Slave of the Cannibal God (DVD)

Mastication, masturbation, bestiality and castration. Yep, it's just another day in the professional life of 70s superstar auteur-en-Italiano, Sergio Martino. Best-known for his essential giallo and horror (Case of the Scorpion's Tail, Torso, The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, All the Colors of the Dark, to name a few must-sees), Martino also tried his hand at some other popular trends, including one foray into the jungles of New Guinea where cinematic cannibals dwell.

Along with Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust (1979) and Umberto Lenzi's Cannibal Ferox (1981), Slave of the Cannibal God (1978) is notorious in the subgenre for its unflinching exploitation.

While the actors have the choice whether or not to allow their bodies and dignity to be mined for the perv-factor, the local fauna do not. Some of the jungle's inhabitants suffer routine deaths on camera (nature channel at its nastiest: a colossal lizard regurgitates a partially-digested snake a foot at a time; a small monkey is slowly consumed headfirst by a python, its little eyes blinking in mute terror), and others were staged specifically for the plot (an iguana is gutted alive; a still-squirming crab is cooked over the campfire).  

A forerunner to its more extreme video-nasty compadres — I have not seen Cannibal Holocaust or Cannibal Ferox, but it's my understanding that Slave of the Cannibal God is fairly tame in comparison — Martino's twist on the story doesn't set much of a standard. Unlike his earlier work, the cinematography, music and editing are all pretty slapdash and mundane overall. At least the actors are well-cast (sexy star "Ursula Undress" lives up to her nickname; Stacy Keach is suitably grave; and Antonio Marsina is the epitome of blonde, cool cruelty), and the story is involving enough (sex, lies and vile greed).

It all starts when eyeliner-addict Susan Stevenson (Ursula Andress) becomes suspicious after her wealthy husband Henry disappears while on an extended expedition in New Guinea. She and her handsome, hardheaded brother Arthur (Antonio Marsina) plead with government officials to send out a rescue party, but it's to no avail. Desperate, they turn to a colleague of Dr. Stevenson, the anthropologically adept Edward Foster (Stacy Keach), who speculates the good doctor may actually be stranded on a small island off the coast of New Guinea. Roku just happens to be the home of a volcano known as Ra-Rami, which is of course "cursed." Apparently, the only way to keep the curse from extending to The Puka, a cannibalistic tribe of natives who live at the base of the lava-laced mountain, is to offer (and eat) human sacrifices!

Once the search party (or what's left of them… needless to say, several have been sacrificed to Attention-Span Gods along the way) finds its way to the island, the Pukas spy Susan and, believing her to be a goddess, take her captive. She's stripped nude, tethered to a phallic totem pole, painted and smeared with goo, then subjected to some rather racy rituals before we find out whether or not she's "the other white meat".

At an hour and 43 minutes, Slave of the Cannibal God runs on a bit too long (I'd suggest you fast-forward through the many montage-scenes of the search party aimlessly trekking through the jungle, and the excruciating animal death scenes), but all in all it's a tolerable entry in the Italian cannibal subgenre (one I admittedly am not a fan of).

There are several versions of the DVD in varied states of whittle, but if you want to full experience, you'll probably want to look for the Blue Underground version. However, the Anchor Bay DVD does offer up an immaculate widescreen presentation along with production stills, posters, trailers and a strange 13 minute interview with Martino in which be blithely claims he didn't harm any living creature at all (while the intercut, undeniable scenes play… in fact, there is some visual question raised as to whether that monkey's head was helped along into the snake's maw by almost-unseen human hands).

Single Disc

Dolby Digital Mono 2.0

Unrated

Supplements

Legacy of the Cannibal God - an interview with Sergio Martino

Theatrical Trailer

Poster & Still Gallery

Talent Bios

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson