DVD Release
The Man (Carsten Frank) hungers. His search for somebody willing to be eaten isn’t doing as well as he’s met time and time again with disappointment. Eventually his search leads him to The Flesh (Victor Brandl), a man that desires to be eaten and become one with the predator.
Both The Man and The Flesh are able to meet and their uncontrollable desires lead them back to The Man’s home where they make love over and over in anticipation of their final act of animal desire…The Consumption of Human Flesh.
There’s a problem though…apparently The Man doesn’t quite have it in him to tear The Flesh’s penis off in his mouth. What a wussie!
Anyhow, desire and hungers wins out and both men eventually devise a way to remove The Flesh’s penis and end his life painlessly. His dying wish is that he not suffer and there be nothing left once he’s gone.
Can The Man handle this grisly deed? Will he be able to devour The Flesh after he’s gone?
Cannibal is one twisted film. I think what makes it even worse is the very idea that this is based on a true story! No, not a true story like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or The Blair Witch Project you chumps! This is the real goddamn deal here! This film was based on the horrific case of German cannibal Armin Meiwes (The Man) and his “victim” Bernd-Juergen Brandes (The Flesh).
From my understanding, this film comes very close to the actual facts of the case and folks…that scares the shit outta me. Not only was this an “average guy” but he found his victim ONLINE. He used the internet to search for his flesh fix.
Kinda makes you worry about your kids on AOL, eh?
Here’s the low down on Cannibal, the sound design & score were phenomenal! I’m to willing offer one of my kidneys for this soundtrack! One particular scene in which The Man and The Flesh meet outdoors sports a song so haunting I’ll be humming it tonight in my troubled sleep.
I’d also like to mention the gorgeous cinematography by “writer”/director/editor Marian Dora. Those of you that have never heard the name Marian Dora shouldn’t feel bad because his name would really only be recognized by people familiar with Lionsgate’s Uli Lommel films and let’s all be honest here…NOBODY REALLY WATCHES ULI LOMMEL FILMS. If you’ve actually seen (and enjoy) Lommel’s BTK Killer, Green River Killer, Zodiac Killer, Zombie Nation and Black Dahlia you’re smoking all kinds of pink and yellow crack boulders bitch! My question is, “If Dora can turn out something was sweet as Cannibal, why produce & direct Lommel’s trash?”
As one can expect from a film called Cannibal, there’s quite a bit of gore and cringe-worthy sequences including a vicious penis biting scene and the victim urinating through a gaping, bloody hole where his penis once resided! SICK! What could possibly make that worse? How about licking that gaping hole? EEEEEEEEEWWWWWW! Yeah it’s like that! This isn’t that childish gore we normally see in horror…this is bloody steaming meat gore. Dora doesn’t waste our time hinting, you see it all in its psychotic glory.
I’m not sure why but Cannibal really brought up fond memories of the first time I watched Jorge Buttgereit’s Nekromantik. Perhaps it was the subject matter paired with an almost experimental feel.
As a foreign film fan I gotta tell you the lack of original German language soundtrack and the English dubbing were a bit upsetting but what are you gonna do, right? Oh well! If there had been subs I would have used them because the English dubbing in this was beyond porntastic. It was…PORNERIFFIC! Unfortunately, that’s not a compliment.
This release lacks any kind of special features as well so we’re left in the dark on how much of this film was achieved which is a real shame. There are trailers available but curiously…not one for Cannibal.
If you’re a fan of extreme horror, gore, queer horror or you’re just plain interested in being shocked I’d highly recommend Cannibal. This is NOT recommended to you horror-lite fans out there because I just don’t want to be the one responsible for pushing you over the edge and inspiring you to eat any midgets.
