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Written by Eric P
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Tuesday, 23 May 2006 22:10 |
 
Anthropophagus: 2-Disc Special Edition
A Review By Eric_P
AKA: The Grim Reaper; Man Beast
R1, NTSC, USA
1981, Uncut, Unrated, 91 Minutes*
Anamorphic Widescreen 1:66:1
Publisher: Shriek Show
*There is a misprint on the DVD case. It says the running time is 88 minutes, but this is full uncut version and runs 91 minutes.
This review is sponsored by Diabolik DVD:
The Movie
The late, great Italian horror / porn / exploitation maestro Joe D'Amato's most notorious horror film is back and available on DVD - fully uncut in the U.S. for the first time ever! D'Amato co-produced and co-wrote the movie (under his real name Aristide Massacesi) with star George Eastman, (under his real name Luigi Montefiori) who plays the title monster.
In the UK, Anthropophagus was on the government's original "Video Nasties" banned film list. (I don't know if the uncut version is still banned.) When Anthropophagus was released theatrically in the U.S., the gore scenes were severely cut to avoid an X-rating and the film was retitled The Grim Reaper. This uncut version restores all the previously cut material.
Anthropophagus opens on an island off the coast of Italy. A young couple, after walking the streets, hits the beach for rest and relaxation. While the guy stretches out on a rock and listens to his radio headphones, the girl goes swimming. She sees an abandoned boat floating in the sea and swims for it.
In a scene reminiscent of the first death scene in Jaws, just as the girl is about to push herself up and into the boat, something grabs her and pulls her underwater. She screams and tries to fight off whatever is attacking her, then all we see are clouds of blood underwater. Whoever or whatever killed her heads for the beach, and through its eyes, we see it walk the beach, leaving a trail of dripping blood.
The boyfriend, still listening to his radio headphones, has no idea what's happened. His eyes open just in time for him to see his reflection in the gleaming blade of a meat cleaver. But it's too late - the cleaver is driven into his head!
We next see a group of friends who rent a boat and plan to sail to the aforementioned island. The group includes pregnant Maggie, her husband Alan, handsome Danny, and psychic / tarot card reader Carol (Zora Kerova of Cannibal Ferox fame). Before setting sail, they pick up another friend, Julie (Tisa Farrow).
While on the water, Carol does a tarot card reading that yields ominous results. When they arrive at our little Italian island, Maggie hurts her ankle and has to stay behind. The rest of the group finds the island deserted. Houses are empty, a telegraph machine has been destroyed, and the only person they see is a strange woman who vanishes whenever they try to approach her. Then, their boat sails away - with Maggie nowhere to be found!
The group decides to spend the evening at a deserted house that belongs to friends of Julie. There, they find a terrified blind girl in the basement who tells them that a man "who smells like blood" is stalking the island. After Danny is murdered, the group decides to search for Maggie and try to escape the island. Instead, they find a mad, flesh-hungry, zombie-like cannibal (George Eastman) and learn how he went mad. Can our group of friends escape the ultimate horror?
There isn't a large quantity of gore scenes in this movie, but the gore scenes that are here are extremely gruesome. And yes, this fully uncut version does include the infamous scene where the cannibal rips out Maggie's fetus and eats it. Don't worry, it's not nearly as graphic as it sounds. UK censors actually thought Joe D'Amato had used a real human fetus for this scene, but it was really a skinned rabbit.
Here are a few stills:
Tech Specs
Video
Anthropophagus is presented in its original 1:66:1 widescreen aspect ratio, in a very good anamorphic transfer. There are some grain and contrast issues, but they're minor issues.
Audio
The original Italian language track and an English dub are both presented in Dolby Digital Mono. Both tracks are flat and low (you'll need to crank up the volume), but at least the dialogue on the Italian language track is clear; the English dub track is so muffled and tinny that you can hardly understand the dialogue. It sounds like the actors are speaking through empty beer cans.
Special Features
Now here is where this 2-disc special edition really shines! Note: There are Easter Eggs on both discs - see if you can find them!
Disc 1 Extras
Promo Trailers - 6 minutes of various theatrical trailers for Anthropophagus.
Shriek Show Trailers - theatrical trailers for 4 other movies available on Shriek Show DVD: Frankenstein's Bloody Terror, The Being, Just Before Dawn, and Shadow: Dead Riot.
Disc 2 Extras
Joe D'Amato Totally Uncut Two - this 66-minute feature is the second part of a documentary on Joe D'Amato, featuring interviews with the director and tons of clips from his films. The first part of this documentary was included as an extra on Shriek Show's DVD release of D'Amato's nunsploitation classic Images In A Convent. In Italian with English subtitles.
Zora Kerova & George Eastman Public Appearance 2005 - the co-stars of Anthropophagus discuss their participation in the film in this 11-minute featurette.
Alternate U.S. Theatrical Opening - the alternate Grim Reaper opening sequence used for the cut U.S. theatrical version of Anthropophagus.
Photo Gallery - a slide show of lobby posters and other promotional artwork for Anthropophagus, plus videotape box and DVD keep case artwork.
Trailers - trailers for four Fangoria International movie releases that I assume are also available on Shriek Show DVD - Plaga Zombie - Mutant Zone, Rojo Sangre, Choking Hazard, and Hiruko The Goblin.
The Report Card
Movie: A
Video: A-
Audio: Italian: C, English: D
Special Features: A
The Last Word
Finally, Joe D'Amato's most notorious horror film has come to DVD, fully uncut in the U.S. for the first time, in all its gory glory! The audio isn't great, but the widescreen anamorphic video transfer is pretty good, and the special features are excellent. This Shriek Show special edition DVD is still worth a purchase for D'Amato fans! |
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