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Antropophagus (1980) Tedious by the numbers mix of stalk and slash and cannibal chiller in which Tisa Farrow is one of a group of holiday makers stranded on a remote Greek island with a flesh eating maniac (George Eastman) This is really poor and for the first forty minutes plays out like a travelogue for Greek islands - Come sail the beautiful blue waters, wander the quaint streets, get eaten by a cannibal and f*ck a goat! (Sorry-wrong film). The film lacks any sort of atmosphere save for Farrow wandering a dimly lit mansion with only a candle for light and the gore scenes whilst decent are few and far between. One or two scenes designed to shock are just comical. Take Serena Grandi hoisting a transparent bucket of water out of the sea and onto her boat. It's clear to see it's empty except for sea water, yet when Grandi looks into the bucket there's a bloody severed head staring lifelessly up at her. Then there's the final shot as dear old George eats his own innards. Was this stuff really so shocking in the 80's? Sequel Absurd (1981) is slightly better. |
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Gambling City. Luca(Luc Merenda) is a street wise card shark who ends up working for the mafia, but gets into trouble when he falls for the boss's son's girlfriend Marie Luise. A very enjoyable film indeed by director Sergio Martino who is one of my favorite directors of Italian giallos and action films. All the actors are very good too with nice chemistry betweem Luca and Marie Luise, who is actress Dayle Haddon from Flash gordon. The only things i didn't like about the film was the soundtrack which sounded a bit comical and goofy at times, and the downbeat ending. but apart from that it is excellent and combines a good story with action and romance. and i rate it 79.5 out of 100.
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I have to say that i thought Anthropophagus was much better than Absurd. It has loads of atmosphere especially in the creepy caves were George Eastman stores all the dead bodies. and i love the part on the boat were Zora kerova has the tarot cards and throws them into the water when she predicts their fate. and the soundtrack adds to the spooky atmos as well.
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I don't really mind the almost directionless plot and cheap effects because the somewhat confusing narrative makes the events even more inexplicable and affecting. Because they didn't have a Tom Savini, they couldn't rival Friday the 13th or The Burning for gore effects and seemed to be playing catch up with their American counterparts. It is a shame there isn't enough atmosphere or tension to make up for the unconvincing practical effects and occasional clumsy execution because the film could have been much better with a more skilled director – look at George Romero did with very little money when he made Night of the Living Dead, using innovative camera angles, monochrome photography and clever editing to emphasise the growing tension and horror. Like you, I prefer Absurd.
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It's basically the same plot except it's set in pitch darkness and swaps Eastman for a demonic baby type thing. It's far more atmospheric than Anthropophagus. Scorpion released it several years ago as part of Katarina's Nightmare Theater. No idea if it's out on blu. |
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I'm not an Anthro fan either, I am partial to Absurd though, even though it is obviously rubbish I love the scene with the obviously Italian cast in an obviously Italian house pretending to be American and watching the American Football on the TV It's probably supposed to be the Super Bowl I guess?
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