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Cannibal Apocalypse
Directed By Antonio Margheriti
Released: 1980
Starring: John Saxon, Elizabeth Turner, Giovanni Radice, Cinzia De Carolis, and Tony King
AKA: Apocalise Domani, Invasion of the Fleshhunters
A group of soldiers led by Norman Hopper (John Saxon) raid a prisoner of
war camp in Vietnam. They discover two of their missing soldiers there
cannibalizing the body of one of their captors. When Norman reaches in to
help one of the soldiers, he is bitten by one of them. Flash forward many
years to Atlanta, Georgia when one of the POWs, Charlie (Giovanni Radice),
has just been released from a mental institution and calls up Hopper to
catch up on old times. Norman declines but is later called upon to help
talk Charlie down when he goes on a shooting spree in a shopping mall.
Charlie is recaptured and sent back to the institution.
Suddenly, Norman begins to experience cannibalistic urges. It seems that
if one is bitten by one of these cannibals, a virus that causes a person
to crave human flesh takes over and his recent contact with Charlie has
awakened the virus inside him. He helps Charlie and Tom (another POW)
escape from the hospital with a nurse (also infected with the virus) in
tow. The cops are closing in on the four of them and a violent showdown
takes place in the sewer system underneath the city.
Dang, that plot is a mouthful. I don’t know what to make of this Cannibal
Apocalypse. It’s damn near unclassifiable, that’s for sure.
Antonio Margheriti (director of Castle Of Blood) blends together
elements of action and horror in this living, breathing, flesh-eating, and
walking disaster of a movie. For all the budgeting and great care that
went into the film, it still couldn’t be saved from its glaring lapses
in logic and lulls in action.
This film is really a John Saxon showcase. His role of Norman Hopper, a man trying to deal with the horrible
forces raging inside him is well realized. Giovanni Radice (City of the Living Dead,
Stagefright, Cannibal Ferox, etc.) is perfectly creepy as
Charlie. Tony King and Cinzia De Carolis are pretty good at playing people
infected with a cannibalistic virus. Okay, maybe that wasn’t worth
mentioning.
The problems occur in the story and the editing. The film drags in a
couple scenes and the way the virus of cannibalism affects people in
varied ways you’d think this was a zombie flick. There is also one of
the worst continuity mistakes I’ve seen in a while. It occurs while
Charlie is urinating on a teargas canister.
Seasoned cinematographer, Fernando Arribas, does a fine job with the
framing of the film. Alexander Blonksteiner’s (composer for House by
the Cemetery) music is outlandish and therefore fitting for this weird
movie. Most of the gore effects are well done, including the famous scene
where the camera zooms through a hole in a man’s torso caused by a
shotgun blast.
For some reason, Cannibal Apocalypse is being marketed as a classic
of Italian gore. It’s definitely gory but it’s not nearly as extreme
as it has been portrayed. Also, it is no classic by any means. This is an
overrated film but it is worth your time if you’re into gore, screwy
Italian action flicks, or John Saxon. Hopefully, it gets better with
multiple viewings but few will be brave enough to sit through it more than
once.
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