Cannibal Ferox, a gory anthropological message

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I started watching Cannibal Ferox with the expectation of a bloody orgy of gore and debauchery. The title itself conjures up such imagery, but I was surprised to find it not only entertaining but also enlightening to the human condition.

The movie is directed by Italian filmmaker Umberto Lenzi and was shot on location in New York city and the Amazon. It stars John Morghen, Lorraine De Selle, Bryan Redford, Zora Kerova, Walter Llyod, Meg Flemming and Robert Kerman. All unknown actors to me so I cannot make any comparisons to their other works. However, the film motif follows in the tradition of the notorious Cannibal Holocaust.

The story follows doctorate candidate Gloria Davis (De Selle) who travels to the Amazon to investigate headhunting and cannibalism in the area. She goes with her brother Rudolph (Redford) and friend Patricia (Kerova) in search of village called Manioka as she tries to disprove the theory of organized cannibalism in the jungle. Unfortunately, the natives are out for blood and she and her friends could just become their next victims.

So while the movie has a lot of blood and gore, it speaks volumes in the anthropological language especially with cannibalism. As I mentioned earlier, Ferox follows closely in shadow of Holocaust and they both relay the same message. However, I will not spoil it by revealing the social statement. But I will say the intolerance of cultural and language differences are basically our cause of conflict.

There are so many scenes in this film that standout but I must warn you that the torture scenes are pretty gruesome and painful. If you are squirmish then its best to watch this film on an empty stomach.

However, if you can look beyond the shock and gore then this film has a message for all civilizations.

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