10 Things That Make Italian Horror And Exploitation Cinema So Good

3. Cannibals

Cbcb In the world of film making, few countries (if any) have taken flesh eating savages to their bosom in quite the way of the Italians. Probably due to Italy's strong Mondo tradition of showing native folk getting up to mischief, the Italian cannibal movie was to thrill us for a ten year period. It was also a sub genre that gained infamy for being targeted by the British Establishment as harmful Video Nasties. Lots of nasty stuff appears in Italian Cannibal movies. There is usually real life animal snuff - which is probably a hand down from the Mondo movies - and is quite distasteful to witness. It ensured that many cannibal films were put on the video nasty list. There is of course, a lot of human on human violence too. Castration, disembowelment, brain eating, rape, dismemberment. The most famous cannibal film from this sub genre is definitely Cannibal Holocaust which uses the lost footage story arc to spectacular effect. It really is difficult to trump Cannibal Holocaust in terms of being THE definitive Italian cannibal movie, but there are many memorable attempts. Umberto Lenzi tried his hand at making a very nasty cannibal film in Cannibal Ferox. It is a rather silly escapade but it contains moments of ultra violence that will shake you up. Antonio Margheriti's Cannibal Apocalypse is a much better film than Lenzi's and it is set in urban America - not the usual Jungle setting. It is slightly derivative of Romero's Dawn of the Dead (the bikers) but it is a very entertaining movie with John Saxon playing a strong lead as Norman Hooper - the man who is desperately trying not to give in to his cannibalistic urges.
 
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Contributor
Contributor

My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!