dreamy music, terrible performances, clumsy dubbing (most of the male characters are apparently dubbed by the same actor!) and several interminable sequences, suggesting that the former musician couldn't wait for a day on the set to finish - so he shot everything fast and cheap in order to get back home to his jazz records and his trumpet. Large parts of the film make no sense, and you'll run out of fingers and toes trying to count the goofs, but the really priceless ones are the actor who actually giggles when a squirt of blood hits him in the face, and the totem pole that bounces when it's supposed to be crashing to the floor. And check out those sound effects - since when did walking through the jungle sound like walking down a gravel drive? If you can find a copy of this tosh anywhere, I'll be surprised, but do yourself a favour and pass it by. If you decide to watch it, you'll want to sue Franco and his colleagues for ninety minutes of your life that you'll never get back.
Review of El caníbal
