Before watching "Terreur Cannibale" (aka. "Cannibal Terror") I was expecting to see a film of the kind that is so awful that it is actually kind of funny. Awful it is indeed, but in a manner that is nothing but... awful! I am a huge fan of the gruesome Italian Cannibal flicks that were made around the time (most memorably Ruggero Deodato's disturbing masterpiece "Cannibal Holocaust"). Director Alain Deruelle apparently wanted to cash in on this popular wave of gruesome movies about Cannibals, that were mostly ingeniously set in the Amazon Jungle. "Cannibal Terror" is also set in the jungle. A jungle that is very obviously situated in France, that is, however. I will not even try to explain the absolutely ridiculous and moronic story, the performances are among the worst I have ever seen. In the first half of the movie, Deruelle seemingly wanted to enhance the atmosphere by having crickets chirp for about ten minutes. The scenes change, but the chirping of the crickets keep monotonously drowning out all other sounds (such as the dialogue), which is even more annoying than it sounds.The 'Cannibals' in the film are entirely white guys in savage costumes, some of them sport beards, others are bald and have beer-bellies. Apart from being the whitest savages ever seen on film, they are also astonishingly well-behaved, as they never seem to leave their territory, and their hunger for human flesh apparently concerns bad people only. The score wouldn't be that bad, but it nearly always seems terribly out of place. Also, the gore-sequences are quite well-made and nauseating for a film with such a low budget. Nevertheless, it is beyond me why this film landed on Britain's infamous Video Nasty list, as nobody could possibly see anything but ridiculousness in this sorry attempt of a film. The moderately disgusting gore cannot save this. The only reason to watch "Cannibal Terror" is the wish to look at absolute awfulness. AVOID!
Review of Terreur cannibale
