It’s not fear that tears you apart…it’s him!
Directed by Joe D’Amato
Reviewed by the Devil Himself – Deep Red
Aka Man Beast aka The Savage Island aka Anthropophagous: The Beast aka The Zombie’s Rage aka Man-Eater
Bona fide video nasty Anthropophagus was one of 39 films successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act in the 1980s. It’s an Italian film filmed in Italy and Greece.
Six people, and a sailor, sail to an island where Julie (Tisa Farrow) knows some people. On the way Carol (Zora Kerova) does a tarot reading for pregnant Maggie (Serena Grandi) but what she sees worries her. As they disembark Maggie hurts her ankle and stays behind with the sailor while the others explore the town finding it deserted except for a mysterious woman in black who writes “GO AWAY” on a dusty window. The group discover a corpse, while back at the boat someone kills the sailor and abducts Maggie.
When the group reach the boat they find it adrift and set off to Julie’s friends’ house to spend the night. Daniel (Mark Bodin) is attacked by the family’s hysterical blind daughter Henriette (Margaret Mazzantini). Henriette tells them about a killer who smells of blood.
This is a classic, all horror fans should indulge. It has great locations and an eerie soundtrack too. Much of the film is story, it’s fairly slow but it’s got so much atmosphere. The characters, who are dubbed, are fine, I thought it was a good cast. The antagonist is a fearsome creation. I’ve just watched the uncut film and I’ve got to say it’s a pretty sick film in places, the intention was clearly to shock and it succeeds with some very cool gore. It’s easy to understand why it was banned and all that, anyone not accustomed to horror films must have really thought this was some satanic shit right here lol. Personally I love it and appreciate the big brass balls of this one. Get it out on Blu-ray and celebrate this one, I’d buy it.
An eerie, atmospheric chiller with gore-a-plenty, decent plotting, characters and locations – I’d buy that for a dollar!
Also stars Saverio Vallone as Andy, Bob Larson as Arnold, Rubina Rey as Irina Karamanlis, Simone Baker as First Victim, Mark Logan as Second Victim and George Eastman as Nikos Karamanlis.
