Set in the jungles of New Guinea, Sergio Martino's 'Slave of the Cannibal God' (also marketed on dvd as 'Mountain of the Cannibal God') is a milder, earlier entry in the Italian/cannibal subgenre, and it's actually and easily the best acted of the lot. Starring Stacy Keach and Ursula Andress, 'Slave' has all the nasty, staple ingredients that keep rabid fans thirsting for more: Real animal killings, gore, nudity, hungry cannibals, stupid men and scheming bitches.
The human gore is fun (mainly because it's so fake), but there are a couple of standard (for this type of film), freakish, tribal "ritual" scenes involving real animals. Highlights include: a tribe slice open the belly of a live lizard and gorge upon its innards; a man skins and eats a live snake; a monitor lizard barfs up an undigested, dead python; and a small monkey gets eaten alive by an anaconda. Thing is, once you've seen this sicko garbage once, you never need to see it again. And remember, this is MILD compared to later entries in the genre, like Deodato's 'Cannibal Holocaust' (1979) and Lenzi's 'Cannibal Ferox' (1981), just to name a few.
Interestingly, the scene in which naked Andress is painted by the cannibals in preparation for sacrifice is the obvious influence for a nearly identical scene in John Derek's 'Tarzan, The Ape Man' (1981) in which Bo Derek plays the object of the tribe's interest. Influence or rip-off? It doesn't really matter -- both films stink! Maybe next time around someone will give Linda Evans a shot. --- david ross smith
The human gore is fun (mainly because it's so fake), but there are a couple of standard (for this type of film), freakish, tribal "ritual" scenes involving real animals. Highlights include: a tribe slice open the belly of a live lizard and gorge upon its innards; a man skins and eats a live snake; a monitor lizard barfs up an undigested, dead python; and a small monkey gets eaten alive by an anaconda. Thing is, once you've seen this sicko garbage once, you never need to see it again. And remember, this is MILD compared to later entries in the genre, like Deodato's 'Cannibal Holocaust' (1979) and Lenzi's 'Cannibal Ferox' (1981), just to name a few.
Interestingly, the scene in which naked Andress is painted by the cannibals in preparation for sacrifice is the obvious influence for a nearly identical scene in John Derek's 'Tarzan, The Ape Man' (1981) in which Bo Derek plays the object of the tribe's interest. Influence or rip-off? It doesn't really matter -- both films stink! Maybe next time around someone will give Linda Evans a shot. --- david ross smith