MONDO CANNIBAL -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 11/14/14

 

When famous TV personality Grace Forsyte's ratings start to plunge, so does her integrity--leading to a desperate attempt to boost viewership by taking a film crew into the jungles of South America to record the most horrible atrocities she can find amongst savage tribes of (gasp!) flesh-eating cannibals!

Thus, Italian exploitation director Bruno Mattei (working under the name "Vincent Dawn"), responsible for such films as RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR, WOMEN'S CAMP 119, CALIGULA'S PERVERSIONS, and SCALPS, enriches the world of cinematic art with this offering entitled MONDO CANNIBAL (2004, Intervision Picture Corp.), known also as "Cannibal World", "Horror Cannibal 2", "Cannibal Holocaust 2", and "Cannibal Holocaust: The Beginning." Needless to say, it's about cannibalism.

The "Mondo" angle is a bit misleading, however, since this is neither an actual "Mondo Cane"-type documentary nor a mockumentary, although there's one scene near the beginning that looks real enough. Grace (played by Helena Wagner) and her boss, the TV network president, are viewing footage of what's purported to be actual cannibals preparing a corpse for feasting, and it looks like the real thing--disgustingly so--although it might simply be a prelude to a crude cremation.

Still, it's the one part of the movie that you won't want to watch while eating a nice, drippy, all-meat pizza or a steaming bowl of goulash. In other words, it's wicked grotty, innit.

The rest of the movie consists of Grace and her crew on an increasingly wacky jungle adventure filming fake natives running around killing each other with rubber clubs and feasting on the bloody entrails of their victims like a bunch of freaked-out "fast-moving" zombies.

The grossest thing about these scenes (and their rudimentary but fun gore SPFX) is wondering what the hell is that stringy slop the energetic extras are shoving into their mouths with such ravenous glee--it looks like spaghetti mixed with something somebody dug out of a dumpster behind a butcher shop.

Recording all this horror eventually isn't enough for Grace and her gang, who before long are in the thick of the carnage themselves as they attack a village and set fire to the huts, which are filled with screaming natives, while gleefully raping and massacring everyone in sight.

This rampant savagery is a weird and sudden change for Grace's environmental-advocate partner Bob Manson (Claudio Morales)--supposedly the "conscience" of the group--and her technical crew including cute blonde Cindy (Cindy Matic), whose main purpose on the expedition is to add to the film's brief nudity quotient.

Meanwhile, back in civilization, the TV executives (with the sole exception of one gray-haired bigwig with a weak stomach) are, to coin a phrase, "eating it all up" as the ratings skyrocket.

MONDO CANNIBAL is surprisingly competent in the technical department, with some nice location work including lovely shots of what is supposed to be Hong Kong (although the credits state that this was filmed entirely in the Phillipines). One of the funniest parts of the film is the title at the beginning of this sequence: "Hong Kong: Some Mouths Before..."

Performances are fair to, well, fair, but what star Helena Wagner lacks in finesse she makes up for with pure wire-taut intensity. Her efforts and those of the rest of the cast are hampered by bad dubbing and some jarringly dumb dialogue that adds to the perverse entertainment value.

The main drawback is that much of the earlier part of the film is just plain boring. Things definitely pick up later on, however, when the story starts edging its way over the top before spilling all the way over into a bloodbath of goofy gore and even goofier plot twists.

The DVD from Intervision Picture Corp. is in full frame with Dolby Digital stereo sound. No subtitles. The only bonus feature is a trailer.

In case you haven't gleaned as much from my description already, MONDO CANNIBAL isn't exactly the sort of entertainment to accompany your next Martha Stewart-style dinner soirée. But if you're in the mood for some severely whacked-out ultra-gore goodness packed with psychotic sadism and lacking any sense of decency whatsoever, then this should serve as a suitably sordid main course.

MONDO CANNIBAL -- DVD Review by Porfle

EATEN ALIVE -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 2/10/18

 

Director Umberto Lenzi's gut-munching follow-up to his 1972 cannibal flick THE MAN FROM THE DEEP RIVER, 1980's EATEN ALIVE (Severin Films) is a deliriously deranged jungle tale in which a Jonestown-like religious cult in New Guinea is constantly menaced by a surrounding tribe of ever-famished cannibals.

One woman seduced into the cult, Diana Morris (Paola Senatore), is being tracked down by her concerned sister Sheila (Janet Agren, RED SONJA) with the help of tough guy Mark Butler (Robert Kerman, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, THE CONCORDE: AIRPORT '79, Sam Raimi's SPIDER-MAN), a Viet Nam deserter picking up extra dough working as a mercenary.

Thus, we go from a New York setting (where familiar actor Mel Ferrer appears briefly as an expert in primitive cultures) to the savage heart of the jungle where Sheila and Mark barely escape being devoured on their way to finding the secluded compound of charismatic cult leader Jonas (Ivan Rassimov, PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES).  Here, they discover Diana still alive but brainwashed by drugs and mental programming.

What follows is the usual "infiltrating the religious cult" stuff as the good guys plan their escape, which will mean evading both Jonas' henchmen and hordes of hungry savages.  But with Umberto Lenzi at the helm this will also involve softcore sex (mostly of the rapey and/or weird ritualistic variety), lots of gratuitous nudity, and, as is typical of this genre, some rather stomach-churning scenes of actual animal slaughter.

The latter includes the disemboweling of a large iguana after which its entrails are eaten (ditto for several snakes and small alligator as well). This is especially disturbing considering that the extras in these scenes seem to have been hired through a classified ad for carnival geeks.  Another unwelcome sight occurs when a small monkey gets sucked down headfirst by a python. 

On the cannibal front, the scenes of people getting chowed down on are a real treat for those who didn't think BLOOD FEAST went anywhere near far enough.  The effects are pretty decent and at times quite convincing. 

None of this has much to do with the story, but Lenzi seems to enjoy cutting away to such culinary exploits now and then to keep us entertained.  Arms, legs, entrails, and even sexual organs comprise the gory feasts as the film more than earns its title.

