Search - Cannibal Ferox (A.K.A. Make Them Die Slowly) on DVD

I Thought I Had Seen It All!

P. B Rubalcaba | Redlands, CA USA | 01/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Happy New Year...I think! I spent the last two hours
watching my first flick of 2005, and just when I
thought I had seen it all, along comes Umberto Lenzi's
1981 horror classic "Cannibal Ferox". After the first
30 minutes I had a true understanding as to why this
feature has been banned in 31 countries. This deluxe
uncensored letterbox edition was filmed in New York City
and in the Amazon (very similar) Perhaps the movie
poster says it all. "Warrning! Due to its shocking
and violent subject matter, no one under 17 should
view this film." Seventeen??? I'm 55 and I'm not too
sure the ratings commission shouldn't have banned it
in this country. Believe it or not, I purchased it
from Amazon.com.

As most of you know, I am a horror film connoissseur.
This isn't horror...it's gore. Those who don't easily
feel nauseated over blood, guts and ooze, will adore
this "classic" (???). But be forewarned, it is
definitely not for the squeamish. I can't destroy the
shock value by telling you the explicit nature of this
grizzly stomach turner, but the letterbox states..."98
on the vomit meter".

[...]

The premise of the film is simple. A young college
student sets out to write her thesis on the "myth"
that cannibals do not eat humans. Her journey is well
worth a PhD.

To provide you with one last clue as to the extreme
sadistic focus of this flick, here's the opening
credit.

"The following feature is one of the most violent
films ever made. There at least two dozen scenes of
barbaric torture and sadistic cruelty graphically
shown. If the presentation of disgusting and
repulsive subject matter upsets you, please do not
view this film."

If you are a horror/gore fan, it gets a resounding
"10" on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest). If
not, please (and I warn you), DO NOT SEE THIS FILM. I
honestly thought I had seen it all, until Lenzi
released this ^&*%(^ on DVD. I'm still catching my
breath."

Good release, not so good film

marc01 | hawaii | 01/01/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am a horror video fan and seeing that there are not that much reviews for the rerelease of this infamous video, I will contribute my opinion to the curious. The best parts of this release are the trailers, the director and actor commentary (they travelled all the way to Rome to interview Lenzi himself exclusively for the video), production stills, background on making the film, movie posters from other countries, and a very special "Cannibal survival kit" which is just too hilarious to reveal. However, the movie itself is not at all the "most violent film ever made." It drags on a lot and takes a long time for the action to start going. It goes back and forth between city scenes and the amazon scenes, probably just to have a longer running time. Lots of zoom-ins of monkeys in trees...is Lenzi trying to say something? The monotonous music makes it even drag more. The pros are the gore, which feature realistic scenes of eye gouging, hanging by breasts, severing of a guy's you-know-what, and a worm going in and out of a native, but there are other scenes like slicing the top of a guy's head off, or a spear going through a chest which look very fake and corny. What is real is the animal cruelty, over 5 scenes of animal deaths, which has caused the controversy of the film in some countries. Otherwise, if you've seen "Dead Alive" or "Pink Flamingos" it's pretty tame. The gore won't make you cringe but actually chuckle at the way it's presented in the movie. Overall, a must have collectors item for horror fans, but stars go down for the actual film itself. Good release, not so good film. P.S. Keep on the lookout for more RMM agency/Grindhouse releases. They will release many more horror videos, complete with special features like this one."

Good dvd, interesting movie

Charles Read | Devon, England | 08/12/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The DVD itself is a very satisfying package - we get commentaries, a beautiful transfer. Whether the film itself really has any merit depends on personal taste really. For my money, this is not a patch on Deodato's excellent Cannibal Holocaust, which is just as gory and a hell of a lot more realistic, with believable actors and an intelligent script. In comparison, Ferox seems like just an exploitative rip-off. But taken in its own terms, Cannibal Ferox does deliver the goods (I'm talking gore-wise) with hard-to-watch sexual violence accompanying genuine animal deaths. The music is cheesy, and again not up to the standards of Holocaust, but it grows on you.Overall, this Holocaust rip-off is obviously a must-buy for italian cannibal/gore fans (legions ahead of rubbish like Eaten Alive etc). People new to the genre may do best to check out Cannibal Holocaust (availible on import from europe) first, as it is cinematically far better although harder to watch. But if you're in the mood for a little mindless gore, and don't mind certain scenes looking a tad unrealistic not to mention the laughable dialogue, you could do far worse."

ZZZZZZ.....Bore them to Death Slowly.....ZZZZZZ !!

marc01 | 12/27/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Absolutely boring (and over-rated) Italian made drivel about mafia gangsters, cocaine addicts, cannibalism & wild animals attacking each other ! I bought this supposedly "shocker to end all shocker" DVD based on it's grisly, cult reputation, and boy, what a let down ! As for all the film critics & fans who rate "Cannibal Ferox" as some "gut churning, mind blowing, nerve shattering experience", they are obviously used to watching tamer, family movies like "The Care Bears" or "Hambone & Hilly". Hey, don't get me wrong.....I love Italian zombie / cannibalism / horror films, but this film is hugely overrated in terms of shock value, and reputation.

Most of the "sadistic brutality" in this film consisted of footage of jungle animals attacking each other for a meal. BIG DEAL ! Anyone watching "The Crocodile Hunter", or a National Geographic special about Africa or the Amazon on the Discovery Channel, will see the same sort of thing and their photography & commentary is much, much more entertaining !!!! The acting is woeful, even by Italian shock movie standards....and the special effects are very crude & amatuerish....looks like the effects department just threw around a lot of spaghetti bolognaise & chicken gizzards on the cast members to simulate them being disemboweled. The "South American Indians" in this film are an absolute hoot.....they all stand around like silent, granite statues ( whilst the Italian members of the cast are all wildy over acting ), they never exhibit any emotion ( except when they are dining on the bolognaise & chicken innards), and they all look they've been dusted down with bags of talcum powder ????

I'm giving this DVD two stars, instead of only one, as Grindhouse Releasing have put together plenty of additional features to supplement the main movie including interviews/audio commentary with the director Umberto Lenzi, foreign trailers, plenty of production stills & liner notes. So, even though I'm not going to give the film a thumbs up, the DVD is good value for the well featured extras menu.

From my experience, if you want to watch better made European cult films to turn your stomach & shock your unsuspecting friends try Jorge Grau's excellent "Let the Sleeping Corpses Lie", Lucio Fulci's living dead epic, "Zombie", Piero Pasolini's tirade against fascism, "Salo: 120 Days of Sodom" or Corali's violent sexfest "Baise-Moi"."