Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Anthropophagus, Italy and Greece give us a Gruesome Slasher

Just after the lovely Tisa Farrow starred in Lucio Fulci's "Zombie," she headlined 1980's "Anthropophagus" (aka "The Grim Reaper"). Not as intense as "Zombie," "Anthropophagus," at times, is as icky.  Made by Italian director, Joe D'Amato, and filmed in Greece, our film today definitely fits into the Italian Horror genre, with the films of Fulci, Bava, and Argento. In, what were probably, familiar plot devices to Ms. Farrow, this film will treat us to an insaniac who eats dead babies, and human organs. Not for the weak of stomach, let us delve into "Anthropophagus."
As our story begins, we see some gratuitous bikini shots of actress Simone Baker.  Don't get too attached to her, as she will be mangled, with her BF, in the surf of some Greek island. Next, a group of terrific looking tourists head to the island for various reasons.  Carol (Zora Kerova), has bad vibes. Her Tarot cards indicate death (...in every horror film, this is reason enough to head back to the airport).  She also senses her BF is hot for Julie (Farrow).  Oh yes, Maggie (Serena Grandi) is eight months pregnant...and her fate...well....it will be quite yucky.  Once on the island, the place seems to be deserted.  Corpses, half eaten, are found, and all means to contact the mainland have been destroyed.  Their boat is even set adrift after Maggie is abducted.
As a psycho, with a taste for human flesh, begins to prey on our group, a blind girl is found.  This unfortunate is in shock, and isn't able to say much.  If avoiding a fiend isn't hard enough, Carol's jealousy is apparent, as she locks Julie in a cemetery.  As our group keeps finding excuses to split up (obviously they don't watch the same films we do), our cannibalistic monster thrives.  I won't say another word about Maggie and her unborn baby.....but...well never mind.
Will anyone survive our insaniac?  Who...or what is our monster?  Will Julie and Carol  engage in a cat-fight before facing the monster?  This film is quite gory, and available on YouTube in not-so-great quality.  The scenery is quite nice, and the blood curdling ending is very exciting. Enjoy "Anthropophagus."

2 comments:

  1. Saw this a few years ago and really liked it. Cheesy, gory and full of scenery. Banned in a few countries when it was first released, I believe. A real video nasty :)

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  2. The Film was entierly shot in Italy. except some scenes at the Railway at the Mont Parnes and the Harbour in Athens.
    Locations are:
    Abandoned Island - Cala Feola Bay at Ponza Island, Lazio
    Greek Island Village - Sperlonga (Lazio)
    Friends House - Sacrofano (Rome)
    Nikos Villa - Conservatorio di Sant' Eufemia, Rome (Via Guattani 17)
    Catacombs - Nepi (Viterbo)
    Ruins - Pallazo Altieri - Canale Monterano (Roma)
    greetings Udo Schubert

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