Meanwhile, we follow the progress of Sheila and her sister as Mark tries to get them out of Jonas' compound and into the jungle.  It's a case of "out of the frying pan and into the fire" when the religious zealots and the cannibals converge on them from both sides. 

The result is a frenzy of wildly improbable nonsense that's both eventful and, in its own way, quite engaging.  To top it off, Lenzi stages his own version of the real-life end of the Jonestown colony, with Rassimov's screwloose religious guru presiding over it with suitably wild-eyed fanaticism.

After a final blood-soaked atrocity or two, we end up back in New York for more Mel Ferrer (i.e., getting your money's worth out of the film's one big-name actor) and a twist ending that's oddly inconclusive.

Lovely blonde Swedish actress Janet Agren is winsome as Sheila, as is the darkly brunette Paola Senatore as her sister Diana, and those interested will delight in their numerous nude scenes.  It's hard to rate their performances, though, since everyone's badly dubbed (all dialogue is delivered in English and dubbed into English, Spanish, and Italian) and their characters in particular are saddled with some of the most cringeworthy "Southern" accents of all time.

Coming off better in that area is Robert Kerman's passable bad-boy mercenary act (sort of a poor man's Han Solo) and cannibal-film queen Me Me Lai as Mowara, a native girl who risks her life to help. 

Kerman may be familiar to some for his frequent appearances in vintage porn films such as DEBBIE DOES DALLAS and THE SATISFIERS OF ALPHA BLUE under the name R. Bolla.  His acting skills gained him parts in many adult features in which such talent was actually required. 

Umberto Lenzi's skills as a director are rather artless, yet workmanlike and briskly efficient.  The film itself looks and sounds quite good for a low-budget effort of this nature.  Location shooting in both New York and Sri Lanka add much to the production values.  

The screenplay is a hoot and dotted with several priceless lines, as when Jonas describes the cannibals to Mark: "Their idea of lunch is hot, fresh entrails soaked in blood.  But we keep their proteins limited."

The Blu-ray from Severin Films looks and sounds great for a film like this, and the disc's bonus menu is customarily stocked.  "Welcome to the Jungle" is an interview with Umberto Lenzi, followed by a feature-length tribute to the queen of cannibal movies, Me Me Lai.  There's an interview with production designer Antonello Geleng, and then a very entertaining dual interview with Ivan Rassimov ("Jonas") and Robert Kerman ("Mark"). Rounding off the menu is a 2013 Q & A with Lenzi from the UK Festival of Fantastic Films, and a trailer.  The Blu-ray's cover art is reversible (see below).

To assess a film such as EATEN ALIVE one must take into consideration the fact that some will regard it with utter delight while others will find it incomprehensibly appalling.  Those in the latter camp are advised to steer clear--waaaay clear--while the former should consider this review to be a hearty recommendation. 


Pre-order it at Severin Films

Available February 20, 2018


Reversible cover art:

EATEN ALIVE -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

IN THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 12/5/14

 

It's the same old story...senator's daughter gets kidnapped by cannibals in the Amazon jungle, a group of hardened commandos armed to the teeth must go in to rescue her.

But with exploitation director Bruno Mattei (HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD, CAGED WOMEN, RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR, SS EXTERMINATION LOVE CAMP) at the helm--working under the name "Martin Miller"--that same old story has a cockeyed, oddball approach all its own, and IN THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS, aka "Land of Death", "Nella terra dei cannibali", and "Cannibal Holocaust 3: Cannibal vs. Commando" (2003), will either bore you silly or have you floating on a cloud of bad-movie bliss.

Like his other cannibal epic from the same year, MONDO CANNIBAL, this was shot entirely in the Philipines and actually boasts some dandy jungle locations. It's also pleasantly passable in certain other areas such as nice camerawork, a rousing musical score, and an overall look that transcends what must have been a pretty low budget.

Unfortunately, this culinary curio also displays the usual wooden acting, horrendous dubbing, and richly dumb (but enjoyably so) dialogue that we expect from one of these potluck potboilers.

After we meet the two main characters--brawny head commando Lt. Wilson (Lou Randall) and his surly, know-it-all jungle guide, a local mercenary named Romero (Claudio Morales, co-star of MONDO CANNIBAL)--they and the rest of their trigger-happy team are transported via helicopter into a harrowing jungle nightmare festooned with flesh-eating, poisoned-arrow-shooting natives crawling out of the shrubbery at every turn.

Mattei tries to invoke an ALIENS atmosphere at first with cool-as-ice Romero napping peacefully in the chopper before they all rappel into the bush (an act described as "an elevator into hell") and stiff-necked Lt. Wilson being exposed as a novice whose combat experience has been mostly simulated.

There's also a tough-cookie female commando named, oddly enough, "Vasquez" (Ydalia Suarez) and a no-nonsense black sergeant, Sgt. Cameron (Silvio Jimenez)--as in "James Cameron" for those keeping score. The other two guys, Kruger and Smith, are pretty non-descript, although I think one of them is Irish. Anyway, any in-depth character development that may occur during this story is entirely accidental.

Once the commandos start nosing around in the jungle looking for the lost senator's daughter and her hapless entourage, things get rather boring (I found myself nodding off a few times) until they begin to encounter different tribes who respond to them with varying degrees of hostility. Mattei tries to shock us with close-ups of wormy, decaying bodies, several having been skinned alive, and people gorging themselves on some really nasty stuff.

What there's precious little of in IN THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS, surprisingly enough, is actual cannibalism. It's hardly the gorefest that its counterpart MONDO CANNIBAL was, going instead for more of an action-packed shoot 'em up vibe.

Once our heroes locate and abscond with their prize, Sara Armstrong (Cindy Matic), now regarded by her superstitious captors as some kind of mystical creature due to her blonde hair (shades of KING KONG and no doubt scores of other jungle yarns), the film becomes a non-stop orgy of bullet-riddled fun as seemingly hundreds of cannibalistic creeps get mowed down by machine guns and grenades galore.

