Anthropophagous
Tourist trap
Release Date: OUT NOW!
1980 | 18 | Blu- ray/ DVD Director: Joe D’Amato Cast: Tisa Farrow, Saverio Vallone, George Eastman, Serena Grandi, Margaret Mazzantini, Mark Bodin
While Anthropophagous isn’t among the very nastiest of the video nasties, it retains a certain degree of notoriety thanks to a couple of gory cannibalistic sequences. Aside from that, it’s a disappointing plod.
Italian sleaze king Joe D’Amato’s shocker ( called The Savage Island on the titles here), sees a group of tourists head to a remote Mediterranean island where the population have gone missing. But one chap does soon show up: a hulking giant ( George Eastman) with a taste for more than the kind of meat served up by McDonald’s.
He does the unstoppable killer thing in the manner of Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, but Anthropophagous is so sluggish and incompetent that you’re left pining for some proper American slasher pic action. There are long, rambling sequences where almost nothing of any interest occurs. But, hey, at least the Med scenery’s pleasant, and the final scene is a doozy. Ketchup with that, sir?
Extras: The Italian opening credits, and various original trailers, but the biggie is feature- length grindhouse documentary 42nd Street Memories, which chronicles “the rise and fall of America’s most notorious block”. It’s a mite overlong, but who can resist learning the sordid secrets of the street where the likes of Massacre Of Pleasure, The Filthy 5 and The Sperminator ruled? It’s a much better watch than the main feature.