A waste of 90 minutes of my life

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

I've never been a huge fan of the cannibal movies that were made for some time by Italian directors in the 70s and 80s. My first exposure with them if I'm not mistaken was MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY and it didn't make a lasting impression on me. The fact I'm not sure if that was the first one I saw should show that. Later I saw the infamous CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST which again didn't impress me. It wasn't until I saw THE GREEN INFERNO that I found a cannibal movie I actually enjoyed and that's saying something since I'm not an Eli Roth fan. Having the chance now to see EATEN ALIVE I can now say I've seen two films in the genre I felt were good.The movie opens at Niagara Falls of all places as a native from Borneo kills a man with a blow dart. Move to New York and he does the same again, first killing one man and then getting hit by a truck after killing a second. The police investigating the deaths contact Shelia Morris (Janet Agren) when a roll of 16mm film is found on the Bornean. On the film is footage of her missing sister Diana (Paola Senatore). Professor Carter (Mel Ferrer), who she contacts for help, tells her that Diana appears to have run off to join a cult located in New Guinea. Of course she heads out to retrieve her sister.Hiring a local mercenary named Mark Butler (Robert Kerman) to help her save her sister she learns about the cult. Led by the charismatic Jonas (Ivan Rassimov) the cult is a pain worshipping cult who follows his every command. As the pair travel upriver they are attacked by a group of cannibals who capture their guide and cut him apart to feast on. Avoiding capture themselves they are captured by the cult and taken to their compound where they are welcomed. Diana pledges allegiance to Jonas but secretly wants to escape. Unfortunately Shelia falls under his spell and wants to stay. Even though she learns that the three men who we saw die in the beginning were ex-cult members who escaped she still feels that Jonas is a leader worth following. Whether Mark and Diana can convince her to leave or not, whether the military will come in to rescue cult members before they can commit mass suicide and whether or not the cannibals just outside the compound can satiate their hunger is left to be seen before the end of the film.Movies in this genre were known for two things. The overflowing amount of gore they put on display and the inclusion of numerous scenes of actual killings of animals interspersed throughout the films. The success of films like MONDO CANE (1962) that showed shocking scenes like these but milder piqued the curiosity of film goers at the time and their inclusion in these films drew the ire of censors and the dollars of movie goers. This film offers plenty of those moments. A battle between a mongoose and a cobra while bets are placed, a python grasping a dying monkey who tries to escape, the beheading and gutting of a live alligator are just some of the moments included here.The gore moments are memorable as well for fans of special effects and those gruesome moments. Breasts being sliced off and eaten, a penis sliced off, guttings and more are on display in glorious color with plenty of dripping red fake blood and meaty looking flesh left behind where incisions take place. The cannibals are seen eating their kills, pulling out guts in from their victims, scenes that would stun a few years later in DAWN OF THE DEAD but were clearly shot for films like this one. What sets this movie apart from many in the genre is the amount of storytelling going on here. Most have some scientists searching for some miraculous jungle cure or sociologists looking for lost tribes in these films. The combination of cannibal movie with a Jim Jones/Jonestown style story offers something different here. The depth of story is far from what you'd normally expect.In addition to that the sets look much better than most. It was money well spent, especially the village where the cult is set up. While not as elaborate it made me think back to the city Marlon Brando's Col. Kurtz was set up at in APOCALYPSE NOW. They did a great job here on those sets.But let's not that forget that deep down this is an exploitation movie. That means you'll not only see plenty of blood being spilled but a decent amount of exposed flesh as well. Ceremonies in the camp tend to have topless females walking about. Shelia at one point is painted in gold. When attacked by cannibals clothes are the first things to go. A woman whose husband is killed is raped by his brothers to determine who she marries next. And as punishment one woman is sodomized by the main bad guy guard, Karan. If you go by drive-in critic Joe Bob Brigg's staples of drive-in movies the film features all three necessary items: breasts, beasts and blood. The movie was directed by Umbert Lenzi, a famous director on the Italian scene who made a name for himself directing police dramas, horror films and at least three of the most famous cannibal films in the genre: THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER, this film and CANNIBAL FEROX. In an interview included in the extras he notes that many credit Ruggero Deodata as the inventor of the Italian cannibal film for his CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST this film was actually released before that one. I've been singing the praises of Severin for several films they've just released and I'll have to include this one as well. This is the first time the film has been remastered for hi-def and it shows it. The film looks much better than one would expect for what they had to begin with. In addition to that they've included plenty of extras that when combined run longer than the actual movie itself. Included are WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE the interview with Lenzo, ME ME LAI BITES BACK a documentary on the actress who was known as the Queen of Cannibal Moves, THE SECT OF PURIFICATION an interview with production designer Antonello Geleng, archive interviews with Ivan Rassimov and Robert Kerman and a 2013 Q&A with the late Lenzi at the Festival of Fantastic Films, UK. Lenzi fans will want to have this version of the film in their collection. Horror fans and cannibal movie fans should grab this one up as fast as possible. Those who are curious about the films would do well to start with this one as it not only offers up everything the genre had to offer but has plenty of story as well. It's not a movie that the squeamish will want to watch but if you love horror like this by all means give it a try.