This furious finale, with everyone trying to "Ged to da choppa!" PREDATOR-style, is all pretty low-tech, no-squibs action--the extras simply pretend to get shot up all over the place and the commandos empty clip after clip into them while dodging arrows and spears. As is traditional in this sort of action flick, we see our favorite characters cut down one by one as we wonder who the final survivor or survivors will be.

The DVD from Intervision Picture Corp. is in full frame with Dolby Digital stereo sound. No subtitles. The only bonus feature is a trailer.

While taking itself seriously as an action thriller, IN THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS is the kind of movie that's so dumb, it's almost indistinguishable from a deadpan comedy. Maybe that, in addition to the fact that it's well-made enough to be mildly watchable, is why I managed to derive a few palatable tidbits of entertainment value from it.

IN THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 8/18/15

 

Well, here we go again--another season of the AMC series "The Walking Dead", which means another nonstop binge-watching session that drags on into the wee hours of the morning.  But I wouldn't have it any other way.

This is quite simply, in my opinion, one of my most watchable TV shows ever.  My annual viewing marathon is almost on the same anticipation level as a yearly holiday such as Labor Day, or at least Arbor Day.  And THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON, a 5-disc Blu-ray set from Anchor Bay, is a worthy continuation of that show's tradition of insane watchability.

Most people are familiar with the premise by now--a ragtag group of survivors make their way through the zombie apocalypse with ex-Georgia sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) as their dauntless leader, trying to hold on to their humanity even as circumstances make them more hard-edged and ruthless with each struggle to stay alive.

The longer they do survive, however, the more callous they become, and season five finds Rick and his people dealing with their enemies with a blood-and-thunder attitude that would've shocked them all just a year or two ago.  If they'd run into their present selves back then, they'd have fled the other way. 

But by now they've pretty much had enough of all the other living humans who've screwed them over, such as their nemesis from the last couple of seasons, The Governor (David Morrissey).  This new set begins with the resolution to last season's tantalizing cliffhanger in which our heroes were taken prisoner by the inhabitants of a community called Terminus which is supposed to be a haven for survivors but turns out to be anything but.

Led by a smirking young sociopath named Gareth (Andrew J. West), the Terminus gang turn out to be a bunch of cannibals who gleefully harvest their human captives like cattle. The first episode casts us right into the middle of a harrowing slaughter sequence which leads to a thrilling free-for-all of humans vs. zombies vs. cannibals involving several group chow-downs of screaming victims by ravenous walkers and loads of special makeup effects, rivalling season four's spectacular opening.

Further segments will take us on a journey with our protagonists through many gripping battles for survival and encounters with other groups of people whose motives are ever under suspicion.  While the walking, flesh-devouring dead remain a constant threat, it's the living who consistently pose the greatest danger.

By this point in the series, many other factions exist with their own laws and principals, centered around a leader who is either good, bad, or insane (or a combination of the three).  Just like Ben and Harry in George Romero's original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (from whence all other current zombie apocalypse sagas seem to have been spawned), this can lead to serious conflicts in which it's hard to tell who's right and who's wrong. 

This is especially true when Rick's group discover an idyllic walled-in community known as Alexandria, near what's left of Washington, D.C.  They're invited to become citizens of the seemingly genteel and peaceful collective, yet even here there's danger of many different kinds lurking at every turn. And by now, Rick's people have themselves become too feral to coexist with civilized society!  Tovuh Feldshuh guest stars as Alexandria's leader, Deanna, whose initially warm welcome toward them will soon turn to fear and mistrust.

The show features more fascinating continuing characters than ever and most get their time in the spotlight, including the ever-popular crossbow-wielding wild man Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), samurai swordswoman Michonne (Danai Gurira), lovebirds Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan), and Rick's son Carl (Chandler Riggs), whose adolescence has been unconventional to say the least. 

Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman) and his sister Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) each get some highly-dramatic storylines that bring home the emotional devastation that comes from living so close to death on such intimate terms every day.  Maggie's missing-in-action sister Beth (Emily Kinney) turns up again in a hospital setting known as "Slabtown" in the middle of ruined Atlanta, dealing with a mentally-unbalanced policewoman (Christine Woods) and her squad of fascist cops. 

And there's the continuing saga of Eugene (Josh McDermitt), a scientist who ostensibly holds the solution to the zombie problem if only he can get to Washington, D.C. with the help of his hulking ex-military bodyguard with the anger-management problem, Abraham (Michael Cudlitz).

Best of all, we get to see the continuing saga of Carol (Melissa McBride), the once-timid domestic abuse victim turned hardened survivalist who is the most calmly and ruthlessly pragmatic of them all.  After being exiled from the group last season, Carol is the one who rescues her former friends from the cannibals at Terminus while drenched in blood and guts in order to throw surrounding zombies off her scent.  Later, she gets back together with her friend and fellow one-time outcast Daryl in a storyline that will tie in with Beth's adventures in Slabtown. 

While most of the drama and action involve the living, there's always the ever-present threat of the walkers, who seem to pop out of nowhere every time someone turns around (sneaky little buggers).  These shambling corpses are all getting more decomposed than ever--sometimes we see something that's so horrible we think "Oh, that's not right." 

Greg Nicotero's SPFX team keep coming up with endlessly imaginative ways of grossing us out, such as zombies that are little more than blobs of napalmed flesh stuck to the pavement--still horribly "alive", of course--and waterlogged zombies who've been slogging around in a flooded basement for months. 

The combination of practical effects with impeccably-rendered CGI is excellent, often downright spectacular.  Thanks to the creativity and imagination of everyone involved, the show still has the power to flabbergast us after all these years.  Just when we should be starting to get numbed by all the gory violence and horror, something will happen to make us say "whoa."

