Antonio Margheriti's urban horror-come-cannibal film, Cannibal Apocalypse/Apocalypse domani.Starring: John Saxon, Elizabeth Turner, Giovanni Lombardo Radice (as John Morghen), Cinzia De Carolis and Tony King.
Cannibal Apocalypse is at heart, an amalgamated cash-in on Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979) and Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust (1980). Margheriti's film is also an interesting mélange of the Vietnam vet movie, urbanized crime thriller and the traditional horror film. Unfortunately the final product is a little uneven and seems to flit from one plot device to another carelessly.
Cannibal Apocalypse was one of the 39 titles that cropped up on the DPP's (Director of Public Prosecutions) Video Nasty hit list. While it has subsequently released in an uncut version, the film is still cut by 2 seconds in the United Kingdom for scenes which involve a rat being set on fire.
Beginning in similar territory to Apocalypse Now, we see an attack on a Vietnamese camp by American troops, led by one Captain Norman Hopper (Saxon). From this initial sequence, the tone shifts from the Vietnam movie into cannibal country with the introduction of Giovanni Lombardo Radice's character, Charlie Bukowski, who has been imprisoned by the Vietnamese forces. Though it is unclear why, Charlie and his fellow prisoner, Tommy Thompson (King) have become cannibalistic.
The narrative then jumps forward to Atlanta, Georgia where both Bukowski and Thompson are being released from hospital. Shortly after leaving the hospital, Bukowski goes to see a war movie, during which he takes a bite out of a girl's neck who's sitting in front of him. Quickly after the cinema erupts, Bukowski makes it out of the cinema only to get into a confrontation with a group of bikers who chase him into a flea market. This segment of the film is the aforementioned 'urban crime thriller'. To be quite honest with you, this and the end scene in the sewer are my two favourite moments of the movie. The scene is a drawn-out and bloody gunfight, though don't go envisioning anything like the finale to The Big Racket/Il grande racket (1976). Eventually, Hopper arrives on the scene and coerces Bukowski into surrendering, who is subsequently arrested and returned to hospital. It's at this point in the film we learn that, the cannibalism in Cannibal Apocalypse is contagious and thus returning to the horror element.
I wish this concept of contagious cannibalism, while it is wholly similar to what is seen in most zombie films, was further explored, sadly it is quickly brushed under the proverbial rug and forgotten about.
The film culminates with Hopper, Bukowski and Thompson escaping the hospital and going on a rampage through the streets of Atlanta, after being driven into the sewers by police they end up in a gun and flamethrower battle. A scene which, with credit to Margheriti, is handled with considerable vigor and thanks to the makeup effects provided by Giannetto De Rossi, Lombardo Radice's death is impressively gruesome.
Cannibal Apocalypse is sadly a film in which the name precedes the content, if you're looking to see a violent cannibal film, look elsewhere. If you want to complete the nasties list and see a half decent action flick in the process, check this out.
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