Very generic, very dated, very unremarkable 1980's Italian-horror cannibal movie that centers around the very unoriginal concept of cannibalism being spread like a virus. I will say, however, that the throwback to the 80's was fun (although the wardrobes were kind of hard to take! LOL) and this was the first time I've ever seen a GM Motorhome converted into an ambulance. (00:59:17) That was pretty cool. It was amusing to see John Saxon here - even moreso after reading his comments in an interview, that he "felt sick after realizing what the film was really about" (according to Saxon, the translation from the original Italian script to the English version he was given was a very poor translation and he thought he was getting involved in a Vietnam war/psychological trauma-type story.) While I disagree that Saxon seemed to "phone it in" (let's face it: this is John Saxon we're talking about. Has he EVER shown any kind of emotion?) it goes without saying that even his wooden performance outshines anything by the rest of the cast. The slow southern drawl of several of the cast while seemingly in the middle of New York City (or some other large eastern metropolitan area) was actually VERY laughable. And Giovanni Lombardo Radice ("Charlie")...I actually laughed when I spotted him in the opening few moments here: after seeing his infamous "drill bit through the skull" scene as "Bob" in "The Gates of Hell" (released in the US as "City of the Living Dead") it would be nearly impossible to not recognize that vaccuous stare almost anywhere. The snazzy jazzy upbeat 80's disco soundtrack was another thing that made this film hard to take seriously. Apart from that, however, this is just another Italian gore film...very dated by today's standards but still a fun watch for those who enjoy a throwback to the Italian films of the 80's. Loved seeing all those vehicle body styles from back in the day!
Review of Cannibals in the Streets