The 5-disc, 16-episode Blu-ray set from Anchor Bay (which includes instructions for a complete digital download of its contents) is in 1.78:1 widescreen with English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 and French Dolby 2.0 surround sound.  Subtitles are in English and Spanish.  Several of the episodes have cast and crew audio commentaries.  (A couple of episodes have post-credits "sting" scenes, so be sure not to miss them.) 

Disc five contains a wealth of extras including:
•Deleted Scenes
•Inside “The Walking Dead” (covers each individual episode)
•The Making of “The Walking Dead” (covers each individual episode)
•The Making of Alexandria
•Beth’s Journey
•Bob’s Journey
•Noah’s Journey
•Tyreese’s Journey
•A Day in the Life of Michael Cudlitz
•A Day in the Life of Josh McDermitt
•Rotters in the Flesh

These days "The Walking Dead" has so many good characters that we get several alternating plotlines to keep things interesting.  Rick and his followers are changing, growing, evolving (in some cases devolving) all over the place this season, and it makes THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON an endlessly entertaining treat for fans of both this show and gory zombie apocalypse epics in general to gorge themselves on. 



Our Season One review
Our Season Two review
Our Season Three review
Our Season Four review

THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 8/27/14

 

When we last left AMC's "The Walking Dead" at the end of season three, there was one exasperating hanging thread--the fate of the Governor (David Morrissey), the charismatic but psychotic leader of a community of people who had come together to survive and help protect each other from the constant threat of the reanimated, flesh-eating corpses wandering the land like something right out of a George Romero movie.

But with Anchor Bay's latest 5-disc DVD set, THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON, that maddening bit of unfinished business is dealt with in such spectacular fashion that I didn't mind having to wait for it. In fact, the character of the Governor, who now calls himself "Brian Heriot", is fleshed out in such fascinating ways that we almost begin to root for him until, ultimately, he fully reverts back into the ruthless, power-mad whacko that we all know so well and forms yet another collective of blind followers.

All of this, of course, occurs even as former Georgia state trooper Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), the series' hero and main character, is still trying to keep his own hardy band of survivors together within the walls of an abandoned prison that serves as their sanctuary. Last we saw, they'd just weathered a fierce assault by the Governor and his previous acolytes, many of whom have since seen the light and are now a part of Rick's group.

Picking up the pieces and getting on with the business of life is hard enough even if you don't have hungry hordes of zombies forever massing around your fenced-in perimeter in ever-growing numbers. Rick's still dealing with the death of his wife Lori last season while trying to raise their son Carl (Chandler Riggs) to be both a good man and a capable zombie killer. As always, the ever-present plague of the walking dead casts its shadow over every story element, giving even the most soap opera-tinged moments an undercurrent of twisted existential dread.

Scott Wilson (IN COLD BLOOD) returns as the group's current sage, Hershel Greene, whose calm wisdom is essential in enduring each new crisis. This is especially important during one of the season's most pressing concerns, a deadly flu epidemic which creates killer zombies who attack from within the prison itself when those infected start to die off. A rigidly-enforced quarantine seperates Hershel's daughter Maggie (Lauren Cohan) from her beloved husband Glenn (Steven Yeun), who is in an advanced stage of the disease.

This storyline keeps things tense for much of the early part of the season, with many risking their lives in perilous supply runs in search of medicine which, needless to say, they must fight their way through armies of the living dead in order to procure. This gives us a chance to become reacquainted with such fan-fave characters as redneck outlaw-turned-hero Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus, BLADE II, MESKADA) and samurai sword-wielding Michonne (Danai Gurira), both loners who learn to thrive as valuable members of the group.

There's a lot of dramatic turmoil in that group as well.  Carol (Melissa McBride), formerly a timid abused wife, now displays such a fierce, unflinching resolve that her actions force a shocked Rick to send her into exile. Rick himself comes to blows with Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman) after two of his friends are found murdered and their bodies burned, which the burly newcomer suspects Rick to have done.

We even see the strange effect the continuing zombie threat has on two small children, sisters Lizzie (Brighton Sharbino) and Mika (Kyla Kenedy), one of whom must watch as the other becomes more dangerously unbalanced with each passing day. Sharbino ("True Detective", CHEAP THRILLS) is especially good in her demanding role, with the sisters' storyline supplying some of the season's most stunning moments.

All of which leads to a mid-season finale which, action-wise, blows the doors off of everything that's gone before. When the Governor and his brand new army--now fortified with an honest-to-goodness tank in addition to plenty of other lethal weapons--show up at the front gates of the prison demanding that Rick and his people evacuate immediately, the situation erupts into a carnage-drenched clash between two living armies both of which quickly become engulfed by the resulting zombie feeding frenzy that we knew was inevitable since the season's first episode.

At this point, we understand why the whole business of defending the prison against the Governor took a whole season and a half to work out--it's because this is a tale that was worth taking the extra time to tell. The climactic battle is cathartic, exhausting, and, by the end, exhilarating because the catastrophic outcome takes the series back to its hardscrabble roots, with our beloved characters scrambling through the wilderness scrounging for food and eking out an existence amidst constant threat from both the dead and the increasingly desperate living.

Even worse, this time they've been broken up into small groups unaware of each other's location or even which of the others are still alive. Once again our peace-loving heroes come into contact with the most ruthless of roving survivors, including a band of bad boys led by Jeff Kober ("Sons of Anarchy", THE BABY DOLL MURDERS) whom Daryl immediately regrets falling in with. 

 Like characters out of Stephen King's "The Stand", they're drawn to a distant place that promises sanctuary, in hopes that their loved ones will also be there, but is this place known as "Terminus" really the end of their struggle--or just the beginning of a whole new fight for life?

