Review #179: 'Anthropophagus' (1980)

An island-hopping group of young tourists pick up a woman looking for a boat ride to a nameless Greek island. Upon arrival, the island is eerily quiet, and nobody seems to be around. They look into houses which are also deserted. They eventually come across a young blind girl who is found stood in a barrel of blood, aimlessly waving a knife around, and also find a woman alone in a large mansion, who kills herself almost straight away. The group must survive the night and find a way back of the island after their boat sails back out to sea, and must deal with a cannibal killer who is stalking them.

I don't know what it is about Greek islands and their ability to cause blood-lust in people, but a similar thing happens in the dire Island Of Death (1977), another beloved video nasty. Although Anthropophagus (kudos goes to the title) isn't anywhere near as bad as Island, it comes extremely close. Director Joe D'Amato, a legend amongst fans of bottom-of-the-shelf shitfests and soft-core porn/horror crossovers, clearly demonstrates his breathtaking lack of anything remotely resembling film-making ability. His set-pieces, apart from a couple of memorable scenes near the end that I will discuss in a second, are devoid of any atmosphere, build-up, or, most notably, sense. One fine example of this is when two of the group have the idea of going back to the ship to speak to the pregnant lady who has stayed behind. Do they travel back on the path from wince they came? No, the next time we see one of them he's climbing up a mountain. Why? No idea.

The most laughable thing about the film is the actual killer himself. Looking like an overgrown extra from Deliverance (1972) with some extremely bad, and pointless, make-up, he shuffles along biting and eating his way through the faceless cast who make their typically pathetic and futile attempts to fight back. D'Amato's attempt at a backstory for him which is supposed to be a window into why he is like he is, is just ridiculous. I won't ruin it, but it's priceless, and the complete lack of trying almost makes the film better. Gore-hounds and stoners alike will enjoy the sickening horror at the end, which were no doubt the key reasons why the film was placed on the video nasty list by those simple-minded Daily Mail readers. One involves a fetus (or a skinned-rabbit, if you look closely) being removed and devoured. Mmm, tasty. Low-budget tripe, as expected, but worth seeing for the last 15 minutes alone.


Directed by: Joe D'Amato
Starring: Tisa Farrow, Saverio Vallone, Serena Grandi
Country: Italy

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie