Now this one rocks. A 'Nam inspired nasty that stars none other than John Saxon. Number 10 on the list sounds like one of the real nasties but in reality it's a fun action thriller with a few gory moments. It's title got this one on the DPP list, nothing else.
It's 1980. The Deer Hunter has just set the cinematic world on fire. God knows why because it's boring as fuck but someone out there liked it. In Italy Cannibal films are all the rage. Some bright spark called Antonio Margheriti decides to combine the two and we, the audience, come out as winners. His idea was what if Vietnam vets came home but instead of psychological trauma they are carrying something far worse inside? A desire for human flesh and blood!!! That's the premise of Cannibal Apocalypse and it runs with it until it gets bored and becomes a chase film instead. In fact there's 3 or 4 different genres mixed up in this one and it's a whole lot of messy fun.
When Norman Hopper (John Saxon) was in Vietnam he got bitten by Charles Bukowski (John Morghen and not that Charles Bukowski), one of two POW's he helped rescue from the Vietcong and back home in Atlanta years later he's starting to feel a bit ropey. Coincidentally his ropey feelings come at the same time Charlie is released from the psychiatric ward he's been in since he went stateside and they really come to the fore when he's almost seduced by the next door neighbour's rather forward daughter. Before anything dodgy can happen he bites her and freaks her out. Meanwhile Charlie's prowling the streets of the Georgian state capital and before long he's murdered a shop keeper and holed himself up in a mall with cops on all sides. Norman talks him down but not before Charlie sinks his teeth into one of the boys in blue. Back in the hospital he loses it and him and the other inmate rescued with him in Nam go on a chomping rampage and Norman.....well Norman feels compelled to go on the run with his former army buddies. Misguided loyalty and all that jazz.
It has cannibal in the title but it's as far removed from Ferox and Holocaust as you could get. It's campy, bizarre, studded with funky tunes and chunky cardigans. It's blend of A-Team action and graphic gore feels uneasy at times and with a bit of judicious editing and overdubbing of profanity this could easily pop up on ITV4 in the morning between The Professionals and The Sweeney. But where's the fun in that. The nasties got their reputation for a reason and while this one feels a lot tamer than the next couple on the list there's still one genuinely memorable moment where Charlie gets his entire midsection punched out by a well aimed shotgun blast. It's gooey and displayed in all it's glory and yet another gory death for actor John Morghen aka Giovanni Lombardo Radice aka the whipping boy of Italian horror cinema to quote the great Kim Newman. He's an actor with a unique selling point on his CV. He's appeared and died horribly in 3 of the 39 nasties, being emasculated and debrained in Cannibal Ferox and disembowelled in The House At the Edge of The Park.
He gets the most memorable moment in the film but it's John Saxon that gives it a touch of quality. He passed away earlier this year but left a lovely body of work behind him, most famously Enter The Dragon, Tenebrae, From Dusk Til Dawn and A Nightmare On Elm Street. He gives the whole thing a weight many will say it doesn't deserve but it's nice to have a decent actor anchoring the whole thing, especially when it goes off the rails totally near the end.
Is it worth a rewatch? Yes.
Does it deserve it's nasty status? Not a chance.
Next up is Cannibal Ferox. This is the start of the truly rotten stuff.
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