The 5-disc DVD set from Anchor Bay Entertainment (also available in Blu-ray) is in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) with English Dolby Digital 5.1 and French Dolby Surround 2.0 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish. Disc 5's many bonus features include:

Featurettes:
•Inside THE WALKING DEAD (covers each individual episode)
•The Making of THE WALKING DEAD (covers each individual episode)
•Drawing Inspiration
•Hershel
•The Governor Is Back
•Society, Science & Survival
•Inside KNB EFX
•A Journey Back to Brutality
•Deleted Scenes
 Cast and crew commentaries for episodes 1, 5, 12, and 14 (also for episode 9 on Blu-ray).
 Episodes 9 ("After"), and 14 ("The Grove") are extended on the Blu-ray™ only.

As usual, I devoured THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON in just two or three marathon viewing sessions and was left ravenous for more at the cliffhanger conclusion. This is, without a doubt, one of the most compulsively watchable and addictive series in television history, and one which, according to some people I've talked to, you don't even have to be a monster fan to appreciate.

But it helps, especially if you're a gorehound, because--also as usual--this show is a non-stop, total indulgence in state-of-the-art zombie and gore effects. The SPFX artists that make the show's title come alive (so to speak) just keep outdoing themselves, and even when we think we've become numbed to such sights, they think of new ways to flabbergast us. Still, it's always the fascinating characters, and the riveting storylines, that keep bringing us back for more.



 

Third Season Review
Second Season Review
First Season Review

THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON -- DVD Review by Porfle

A FEAST OF MAN -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 12/16/19

 

I usually try to avoid describing movies as "blank meets blank" (I limit those to once or twice a month at most) but A FEAST OF MAN (2017) sorta cries out to be described as "The Big Chill meets Eating Raoul" or something equally lazy. I mean, apt.

Anyway, it's about old friends getting back together in a house, and it's about cannibalism.  That is, the prospect of cannibalism, since they discover after gathering in the house of their deceased friend Gallagher (Laurence Bond) for the reading of his will that they will each inherit one million dollars if, and only if, they consume his corpse.

They're given two days to decide, and needless to say it's a difficult choice. At first they think it's a final practical joke on their dead friend's part, but as the deadline approaches, each seriously considers if the deed is so vile that they can afford to pass up a million dollars to avoid actually committing it.

Of course, this bunch is beyond much deep thought. There's Gallagher's best guy pals, Dickie (Jesse Rudoy) and Wolf, Jr. (Chris Shields), a couple of goofy horndogs who go ga-ga at the sight of Gallagher's erstwhile live-in girlfriend, the oversexed French vixen Arletty (Marleigh Dunlap).

And then there's Judy (Katey Parker), returning home to her old stomping grounds with a fiance', Ted (Frank Mosley), who's sort of the fifth wheel of the group, especially since he considers himself and Judy to be better than everyone else there. Which they quite possibly are, but not by much.

While they're stewing over the impending feast of their dead friend--whom we assume is himself being stewed in preparation for it by his faithful butler James (Zach Fleming)--there's plenty of time in this leisurely-paced comedy for our characters to engage in amusingly dumb conversation and often crude interactions amongst themselves and certain locals.

The latter includes a charming young lass named Sue (Jennifer Golum), a Ranger intern with whom Dickie becomes smitten. He invites her over for dinner (not THAT dinner) and the sweet, innocent Sue is such a stark contrast to the boorish main characters that she is compelled to flee as they hurl invectives in her wake.

The thing is, though, that these people are likably unlikable, and I enjoyed spending a weekend with them and feeling good about how much better they made me feel about myself in comparison to them.

The entire film has a built-in suspense factor in addition to the comedy as we get closer and closer to their decision whether or not to engage in the titular feast. In the meantime, Phillip Chernyak's quirky piano-bar score adds a whimsical quality to everything no matter how socially repellent.

The DVD from Indiepix is in 16:9 widescreen with 2.0 stereo sound. English w/closed captions.  Extras consist of a trailer and a short comedy film.

A FEAST OF MAN builds to a filling final course, and I found the entire cinematic repast quite savory indeed. (Bear with me here, I'm on a metaphor roll.)  The directing and co-writing (with Dylan Pasture) debut for Caroline Golum, it strikes me as a recipe she's had simmering in her head for some time and couldn't wait to actually start cooking up in remarkably self-assured fashion.

A FEAST OF MAN -- DVD Review by Porfle

EMANUELLE AND THE LAST CANNIBALS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 4/20/18

 

Sex and cannibalism--two great tastes that go great together.  That is, if that particular combination appeals to you.  And if it does, then you'll be in for quite a treat when you watch Joe D'Amato's 1977 Italian flesh feast EMANUELLE AND THE LAST CANNIBALS (Severin Films).

Finding a clue to a lost tribe of people-eaters deep in the Amazonian jungle, intrepid journalist Emanuelle (Laura Gemser, VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON, THE ALCOVE) heads south in the company of handsome anthropologist Prof. Mark Lester (Gabriele Tinti, who would co-star with Gemser in VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON and also marry her in real life).

Lester's young lady friend Isabelle (Monica Zanchi), a trader's daughter, agrees to take them and a nun, Sister Angela (Anne Maria Clementi), on a supply run to the isolated mission of a priest who knows about the lost tribe. 

During the trip, they're also joined by a gruff big-game hunter named McKenzie (Donald O'Brien) and his oversexed wife Maggie (Susan Scott), whose sexual dysfunctions--he's frustrated and impotent while she's a nympho making out with the help behind his back--add fuel to the film's dramatic fire.

Once we meet all the players, it's time for a long jungle trudge that's frequently interrupted by intense softcore sex scenes involving various combinations of characters. 

It quickly becomes apparent that these people have sex the way race car drivers have pit stops, and they're all in a constant state of arousal.  This leads to a few volatile exchanges, mostly due to McKenzie's jealousy, that play out like something from a steamy pulp novel.

But just when we think we're simply watching a jungle skin flick, in swoop the ever-stalking cannibals to make off with someone and stake them out for some maniacal dismembering, disemboweling, and devouring. 

While not entirely convincing, the graphic gore FX (often using actual animal entrails) are above-average for this kind of flick and those not already desensitized by frequent viewing of such cinematic atrocities will likely be properly shocked and appalled.

