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?

This is a pretty cool movie, although I do reckon that you need to be a little sick in the head in order to truly enjoy Joe D'Amato's wicked imagination. "Antropophagus" (LOVE the title!!) is a notorious video-nasty because it contains shock-sequences that ...well...aren't exactly for the squeamish! The pivot figure is a savage and bloodthirsty man that prowls a Greek island (Greek islands are dangerous tourist places apparently...anyone remember 'Island of Death'?) and devours pretty much everything and everyone that crosses his path. The film focuses on the encounter between this maniac and a group of young tourists that coincidentally strand on the island. Apart from the downright nauseating gore (he eats a fetus, for Christ's sake!),this is a rather suspenseful and atmospheric Italian horror film that surely ranks among D'Amato's best work, alongside "Beyond the Darkness" and "Death Smiles at Murder". In case you're a fellow Italian horror fanatic, you'll love the cast that includes George Eastman, Tisa Farrow and Serena Grandi. True, there are some really tedious moments to sit through but the gore is rewarding and the music is terrific. There equally is some gratuitous sleaze to enjoy, as well as some nice photography. Due to its violent and raw nature, "Antropophagus" is one of the most cut films ever. Avoid any version that says "Grim Reaper" on the cover because that's the version that leaves out all the sweet nastiness you're so desperately looking for :)

A group of young adults go to a Greek island, where things go from bad to worse when they find that everyone on the island -- with the exception of a blind girl -- has been killed. Clearly, they didn't see the exploitation film "Island of Death" to learn why Greek islands are bad. What they encounter is a man who is more beast than anything, with an insatiable thirst for human blood and flesh.

This film has floated around under various names -- "Grim Repaer", "Man Eater" and the misspelled "Antropophagus" to name a few -- for quite some time, gaining notoriety for its banned status in England and two scenes which had to be cut when it was finally released (one involving a man eating his own intestines and the other with a baby being ripped from a womb and devoured). The hype is more than enough to get people to see the film, though it's tame by today's standards. (I hate to reference "Island of Death" yet again... but if you want to be shocked, the goat scene in that one easily outdoes anything shown here).

I enjoyed this one. There's something about older horror films, even those with poor film quality, that have a value to them modern films lack. And the cannibal, played by George Eastman, is a disgusting creature in his own right. Even without the publicity or the previously cut scenes (now restored in many versions) Eastman is convincing and works well. (For what it's worth, the blind girl is also pretty cool -- on par with the blind girl in "Castle Freak" -- and I'm very glad they scripted her in to this one.) Decent plot, decent characters, decent blood and gore. Unless you're impatient with older films, this is one that is worth your time and I can see myself seeing it again and again if the opportunity presents itself. Make sure you get an uncut copy. You don't need those extra scenes to enjoy this film, but if you're going to view it, you may as well get the full effect and see what lead to the banning in the first place. You'd be surprised what gets people riled up.