Cannibal Apocalypse

Cannibal Apocalypse - 1980 - Italy - Cannibal/Action

Dir: Antonio Margheriti

Unlike almost every other Italian cannibal film from this era, Cannibal Apocalypse takes place in a urban city setting rather than a jungle.  The opening scenes however, take place in Vietnam. The abundance of American military stock footage used in these scenes are a clear testament to the movie's budget restraints.  Two starved American POW's are found being held captive in a deep hole in the ground, it quickly becomes apparent that these men have resorted to cannibalism.  These men eventually bring the habit home with them and somehow it spreads across the city like some sort of disease.

The responsibility of  unraveling the mystery of the spreading cannibalism fad falls upon Norman, (played by John Saxon)  the soldier who had originally found the POW's. Norman is plagued by nightmares of the war and quite possibly a bad case of PTSD, but his issues cant compare that that of the men he had rescued..

This film has no shortage of action, there are plenty of gunfights and cap bustin', showdowns with the police and fights with thugs on the street, to be honest theres more shooting than there is flesh munching.  Unfortunately, despite all the action this film still manages to drag at parts, as there are lulls of action in the film that don't manage to contribute any significant substance to the plot.  The plot itself starts to get a little strange, characters begin making decision that didn't seem very realistic, and there were a couple of holes in the story too.

Cannibal Apocalypse is overall an entertaining film, but it cant live up the the sheer brutality of other Italian Cannibal films from the era (Cannibal Ferox, Cannibal Holocaust and Jungle Holocaust, even Zombie Holocaust, which strangely enough has more cannibals than zombies in it.)  The gore is there, but there isn't a huge amount of it, and most of it doesn't look too great, which certainly hurts a movie in this type of sub-genre.

In conclusion, the flick is worth a watch if you are a fan of the genre, and I would suggest grabbing a copy of the DVD asap as it recently went out of print and I expect the price will begin to rise.

Plot - 6/10
Blood n' Guts - 6/10
Acting - 6.5/10
Action - 7.5/10
OVERALL - 6.5/10


The POW's in captivity.

A showdown in a shopping center. 

 Thugs looking for a fight.

 A rather lackluster attempt at eye gouge FX.

Burned alive in a sewer.