8. Ultimo Mondo Cannibale (1977)
Another Ruggero Deodato movie, this one was made before Cannibal Holocaust and features two actors who frequented Cannibal films a lot in the 1970s - Ivan Rassimov and Me Me Lai. A group of oil prospectors have a rough landing when they touch down on an island called Mindanao. The plane is damaged and while they wait, Robert and Rolf find the original prospectors' camp which has been abandoned. One of the prospectors disappear in the night and they go into the jungle to investigate. For extra fun, the pilot of the plane has been killed. Robert is kidnapped by a tribe. They take him back to their settlement, take off his clothes and let Me Me Lai fondle his genitals. He is tortured and humiliated by the natives and then figures out he is going to be their din dins. Robert manages to escape with a native girl whom he charmingly rapes. Afterwards he goes a wandering and bumps into Rolf whose leg has gangrene. The three of them limp to the helicopter pad but the cannibals ambush them. Rolf is skewered on a spear. Robert spears a native, rips out his liver and eats it. This frightens the cannibals away. Escape via plane occurs. This film feels like a trial run of some of the themes that would occur in Deodato's later, much sicker Cannibal Holocaust. There are plenty of unsavoury happenings in the movie such as the real life animal snuff and the rape of Me Me Lai which is incredibly gratuitous and misogynistic (she blithely accepts her fate). The film is seedy and sleazy - which makes Eurocult fans want to see the film all the more but alienates the casual viewer. Actually there will be no casual viewers for this film. It specifically attracts cannibal genre or exploitation fans, who will enjoy this piece of filth as long as it delivers the goods.