When Isabelle herself is kidnapped by the ravenous horde and made the main attraction in a horrific sacrificial ceremony, those who remain must undertake a desperate rescue mission in which they're vastly outnumbered. 

Still more blood 'n' guts cannibal action ensues, as well as a thoroughly unpleasant gang-rape sequence, after which the film's rousing finale takes place with a daring escape attempt that ends it all on a high note.

The cast of familiar genre stalwarts is in top form here, particularly the lovely Laura Gemser in her signature role as Emanuelle.  Despite some long stretches of repetitive hiking through the jungle and monotonous sex, the story manages to build to a suspenseful pitch in the latter half as things grow more hopelessly bleak for our main characters. 

D'Amato (BEYOND THE DARKNESS) handles the direction with his usual rough-hewn style, in which moments of placid sexual imagery are harshly juxtaposed with tawdry, stomach-churning gore. 

With that in mind, potential viewers should have no problem deciding whether or not this is their kind of movie. For those who are intrigued by the prospect of such horrific goings on, EMANUELLE AND THE LAST CANNIBALS delivers enough sex and violence to satisfy the most voracious appetites.


Buy it at Severin Films

Special Features:
The World Of Nico Fidenco: An Interview With Composer Nico Fidenco
A Nun Among The Cannibals: An Interview With Actress Annamaria Clementi
O’Brien MD: An Interview With Actor Donal O’Brien
From Switzerland To Mato Grosso: An Interview With Actress Monika Zanchi
I Am Your Black Queen: Laura Gemser Archive Audio Interview
Theatrical Trailer
Reversible Box Art
Italian and English/English captions

Reversible Box Art:

EMANUELLE AND THE LAST CANNIBALS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

PRIMITIVES -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 9/24/20

 

I've just viewed the stomach-churning Indonesian gorefest PRIMITIVES, aka "Savage Terror" (Severin Films, 1980), which rivals Lucio Fulci and Bruno Mattei's rawest, grisliest jungle carnage epics for sheer shock and disgust.

Having done so, it's safe to say that the vast majority of "normal" film aficianados will go miles out of their way to avoid it while a very small percentage of twisted gorehounds will machete their way through dense jungles to beat a path to its door.

Doing just that, in fact, are our main characters, hunky Robert (Barry Prima, THE WARRIOR), babe-a-licious Rita (Enny Haryono), and nerdy Tommy (Johann Mardjono), who, along with jungle-savvy guide Bisma (Rukman Herman), are making their way deep into the bush to study the most primitive tribe they can find in order to beef up their college cred. 

 

The first tribe Bisma introduces them to seems backward to us at first, but these quaint, friendly natives are practically upper-crust compared to the mysterious denizens of the even deeper and darker reaches of Nowheresville that the college kids insist Bisma lead them to against his own better judgement.

Up until the midpoint of the story it's all just the usual trudging through the brush and rafting down the river as our main characters engage in adventurous frivolity, foolishly thinking they're up to whatever's in store for them.

That's when the crockpot of horror that PRIMITIVES has been cooking up till then is finally ready to be served up to these unsuspecting dweebs, starting with a surprise attack that separates Robert and Rita from the others and lands them smack in the middle of the primitive tribe's village for some of the bloodiest, creepiest, and downright ickiest goings-on that this sort of movie can dredge up.

Animal lovers will be aghast at much of it, with one of the film's major setpieces consisting of a live alligator being disembowled as its insides are hacked into pieces which are then tossed to members of the tribe to voraciously devour raw. (Other shocking sights include a leopard taking on two crocodiles and a really big iguana being swallowed whole by a really big snake.)

Scarier still is the fact that the gore-encrusted extras in these sequences seem as bug-eyed crazy as the characters they're playing, chowing down greedily on pulsating animal parts and showering themselves in warm blood.

In fact, it's often downright impossible to distinguish the real blood and guts from the fake. It's as though the filmmakers managed to corral an entire herd of freaked-out circus geeks to perform for the camera in exchange for all the raw meat they could devour.

Lest we forget, though, there's still the story of Robert and Rita enduring prolonged torment at the hands of these ultra-primitives and finally making their escape followed by a lengthy chase scene as they trudge toward the river where freedom awaits. A few surprises pop up here and there, someone gets a spear right in the crotch, and finally the whole searing fever dream is over. 

The Blu-ray from Severin Films was scanned in HD from the Jakarta vault negative. Kraftwerk fans will recognize their classic song "The Robots" in the opening credits. Extras include interviews with producer Gope T. Samtani and screenwriter Imam Tantowi, a trailer, and an alternate title sequence. The case features reversible art and the special edition comes with a slipcover.

Still the only film of its kind ever made Indonesia, PRIMITIVES finds director Sisworo Gautama Putra, screenwriter Imam Tantowi and producer Gope T. Samtani putting together a film with negligible production values, gut-wrenching imagery, some disturbing animal abuse, and a supporting cast of wretches who look like genuine refugees from an asylum for the dangerously insane. To watch it is to subject oneself to an endurance test, perhaps gauging our own responses to it in order to evaluate just how nutty we are.


Buy it at Severin Films

Special edition w/slipcover


Special Features:

    Producing PRIMITIVES – Interview with Producer Gope T. Samtani
    Way Down in the Jungle Deep – Interview with Screenwriter Imam Tantowi
    Trailer
    Alternate Title Sequence
    Reversible Wrap
    Exclusive slipcover (special editon only)

Reversible art:

Slipcover art (special edition only):

PRIMITIVES -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

COLIN -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 11/8/10

 

In what may be the first emo zombie flick, COLIN (2008) gives us a ghoul's-eye view of what it's like to die and wake up as the living dead.  The result is a film that makes us identify with the titular flesh-eater as he wanders through his bizarre new existence and tries to adjust to being an ambulatory corpse.

