7. Mountain Of The Cannibal God
Noted Italian Giallo director Sergio Martino tries his hand at cannibal fare with two bankable names - Ursula Andress and Stacy Keach - to play with. It STILL ended up on the Video Nasty list despite its glossy production values. Susan's anthropologist husband has gone missing in the jungle. Along with her brother Arthur she enlists the help of Professor Edward Foster who thinks her hubby is up a mountain called Ra Ra Me. The locals think the mountain is cursed and nobody will sanction a trip up it. They go for an expedition in the jungle and encounter unpleasant run ins with the local flora and fauna. They meet Manolo, an explorer whom they take on board with them. Lo and behold! Everything comes out in the open. Susan and Arthur are looking for uranium deposits, Foster has a grudge against the cannibals and wants to lay waste to them. The gang eventually run into cannibals. Some of them die and some are spared. The best bit is when Ursula Andress is stripped naked and then declared a God! Ultimately, an exciting action film which just happens to feature cannibals, I cannot fathom how this one ended up a Video Nasty - probably for committing the terrible crime of having the word 'cannibal' in the title. A tasteful little movie, it showcases Ursula Andress' body to perfection - so that is the lads kept happy. I like the twisty nature of the plot and the fact that all of the explorers had hidden reasons to be on the island. This gave the story more meaning than other cannibal movies where people end up in the jungle for the flimsiest of motivations. A good place for tentative prospective cannibal movie fans to begin their journey into fandom.