Swiping some bits from “Apocalypse Now,” “Dawn of the Dead” and the Italian sub-genre of cannibal movies, Cannibal Apocalypse takes the people eaters out of the jungle and deposits them right in the Atlanta landscape, or an urban jungle.

John Saxon and, Italy’s most abused whipping boy, Giovanni Lombardo Radice (aka John Morghen) star in this riot of a movie. When Radice and fellow POW Tony King are found in a tiger cage munching on the remains of a flame broiled Viet-Cong, you know you’ve stumbled across something special. Saxon, playing their commanding officer, finds himself after the war trying to stop Radice’s violent killing spree, the ever spreading cannibal virus (yes, cannibal virus…that’s so cool) and his own growing bloodlust.

Despite the fact that the movie is made for well under what most American blockbuster movies’ budget are, Cannibal Apocalypse still has larger than life aspirations which only become more entertaining when the reality of their own budget sets in. An example of this is Radice’s rampage through the shoddiest looking flea market since the US 1 Flea Market that existed in New Jersey. Hoping to emulate the “Dawn” mall, it just looks like Antonio Margheriti, Cannibal Apocalypse’s director, got a run down Five & Dime to shut down for an afternoon of filming. A run in with the wimpiest looking biker gang in the history of cinema ends in a full on cannibal assault, with the bad fight choreography offset by the stylist shot of the fight filmed through the window of a burning car.

It’s these moments, which could have been laughably bad, that actually make the movie as fun as it is. John Saxon, while one of the coolest presences in 80’s horror cinema, is embarrassingly wooden while trying to emote his anguish to his equally wooden wife and is down right laughable when he is seduced by his overdubbed, over sexed teenage neighbor. It’s these character moments, almost unheard of in most of the cannibal genre, that show Margheriti capable of at least trying human drama even if the results weren’t always for the best. Where the movie shines is its excessive gore and sleaze. Climaxing with a cannibal foursome attacked by Atlanta’s police force while fleeing in the city’s sewers, the movie kicks into overdrive and offers us some excessive but more than expected gruesomeness. The one shot of the camera filming through a hole blown through Radice’s torso was even used on many of the film’s posters and overseas adverts. This is a movie where you kick back, cheer on the bad guys and just let it all go!

Margheriti, who has made some memorable movies for myself and other devotees of Italian splatter movies such as “Killer Fish,” “The Last Hunter,” and the cult classic “Yor, Hunter from the Future” was firing on all cylinders when he made Cannibal Apocalypse. The movie is incredibly entertaining and obviously silly but played with such seriousness which only heightens the absurdity on screen. John Saxon and, particularly, Giovanni Lombardo Radice are
in fine form here, carrying the bulk of the whole movie and very rarely faltering. The parting shot of the now infected next door neighbor children with Grandma’s hacked up body stored in the refrigerator must be seen to be believed, and for all Italian horror completists- the J&B Whisky bottle that seems to make an appearance in almost every Euro movie is once again on hand here. Also known around the globe as Apocalypse Domani, Invasion of the Fleshhunters and The Cannibals are in the Streets, Cannibal Apocalypse is a fine movie that is entertaining from beginning to end. Check it out and see what you’ve been missing.