The story begins as pre-zombie Colin (Alastair Kirton) makes it home through what sounds like utter chaos outside.  He's been bitten in the arm, and we know what that means, right?  To make matters worse, his zombiefied roommate attacks from behind and chomps him on the neck.  Colin subdues him but soon succumbs to a slow, painful death, followed by the inevitable reanimation. 

We then follow our decomposing protagonist as he stumbles through a series of vignettes designed to give us an idea of what the zombies in all those George Romero movies go through.  Colin seems to have been reborn as a wide-eyed naif rediscovering the world, gazing perplexed at once familiar things which are now just beyond his understanding.  One of the cleverest aspects of the story comes when a couple of seemingly random visual cues spark the wisp of a memory in Colin's mind, and will eventually lead him back to where it all started. 

In the meantime, we watch Colin participate in his first feedings as he and his fellow ghouls chow down on some unfortunate humans.  After chewing a guy's ear off, he dons the earphones which seem to come with it (reminding me of Bub from DAY OF THE DEAD) although he can't remember why.  Later, he comes across the scene of a horrific siege as the dead crowd into a house where some filmmakers trying to shoot a documentary about the current apocalypse find themselves overwhelmed by their subject.  This harrowing scene, which plays like the climax of another zombie flick, is very well done and gives us some good old-fashioned "ghouls attacking en masse" thrills.


One of the women escapes this carnage but soon falls into an even more harrowing predicament in which she finds herself menaced by both the living and the dead.  In another scene, a death squad on the hunt for zombies descends on Colin and some others, and for a moment we almost regard these ruthless attackers as the enemy.  At times, the film easily manipulates us into siding with the ghouls even though the humans' hostility toward them is quite understandable--by the look on his face, the leader of the death squad is clearly motivated by revenge.  Colin, though, is simply minding his own business when the attack comes, even though his business now happens to include eating people.

The most effective sequence comes when Colin's sister and her husband abduct him from the streets and take him home for what amounts to an intervention.  Daisy Aitkens gives an outstanding performance as the heartbroken Linda, desperately showing the bound, snarling Colin some  family snapshots and trying to find a spark of recognition in him.  Shots of Colin clawing at a window as his sister and mother gaze tearfully at him from the other side reach an emotional high point rarely even attempted by films in this genre. 

Reportedly costing a whopping 75 bucks, COLIN transcends the hell out of its meager budget to become one of the most interesting films of its kind.  An obvious homage to the original George Romero films (a newspaper story mentions "St. Romero Hospital"), one can easily imagine this story taking place in England during the events of DAWN OF THE DEAD.  The slow, shambling ghouls are Romeroesque as well--not the vigorous track stars of later films, but decaying corpses whose joints are stiffened by rigor mortis.  (Gore effects are fair, makeup is good.)


The cheapjack camcorder photography becomes less of a problem as the story goes on, especially after a somewhat iffy first quarter or so during which the constant shaky-cam and murky lighting are most distracting.  Although the concept is sometimes more interesting than the execution, writer-director Marc Price displays skill and imagination in several scenes which evoke strong emotion.  Quite possibly, this is the most contemplative and thought-provoking of zombie films.

The DVD from Walking Shadows is in 1.33:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 sound.  No subtitles.  An interesting director's commentary is the sole extra.  (A 2-disc set with additional material is available.)

After so many zombie yarns about humans trying to evade anonymous hordes of flesh-chomping ghouls, it's nice to see one that offers a totally different perspective for a change.  With a deviously convincing performance by Alastair Kirton in the title role and a story that explores most of the potential of its premise, COLIN is an experience that no zombie film fan should pass up. 

COLIN -- DVD Review by Porfle

HANNIBAL LECTER COLLECTION (Blu-Ray) -- Review by Porfle

(Blu-Ray comments by Ian Friedman. Originally posted on 10/11/09.)

 

With 20th-Century Fox And MGM Home Entertainment's release of the 3-disc boxed set HANNIBAL LECTER COLLECTION on Blu-Ray, it might be fun to look back on these three films and relive those wonderful memories of fava beans, skin lotion, bite marks, and brains. Mmm...brains.

Michael Mann started it all back in 1986 with MANHUNTER, the movie that introduced suave, sophisticated, and thoroughly evil Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Will Graham (William Petersen in an excellent performance) is a talented profiler who can get into the minds of the serial killers he's seeking out, but at the price of his own sanity. Retired after an attack by Lecter that almost killed him, Graham is lured back into the game when a maniac known as "The Tooth Fairy" starts murdering entire families. Graham visits Lecter in his cell for advice, and to see if the sight of his old adversary will reawaken his suppressed instincts.

A bonafide cult film, MANHUNTER's biggest fans will tell you that it's superior to THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, while its detractors dismiss it as day-glo 80s cheese on the order of "Miami Vice." I'm not sure which Lecter film is best but I find this one to be first-rate in every respect. Tom Noonan's "Tooth Fairy" is an imposing figure whose calm, deliberate actions and quiet demeanor make him even scarier. In a thoughtful, soulful performance, Petersen makes for a highly sympathetic hero who's appalled by the thoughts and feelings in which he must immerse himself in order to think like a killer. The rest of the cast--Dennis Farina, Kim Griest, Stephen Lang, Joan Allen--are fine as well.

The highlight of the film, of course, is Brian Cox as Lecter. Caged in a stark white cell and stripped of anything that might conceivably be used as a weapon, this version of the famous character is cold, calculating, always wary and observant of the slightest detail, yet dulled and weary of a confinement which prevents him from interacting with the world in his own unique way. In this environment, his pretensions of sanity and normalcy are irrelevant, so he's very blunt and straightforward with Graham. The effect is chilling, with Lecter coming off as a creature of great cunning and intellect but absolutely dead inside, and we dread the thought of this thing ever walking free again.

