Cannibal Terror is a 1980 French-Spanish horror film directed by Alain Deruelle [as A.W. Steeve], Olivier Mathot and Julio Pérez Tabernero (Sexy Cat; Las Alegres Vampiras de Vögel) from a screenplay by Tabernero and H.L. Rostaine. Jesus Franco was also apparently an uncredited co-writer.
The movie stars Silvia Solar (Eyeball; Devil’s Kiss), Pamela Stanford (Lorna the Exorcist), Burt Altman [Bertrand Altmann] (Zombie Lake; Devil Hunter), Stan Hamilton, Gérard Lemaire, Olivier Mathot (Revenge in the House of Usher; Maniac Killer), Antonio Mayans and Sabrina Siani (Ator, the Fighting Eagle; Conquest).
In the UK, 88 Films released Cannibal Terror on Blu-ray on 11 March 2019.
Limited edition o-card slipcase [first print run only]
Limited edition collectors’ booklet by Calum Waddell [first print run only]
High definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Uncompressed English audio
Optional English subtitles
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
‘That’s Not The Amazon! – The Strange Story of the Eurocine Cannibal Film Cycle’
Deleted scene
Theatrical trailer
Cannibal Terror is notable for the fact that it shares an amount of footage with Mondo Cannibale (also known as Cannibals and White Cannibal Queen, 1980). While many sources suggest that Franco’s footage was ‘borrowed’ for Cannibal Terror, a closer examination reveals that there are more connections than this between the two films. Both films share a number of locations, cast, and even dubbing actors. Some connections that suggest more than a mere ‘borrowing’ of footage are:
Sabrina Siani is the White Cannibal Queen of Mondo Cannibale, and also appears (as a fully clothed adult) in a bar scene in Cannibal Terror. Several shots of the dancing cannibal tribe in their village are common to both films, and several shots appear only in one or the other. One actor with a very distinctive face is seen in Cannibal Terror in no less than three roles (two cannibals and one border guard) and is also quite visible as one of the cannibals devouring Al Cliver’s wife in Mondo Cannibale.
In addition are the obvious cast parallels of Olivier Mathot, Antonio Mayans, both of whom have starring roles in both films. Pamela Stanford plays Manuella in Cannibal Terror and has the brief role of the unfortunate Mrs Jeremy Taylor in Cannibals.
After botching a kidnapping, two criminals hide with their victim in a friends house in the jungle. After one of them carnally assaults the friend’s wife, they are left to be eaten by a nearby cannibal tribe…
Reviews:
“Cannibal Terror is awful, to be sure, even more so than other Eurocine efforts may have led you to expect. That’s not to say that it isn’t fun, and I found myself enjoying it a bit in spite of [or is that because of?] the criticisms above. While I can’t recommend it as horror, those looking for the next great bad movie may want to check it out.” Wtf-Film
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“The Pyrenees Mountains standing in for the Amazonian jungle. The flagrantly Caucasian “Indians” and their tiki bar village. The gore effects are so pitiful that the camera itself often seems to be ashamed to look at them. The ludicrously inappropriate score, which makes the city theme from Make Them Die Slowly seem like the epitome of taste and sound judgement. The steadfast failure of the script to make any sense at all at any level…” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting
“You wonder when the cannibals are coming. They take the kidnapped girl to the jungle (somewhere in a conservatory in Paris, from the looks of it) when they finally encounter the cannibals – the least convincing cannibals in film – Caucasians, make-up that stops at their neck, side-burns, comb-overs, potbellies. They dance. They eat pig entrails. They dance again. They threaten. They dance again. Not much happens after that.” Down Among the “Z” Movies
“Cannibal Terror is filled with awful acting, scenes that make no sense, and a flagrant disregard for any attempt at realism […] as well as the absurdly prolonged scenes of entrails fondling that awful three-note title music, and the worst folded paper model of a cat (I think) in motion picture history, the piéce-de-crapness par excellence is saved for the end when, at the cannibal’s village, we can quite plainly see through the trees the Alicante ring road filled with traffic. Twice.” House of Mortal Cinema
“What follows is repetitive mind-numbing padding. People walk around the jungle and then walk around some more. The cannibals peek through the trees watching them walk around. The girl’s parents, along with some cops also… walk around. After an indefinite amount of walking around, the cannibals make themselves known and capture Roberto and his girlfriend and harbor the little girl.” Strictly Splatter
Original title:
Terreur Cannibale
