Big George 'Luigi' Eastman 'Montifori' wreaks havoc on a Greek Island in a film I'd only ever seen in severely cut form (under the title 'The Grim Reaper'). Is this film any good in it's unedited form? Well, I liked it.
After two German tourists are murdered on a beach, we get to meet Tisa Farrow (of Zombie Flesh Eaters and The Last Hunter) who appears once again in an Italian gore film, this time getting a lift to a Greek Island from some holidaymakers, including a pregnant woman, her husband, some guy, his sister, and another guy and a sailor. The sister does tarot cards and doesn't like what she sees, and she doesn't like Tisa either because the guy she fancies keeps putting the moves on Tisa instead of her, even though due to the very blurred copy I watched both of them looked almost exactly the same.
They all sail to the island and find it strangely deserted. The pregnant woman hurts her leg, and is soon kidnapped by someone who cuts of the sailor's head (and puts it in a bucket for safekeeping). The rest wander around town, catching fleeting glimpses of a mysterious woman and finding another survivor who keeps rambling on about how someone killed everyone on the island. Our poor victims gather in a house, wandering what to do, and how to get back to their ship, which is now adrift. Plus, a storm hits the island.
I'll warn you now: Even though you get to see a couple of killings near the beginning, it's fifty one minutes before Big George puts in an appearance! What a sight he is though, all seven foot of him done up like some one man zombie army. Once he shows up, he tries to munch down on those who remain, but who will survive and will we get to see a certain character eat his own intestines (which was entirely cut out of the British print)? Although slow, and cheap, Anthropophagus neatly builds up the suspense so when Big George does appear he's really creepy and daunting. The whole empty island thing helps the film a lot (as it did in Island of Death and The Wind)maybe folks should make more films set in Greece. And is it just me or does this whole premise rear it's head in Stephen King's Desperation? You know, the 'one person killing an entire town' thing?
After two German tourists are murdered on a beach, we get to meet Tisa Farrow (of Zombie Flesh Eaters and The Last Hunter) who appears once again in an Italian gore film, this time getting a lift to a Greek Island from some holidaymakers, including a pregnant woman, her husband, some guy, his sister, and another guy and a sailor. The sister does tarot cards and doesn't like what she sees, and she doesn't like Tisa either because the guy she fancies keeps putting the moves on Tisa instead of her, even though due to the very blurred copy I watched both of them looked almost exactly the same.
They all sail to the island and find it strangely deserted. The pregnant woman hurts her leg, and is soon kidnapped by someone who cuts of the sailor's head (and puts it in a bucket for safekeeping). The rest wander around town, catching fleeting glimpses of a mysterious woman and finding another survivor who keeps rambling on about how someone killed everyone on the island. Our poor victims gather in a house, wandering what to do, and how to get back to their ship, which is now adrift. Plus, a storm hits the island.
I'll warn you now: Even though you get to see a couple of killings near the beginning, it's fifty one minutes before Big George puts in an appearance! What a sight he is though, all seven foot of him done up like some one man zombie army. Once he shows up, he tries to munch down on those who remain, but who will survive and will we get to see a certain character eat his own intestines (which was entirely cut out of the British print)? Although slow, and cheap, Anthropophagus neatly builds up the suspense so when Big George does appear he's really creepy and daunting. The whole empty island thing helps the film a lot (as it did in Island of Death and The Wind)maybe folks should make more films set in Greece. And is it just me or does this whole premise rear it's head in Stephen King's Desperation? You know, the 'one person killing an entire town' thing?