Rich gal Sheila Morris (lovely blonde Janet Agren) hires scruffy guide Mark Butler (nicely played with rugged conviction by Robert Kerrman) to find her sister Diana (busty brunette Paola Senatore) who has gone missing in the treacherous jungle of New Guinea. The pair run afoul of not only a deadly tribe of savage cannibals, but also a freaky Jim Jones-type religious cult led by the deranged Jonas (a smooth portrayal by Ivan Rassimov). Writer/director Umberto Lenzi keeps the enjoyably lurid story moving along at a brisk pace, maintains a harsh and unapologetic take-no-prisoners sleazy tone throughout, and delivers a pleasing generous amount of both tasty gratuitous female nudity -- statuesque stunner Agren gets stripped naked and painted gold -- and in-your-face nasty gore that includes a castration, decapitation, evisceration, and the expected graphic gut munching. Comely Me Me Lai lends sturdy support as helpful native girl Mowara while token big name Mel Ferror pops up in a few scenes as knowledgeable professor Carter. Federico Zanni's handsome cinematography provides several breathtaking shots of the lush tropical scenery. The funky-throbbing score by Roberto Donati and Fiamma Maglione hits the get-down groovy spot. Good low-grade fun.

Directed by Umberto Lenzi this is by far, the funniest Cannibal movie I've seen. A real treat for fans of cheesy exploitation while still being quite gritty in parts. In the opening, we have a sneaky dude running around assassinating folks with one of those spit tube things...you know, where they blow into it and a dart comes out and gets them in the neck...yeah those things. And after assassinating his targets, he runs off until he randomly gets run over by a truck. It was a very promising start! We're then treated to the opening credits with this groovy jazzy 80's music. As the credits play, we follow a blonde called Sheila Morris, who is inquiring about her missing sister, Diana. Turns out the assassin had a movie on him when he died with Diana's name on it. Upon watching the tape, it appears her sister is connected to a strange cult in New Guinea run by the charismatic Jonas, who perform's unique rituals of sadomasochism in an attempt to get back into touch with nature. Makes perfect sense! Well, Shelia, with the help of a guy named Mark, plan on finding her sister by travelling into the depths of the New Guinea jungle, but of course they must watch out for cannibalistic natives who inhabit the place. You won't see the same brutality from Cannibal Holocaust, though it does get pretty full on it parts. The main thing you can expect from this one is the humour from the random and over the top acting. I love how Mark is just so incredibly sleazy and concerned with getting his $80,000, which he agreed to by travelling with Shelia, he was hilarious. My favourite scene was when they do eventually find Diana. Shelia comments; "She's different, I can hardly recognize her"... and Mark comments; "...She looks stoned out of her mind!".... Just epic! What I found really interesting was the cannibals weren't really the major focus, it's actually the cult. They come across as more messed up then the cannibals! Though I did find it humorous that when they do eventually meet the famous and legendary Jonas, he spends the whole movie wearing a dress. The use of music was also pretty epic and hilarious. Not only did we have that jazzy music every time we cut back to New York, but we also have Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor playing during a Funeral ceremony! Brilliant! It was nice seeing the very lovely native girl from Jungle Holocaust in this, looking even lovelier. We're first introduced to her character at her husbands funeral where three guys have graphic sex with her(... makes perfect sense). She has a speaking part in this one too.What I found really sneaky is if you're a fan of Cannibal movies, you'll notice "borrowed" footage inserted in it. I guess Lenzi thought we wouldn't notice, tsk tsk, Lenzi, we're onto you!Despite this being the funniest cannibal movie I've seen, it still had some major WTF moments, none of which I wanna share, but I'll say one particular scene involved a wooden dildo and snake blood... There was also a lot of scenes where women get slapped, most of it random and so over the top you can't take it seriously. Yikes! And again, yet another warning to animals lovers, there is a few messed up scenes that had me fast forwarding, so be warned. So to conclude, I very much enjoyed this one, I think it's pretty safe to say that Cannibal movies are bloody awesome, whether they are gruesome and brutal like Holocaust, or hilarious with bad taste like Eaten Alive or Ferox, they are bloody entertaining. Thankyou for reading.

This is not so much a film as it is a clip-show "best of" reel with about 60 minutes of original footage to fill in the gaps. Most of this film was shot in Sri Lanka with a few (quite obvious) sections shot in southern Italy and a few completely gratuitous New York scenes thrown in to try to pass the film off as American. Mel Ferrer makes a completely pointless cameo appearance as a professor who gets to interact with two porn actors playing cops (the poor guy!).Lenzi is usually a great director, but he clearly was not on his A-game with this Cannibal turkey. Not one scene goes by without something completely laughable happening. I'll give you a few examples.A) one scene showing Mel Ferrer entering a police station features his voice dubbed by another actor! Ferrer then can be heard with his actual voice moments later! B) Ferrer's audio is quite obviously recorded practically, while the other actors in the scene with him are dubbed. Jarringly obvious shift in quality.C) shamelessly over-acting police-man saying "WHAT?".D) a scene where a Sri Lankan (well this movie takes place in New Guinea though these people don't look it at all) allows an alligator to effortlessly chomp his dangling arm off. This scene gets double the embarrassment for actually being culled from another movie! E) when the actors "interact" with the Animal cruelty scenes, it's all just close-ups of them reacting intercut with shots from a different film with different filmstock.F) When Kerman throws a spear at a native (haphazardly), it clumsily falls sideways into the dirt. The next shot shows a screaming native with a spear sticking out of his chest! G) One of the Sri Lankan helicopter pilots (who is dubbed, even) blows his line and they left it in! H) Kerman nonchalantly knocks Agren out with a punch so she doesn't see a gory evisceration.I) whopping continuity error involving a character's body parts magically reattaching after they were eaten.J) said scene includes a woman missing her right leg, with a native seen nearby eating a leg... but with a LEFT foot attached to it! Seriously! The list goes on and on. This film is so riotously daft, yet oddly competent in its staging and cinematography, that it's totally unique in the annals of film. The only other film coming close to the lunacy of this is Lenzi's NIGHTMARE CITY which was far more respectable.This film, at least, is never boring and very accessible to those unfamiliar with bad Italian cinema. Personally I find it funnier than most intentional comedies, which is why it gets such a high rating from me. Whether Lenzi had this in mind or was seriously trying to make a good film is anyone's guess.