La montagna del dio cannibale
Plot in one sentence: Stacey Keach and Ursula Andress go to the jungle in search of her missing husband and land in a cave populated by pig-fucking cannibals.
What works:
-punch-ups;
Rare cannibal film goes without a hero giving his girl a slap at least once. THE MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD is extraordinary in this respect. There are two instances of unintentionally hilarious "fights", greatly amusing stuff.
What doesn't work: THE MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD is boring.
Martino gets good mileage out of the available locations but cannot inject the primitive script with the necessary drive.
Giancarlo Ferrando's compositions are perfect, but his classic way of lighting ruins some of the natural charm the wilderness possesses. I mean, people walk around the supposed jungle and they have 4-5 shadows - come on! As a result, THE MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD cannot boast the same kind of gritty realism that Deodato achieved with his equally boring ULTIMO MONDO CANNIBALE.
A warm, emotional and dignified performance by Stacey Keach helps one sit through all the requisite spider attacks, snake attacks, booby traps and what not.
As usual with Martino, THE MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD has high production values and is rather faceless.
Sound is surprisingly good - some of it seems to be live on-set recording, which was pretty extraordinary for Italian productions in those days. Or it could be dubbing, but more carefully done than usual, with the entire principal cast doing their own voices.
The simply isn't enough going on in THE MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD to recommend it to anyone.
What good stuff there is happens in the last ten minutes, when the heroes are trapped in the cannibal cave. Finally some red stuff begins to flow. But it doesn't justify the slow build-up, no matter how well-photographed.
Pulsating score by De Angelis brothers would suggest a more savage, intense picture than the one Martino put together.
My favourite cannibal trash remains Lenzi's EATEN ALIVE.
WTF!? I obviously missed the pig fucking parts? And I agree it is one slow son of a bitch movie, and even though MoTCG was somewhere in the middle of things, I always seem to feel that it's a bad cocktail of previous movies. I also seem to recall that I never liked Keach in the lead, as he's completely shallow and lacks any characteristics to make me give a damn... Cassinelli should have lead it and Keach supporting if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say it's not one of Martino's better flicks.
Well, the pig fucking happens in the last fifteen minutes, and is fairly tame (not at all like horse wanking in EMANUELLE IN AMERICA)
ReplyDeleteCassinelli is awesome in ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN.
I don't know about Keach - on the first viewing I thought he was phony, but on second I felt sympathy - he was investing himself into the thinly-written part, even if not perhaps entirely succeeding. The script is shite, I generally find Cesare Frugoni scripts weak.
I think Marsina in the role of Andress' brother was the most annoying fella of the lot.
My favorite part about MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD was Stacy Keach's death scene and the dummy falling down the waterfall. I also appreciated it for how absurd it was. Not a big fan of animal cruelty but it kinda comes with the territory with the Italian jungle-cannibal movies.
ReplyDeleteIt is always appreciated when you stop by to comment, Aaron.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite shot is the visual effect showing the rocky island shrowded in mist (I posted a grab of that) .
It's obviously an effect, but the old-school manner of its execution is fascinating.
Also, shot of the dwarf cannibal's crushed scull with exposed brain was quite exciting.
Could do without the animal cruelty which is so god-damn obviously set-up it bugs me.
Did you see the Sergio Martino interview on the DVD where he talks about how the monkey scene was a coincidence, but then they show footage of the it that suggests the contrary? That actually made me lose respect for Martino in a major way. At least be a man and take responsibility for your work like Deodato did.
ReplyDeleteNo, haven't seen that one but I know the scene you're talking about, with those dodgy superimposed leaves.
ReplyDeleteI never had much respect for Martino, I feel he's a very average director who had better funding to play with than he deserved, just because he's brother runs a production company.
When I see stuff like THE GREAT ALLIGATOR RIVER, I feel that money's been wasted on a dull, clichéd film.
His 2019: AFTER THE FALL OF NEW YORK is great fun, but that's more of an exception, a coincidence.
I'm also one of those people who claim TORSO is a crap giallo, which degenerates into slasher towards the end. If you take out the good production values out of Martino's films, there's very little left.
One last thing: I haven't yet seen any of his crime film or gialli with Edwige Fenech, so there's a slight chance he did really well there...but I fucking doubt it :)
I haven't seen enough of Martino's work to say if he's overrated or not, but I do like STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH and YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY a lot! Especially STRANGE VICE, which I highly recommend you check out some time. I would really love to hear your thoughts on that one. Oh, and by the way, I absolutely hated TORSO. I have a review of it saved on my computer for Italian movie month next month, and it's not a positive one. So far I haven't heard anything really negative about that movie, so I'm glad to know that you dislike it also.
ReplyDeleteWoohoo, I'm not alone in my dismissal of TORSO:)
ReplyDeleteThat film has a great score and the first two murders are ace, but oh my God, John Richardson's performance is terrible.
I like Suzy Kendall a lot, but I'd rather re-watch SPASMO or BIRD WITH CRYSTAL PLUMAGE with her.
Looking forward to reading your review of TORSO, but watch out - there are always some militant movie fanatics about who will be out to get you if you're too dismissive of their favourite director:))
Eh, fuck 'em. My opinions are my opinions.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the one of the most fun things about blogging is speaking your mind.
ReplyDeleteIf it pisses someone off - at least they reacted. Would be more dull if they just didn't give a shit.
I love the Italian cannibal movies, but I do find this one of the weakest, I do love 'Eaten Alive' and I have a big sot spot for it, but my heart belongs to 'Cannibal Holocaust' & 'Cannibal Ferox'.
ReplyDeleteYes, this one is one of the more boring and uninspired ones... My heart belongs to EATEN ALIVE! which is just insane, fast-paced trash.
ReplyDeleteI can re-watch that film again and again.