Cannibal Apocalypse
1980 ‘Apocalypse Domani’ Directed by Antonio Margheriti
Synopsis
POW's in Vietnam...starved in captivity...released with a taste for human flesh.
Giovanni Lambardo Radice and John Saxon are Vietman vets that bring back contagious virus that turn people into cannibals when bitten.
Cast
Recent reviews
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Unique city-bound cannibal caper starring John Saxon and co-starring his eyebrows.
It starts well enough with a Vietnam flashback in which it is revealed that POWs from Saxons platoon have become cannibals. One of these men is played by erstwhile cannibal movie guy John Morghen,who i think i last seen having his penis chopped off in Cannibal Ferox. He always plays a weird,creepy guy in these movies and i get the impression that he may not quite be the full ticket in real life either. Perhaps these roles come easy to him.
The production values here are a bit better than what i'm used to from a movie with the word "cannibal" in the title. Coupled with some decent direction there is actually an above average air to this whole thing.Unfortunately it is let down by its preposterous plot being played far too straight for its own good,and it isn't quite the gore-fest the word "Apocalypse" might suggest.
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Dietary Habits of the Future Human.
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expolitation zombie flick with a nice hint that he wants to be an anti-war movie too. actually why not? why shouldn't flash eater movies not force a political background on the viewer. i personally don't mind, and when a movie already makes his master in unsublety, why not go the next step and bring in some crude social connections?! this one here is a little bit too low-budget to justify the heavy name, but you get through the longitudes with the fresh score.
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Yet another of the Uk's infamous banned DPP39 and yet again who knows why - one of my faves from the era and starring the inimitable John Saxon
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Classic!
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An enjoyably silly horror film with John Saxon as an Army vet who has caught a virus from his fellow soldiers that's turning him into a cannibal. After inadvertently spreading it to the population, Saxon and his flesh hungry army buddies go on the run. With Giovanni Lombardo Radice as a cannibal named "Charlie Bukowski" (!) and Wallace Wilkinson as the Clu Gulager-esque police captain.
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Having not been aware of Margheriti's work before this - aside from Flesh for Frankenstein, which he claims to have directed - this really bowled me over. It's a B-movie without any of the stigma normally attached to that archetype: no shoddy production, no ropey script and no clunky acting; it's actually a very smooth and impressive horror with well-placed moments of pretty extreme gore, utilised by prosthetics that still hold up 40 years later. There's also a relatively clever war subtext which isn't pushed into the shadows in favour of the more obvious thrills. A real treat.
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An amalgam of all the things I love about Italian exploitation cinema. Deftly crossing my two favorite genres, cannibals and zombies is Margheriti's masterstroke here.
Vietnam vets return from war with a curious bout of post traumatic stress. Stress that compels them to eat human flesh. The totally absurd premise gives licence for full on gut munching as the crack team of commando cannibals rage across the city chomping all who cross their path.
Eye pokings, buzz saw dismemberment and shotgun mayhem make this essential viewing for gorehounds.
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It's actually more of a typical zombie flick than one of those nasty cannibal movies from the late 70s-early 80s. A (small) touch of (vague) social commentary with the analogy "Vietnam vets=zombies"