Umberto Lenzi's madcap jungle caper can't really be called a cannibal film. The cannibals themselves are hardly featured in this film, which concentrates on the activities of a religious cult in the middle of the jungle and the wacko who leads it. This truly crazy film is a mixture of different themes, scenes and rip offs of other films, and to see it is beyond belief. In the end it all comes down to exploitation, and EATEN ALIVE is one of the funniest films that you'll ever see. With poor acting and atrocious dubbing, it's a bad movie fanatic's dream come true. Almost every scene is awash with female nudity, plus plenty of gratuitous violence which the Italians know and love. The cannibal chomp down, when it comes, is rather short and consists of the typical dismembering and beheading. Other than that we're treated to the sight of Robert Kerman running around and killing natives left, right, and centre.
The acting will seem poor to a newcomer to this genre, but it's the type I'm fond of: extremely wooden. Kerman is the supposedly macho character, all that is required of him is to lead expeditions and fight off enemies. Janet Agren, the female lead, is blank and expressionless too. The interest comes from Ivan Rassimov, who goes way over the top as a mad sect leader (his character based on the real-life Jim Jones, who lead a similar suicide cult), dressed in robes and eyeliner. He's insane! Other familiar faces pad out the cast, from Me Me Lai (AU PAIR GIRLS) to Mel Ferrer.
This film has it all: men running around firing darts, people being drugged, painted gold, committing suicide in a hilarious way, running through the jungle and plenty of violence, although the gore content is kept to a minimum. Lenzi is more interested in the activities of the religious cult he has created. One thing the film has going for it, though, is an exciting ending where Kerman runs towards the helicopter as the cannibals close in behind him. It had me on the edge of my seat anyway. If you're a fan of the Italian exploitation genre of the early '80s, then EATEN ALIVE is indeed the one for you.
The acting will seem poor to a newcomer to this genre, but it's the type I'm fond of: extremely wooden. Kerman is the supposedly macho character, all that is required of him is to lead expeditions and fight off enemies. Janet Agren, the female lead, is blank and expressionless too. The interest comes from Ivan Rassimov, who goes way over the top as a mad sect leader (his character based on the real-life Jim Jones, who lead a similar suicide cult), dressed in robes and eyeliner. He's insane! Other familiar faces pad out the cast, from Me Me Lai (AU PAIR GIRLS) to Mel Ferrer.
This film has it all: men running around firing darts, people being drugged, painted gold, committing suicide in a hilarious way, running through the jungle and plenty of violence, although the gore content is kept to a minimum. Lenzi is more interested in the activities of the religious cult he has created. One thing the film has going for it, though, is an exciting ending where Kerman runs towards the helicopter as the cannibals close in behind him. It had me on the edge of my seat anyway. If you're a fan of the Italian exploitation genre of the early '80s, then EATEN ALIVE is indeed the one for you.