The only good thing about the 2002 remake, RED DRAGON, is that it manages to make MANHUNTER look even better in comparison. A key scene shared by both films offers a good comparison--Lecter is allowed the privacy of a phone call to his lawyer, but instead manages to call a literary agent and get Graham's home address from the secretary. Brian Cox turns the scene into one of the film's high points, coolly finessing himself an outside line with a foil gum wrapper and then feigning an unctuous joviality with the secretary until she comes through with the address. Once procured, Lecter drops the fascade, pops the gum into his mouth, and returns to his coldly unsettling self. Anthony Hopkins, in the remake, performs almost the exact same scene but is too intent on being creepy to make it fun. Several other scenes that are key emotional high points in MANHUNTER--the hidden fingerprint, the sleeping tiger, the videotape discovery, etc.--are either glossed over or botched in RED DRAGON, as are most of the main characterizations.

With 1991's THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, Anthony Hopkins burst onto the horror film scene with a Hannibal Lecter whose rich theatricality and giddy delight in his own unfathomable evil captured the imaginations of filmgoers, including many in the mainstream, like few such characters before or since. Approaching his dark, Gothic lair in the bowels of a castle-like hospital for the criminally insane where he lurks like some medieval gargoyle, we share the trepidation of the young FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) who has been sent to consult with Lecter regarding another serial killer on the loose (known as "Buffalo Bill" due to his penchant for skinning his victims).

Hopkins plays Lecter to the hilt, relishing each perverse aspect of the character just as Lecter enjoyed feasting upon the organs of those he killed--sometimes with "fava beans and a nice Chianti...fthfthfthfth!" His version of the silken-voiced psycho, unlike that of Cox, is a creation that would fit comfortably in any rogue's gallery of horror film icons. One of the pleasures of this film is watching him toy with the callow Starling (excellently portrayed by Foster) on a purely emotional and intellectual level in which she has no defense, then growing to admire her courage, convictions, and strength of will.

Also unlike the Lecter of MANHUNTER, we get to see this monster at his full power once he's broken free in a terrifying sequence that is beautifully-directed by Jonathan Demme. When Lecter's brilliant escape plan goes into motion, it's a thrill to watch Hopkins turn into one of the most cunning and terrifying killers the screen has ever known. Compared to his mad-dog antics, the film's wrap-up of the Buffalo Bill story is almost anti-climactic, although Demme does stage a nailbiting finale with Starling taking on the killer by herself in his pitch-dark cellar of death. Still, Bill delivers a line to one of his captives that has since become one of the most oft-heard quotes in recent film history: "It puts the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again." And his naked dance will become seared in your memory whether you like it or not.

With a level of excellence that garnered it Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Director, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS remains one of the finest and most popular horror films ever made.

Not so well-received, unfortunately, was the inevitable follow-up, HANNIBAL (2001). The unenviable task of trying to match the financial and artistic success of SILENCE fell to director Ridley Scott, whose ALIEN and BLADE RUNNER were already regarded as classics. Here, he is working not only with a lesser script but with a new leading lady, Julianne Moore, replacing the absent Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling. With the Lecter character now free and unrestrained, Anthony Hopkins has a field day developing him into an even more sinister, sardonic, self-satisfied, and almost supernatural force of evil who savors every sensual nuance of his heinous actions.

Moore does what she can with the Starling role as her character suffers a major setback and is unjustly suspended from duty. Lecter, returning from a sabbatical in Rome in which he was forced to disembowel a detective (Giancarlo Giannini) who was on his trail, takes an active interest in the life of the only person on earth for whom he has any affection. This puts them both at odds with a horribly-disfigured billionaire named Mason Verger (a fascinating Gary Oldman), a former victim of Lecter who has concocted a revenge scheme which involves man-eating pigs. Ray Liotta, in full slimeball mode, plays rival FBI agent Paul Krendler, whose ill treatment of Clarice will put him on Lecter's bad side in a big way.

Lacking the new-car smell and scintillating story of SILENCE, Ridley Scott compensates by turning HANNIBAL into an elegant yet balls-out horror epic loaded with shock value and gore. Scott pulls no punches with the graphic violence and boldly risks alienating audience members expecting more of the same but finding themselves in the middle of a big-budget H. G. Lewis flick. There must've been a few walkouts by fans of the previous film when the Italian detective's entrails splashed onto the pavement or the ravenous pigs started feasting on screaming humans in loving closeup.

But (warning--this paragraph contains spoilers) Scott saves the most memorably jaw-dropping image for the finale, as Lecter hosts a dinner party for Starling and Krendler in which the entree just happens to be Krendler's brain. Our gracious and urbane anti-hero deftly slices around the top of the drugged Krendler's skull and pops it off, then begins to feed him sizzling morsels of his own sauteed gray matter hot off the wok as Starling, along with most of the audience, gapes in mortal revulsion.

A final encounter between Lecter and Starling defines their relationship unequivocably and ends the movie on a suitably morbid note. While admittedly inferior to SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, I find HANNIBAL to be an outstanding horror film in its own right and above-average on every level. The Lecter character is taken farther than ever before and explored in lots of fun ways, yet still avoids the cartoonishness into which he finally sinks in RED DRAGON. For me, Ridley Scott's uncompromising foray into the horror genre is a success.

Aspect ratio for this 3-disc set is 2.35:1 for disc one and 1.85:1 for discs two and three. Audio is English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio and French 5.1 Dolby Surround and Mono, dubbed and subtitled in English, French, and Spanish. No bonus features.

Picture quality is great, with vivid and properly balanced colors. There is no sign of any digital encoding errors. The detail is also excellent. One thing about SILENCE OF THE LAMBS--the detail displayed by the film is generally pretty good (as you can tell by the sharpness of the title credits), but the picture is a little soft and smeary. I can't be sure, but I seem to recall the film having a hazy look to begin with.

If you're already a fan of these films, the HANNIBAL LECTER COLLECTION is a good way to add them all to your Blu-Ray collection. And if you haven't seen them yet, then here's your big chance to get Hannibalized.

HANNIBAL LECTER COLLECTION (Blu-Ray) -- Review by Porfle