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Cannibal Man (1972)

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Overall Rating 63%
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A young man, Marco, working as a butcher, accidentally kills a taxi driver. His girlfriend Paula wants to go to the police so he has to kill her too. He then has to kill his brother, his brother's fiancée and his father, who have become suspicious. He gets rid of the bodies by taking them to a slaughter house. --TMDb
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Review by Tristan
Added: December 27, 2007
After the bad taste that Cannibals left in my mouth, I was quite hesitant to pop its release partner, Cannibal Man, in the DVD player. I figured that it'd be almost impossible for it to turn out worse than Cannibals, so it was safe to say that it couldn't really put a hurt on my love for the genre. I was correct, but not like I thought.

Our film starts with some pretty graphic footage of a cow meeting his demise in a slaughterhouse. While a little unnecessary, it's a gruesome foreshadowing as to how this film will play out. We also get to meet Marcos (Vicente Parra), an underpaid and under appreciated butcher who spends his time slaughtering cows, cleaning up scraps, and whatever odd jobs can be found in a slaughterhouse.

One night, while spending a little time out on the town, Marcos and his soon-to-be fiance (Emma Cohen) get a little too frisky in the back of a taxi cab. This inevitably angers the cab driver to the point where he throws the two out of his cab. When Marcos refuses to pay the fare, the three become caught in a scuffle which ends with the cab driver dead, and Marcos and his girlfriend fleeing the scene. The next day, the two are sick with guilt, and debate their options. Paula feels it would be wise to tell the police everything, and Marcos thinks it would be smarter to have sex a few times, then strangle his girlfriend. I firmly believe that most, if not all, relationships should end this way.

When turning to his brother for help, Marcos is given the same advice. Go to the police and tell them the truth. Marcos will have none of it, and murders his brother in cold blood. This leads to a downward spiral in which Marcos kills everyone who comes to his apartment looking for their missing loved ones, and everyone who comes looking for them. Unbeknown to Marcos, a homosexual named Nestor (Eusebio Poncela) lives across the street, and has had the hots for Marcos for some time. This probably wouldn't be a huge problem, except for the fact that Nestor spies on Marcos constantly, and has been witness to everything he's done.

First off, I'm sick of the US changing titles around for the sake of a few extra sales. They did it with Zombie 4 and 5, and now they've done it with this. The title actually translates to Week of the Killer, which is much more appropriate. Mainly because the movie is really about the life in the week of a killer, rather than a cannibal. The only upside to this is if it hadn't been called Cannibal Man, I probably wouldn't have bothered picking it up. Which would have been unfortunate, as it really was a fantastic movie.

The standout performance by Vicente Parra is what makes this whole movie. He was a very convincing killer, and also brought a subtle humour to the role which you wouldn't think possible in this type of film. Truth be told, I would say it's more a dark comedy than a straight-up horror flick. Every time someone knocks on Marcos door, he has to off them, then think of a creative way to dispose of the body. You can't help but laugh when he starts grinding them up at work, then refuses to eat anything with meat, for fear it might be a product of his slaughterhouse.

Overall, this was a great film. It drags for a bit at the beginning, but after that first kill it really picks up quickly. Don't watch this if you're looking for a cannibal film. If you are however, looking for an interesting storyline, coupled with some very nice gore, this is the one for you.

8/10.
bradbunson #1: bradbunson - added January 2, 2008 at 8:51pm
The slaughter house scene was crazy. I was surprised that was able to be put in the film.
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