''Cannibal'' is a 2006 German
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...
horror film written, directed and produced by
Marian Dora
Marian Dora (born 1970 in Southern Germany) is the pseudonym most commonly used by an anonymous German art director, cinematographer, actor, screenwriter, editor, producer, composer, assistant director, makeup artist, special effects/sound/camera ...
in his feature film debut. The film centers on a mentally disturbed individual simply known as "The Man", who has cannibalistic fantasies. He makes a deal with a suicidal man known as "The Flesh" who agrees to let The Man eat him.
Plot
In the intro, a mother reads the story of ''
Hansel and Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister.
Hansel ...
'' to her young boy. The setting then moves to the present day, where The Man goes about his day-to-day routines and occasionally chats with others on his computer, where he looks for someone who shares his cannibalistic fantasies. The Man meets with several people he had chatted with, but he either rejects them or is rejected (and in one case attacked) by them, except for The Flesh, a suicidal man who volunteers to be killed and eaten by The Man. The Flesh travels to The Man from
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, and the two bond, having sex and frolicking in the nude both inside and around The Man's home.
When The Flesh decides that its time for him to die and be devoured, he tries to coerce The Man into biting off his penis, but The Man is unable to go through with it, even when The Flesh uses drugs to knock himself out in an attempt to make things easier. Disappointed, The Flesh chastises The Man. The Flesh decides to give him another chance when The Man begs him to stay just as he is about to board a train back to Berlin. Returning to The Man's home, The Flesh ingests a large amount of alcohol and pills, then instructs The Man to castrate him with a kitchen knife, which The Man succeeds at doing. The two then fry and attempt to eat the severed penis, before The Flesh seemingly dies of blood loss in a bath The Man places The Flesh in.
The Man drags The Flesh's inert body (which vomits and defecates repeatedly) to a room he has readied for slaughter. Before he can begin taking The Flesh apart, The Man is shocked to discover The Flesh is still alive, so he stabs him in the throat. The Man then beheads, guts and dismembers The Flesh, buries the inedible parts, and cooks and eats the rest; he places The Flesh's severed head at the head of the table. The Man then masturbates to
snuff film
A snuff film, or snuff movie, or snuff video, is a type of film that shows, or purports to show, scenes of actual homicide. The concept of snuff films became known to the general public during the 1970s, when an urban legend alleged that a cland ...
-video footage of what he has done, and leaves.
Cast
*
Carsten Frank as The Man
* Victor Brandl as The Flesh
*
Manoush as The Man's Mother
* L. Dora
* Carina Palmer
* Tobias Sickert
* Joachim Sigl
* Bernd Widmann
Production
''Cannibal'' is based on the true story of
Armin Meiwes
Armin Meiwes (; born 1 December 1961) is a German former computer repair technician who received international attention for murdering and eating a voluntary victim in 2001, whom he had found via the Internet. After Meiwes and the victim jointl ...
, who killed and ate a man whom he met on the Internet.
In 2004 director Marian Dora accepted
Ulli Lommel
Ulli Lommel (21 December 1944 – 2 December 2017) was a German actor and director, noted for his many collaborations with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and his association with the New German Cinema movement. Lommel spent time at The Factory and ...
's assignment to make a feature film in Germany that documented the Meiwes case. Dora's finished film was rejected by Lommel for being too gory, and Dora subsequently released the movie on his own in Germany months later. Lommel set about producing his own version of the Meiwes case, which became the 2007 film ''
Diary of a Cannibal
''Diary of a Cannibal'' (also known as ''Cannibal'') is a 2007 German-American horror film directed by Ulli Lommel. It is possibly inspired by Armin Meiwes, the "Rotenburg Cannibal". Lommel's film changes the account from a "Rotenburg Cannibal" to ...
''.
Release
Home media
''Cannibal'' was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
in Germany in April 2006.,
and in the United States by Anthem Pictures on December 19, 2006.
The film also was released by
Unearthed Films
Unearthed Films is a U.S. film distribution and production company that imports exploitation films primarily from Eastern Asia.
History
The company was created by Stephen Biro, Paul White and Rhett Rushing. Their initial releases were the first o ...
on a now out-of-print DVD.
Censorship
''Cannibal'' was banned after its release in Germany on Meiwes’ request.
Reception
Scott Weinberg of
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman.
History
Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
rated the film 2/5 stars and wrote, "One of the sickest and freakiest movies ever to come from a nation well-known for its freaky and sick movies (Germany), ''Cannibal'' is shocking, outrageous, sickening ... and just a little bit interesting because it's based on actual events." Joshua Siebalt of
Dread Central rated it 2/5 stars and wrote, "The only real selling point ''Cannibal'' has is its graphic depiction of cannibalism. There are some nasty, nasty moments throughout, but you have to get through a whole lot of nothing before you see them."
Sean Leonard from ''HorrorNews.net'' praised the film, writing, "This is the first movie in a long time that disturbed me to my core. The entire second half of this movie is non-stop suffering, sadness, dismemberment, and cannibalism. It feels very real, like the viewer is watching from the next room, but also like the viewer is watching something real. The scary thing is, somewhere out there exists video of the actual events."
References
External links
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{{Films directed by Marian Dora
2006 films
2006 horror films
German splatter films
Horror films based on actual events
German drama films
Films about suicide
German horror films
German romance films
Films set in Germany
Films shot in Germany
2000s German-language films
Romantic horror films
2000s English-language films
Films about snuff films
German LGBT-related films
LGBT-related horror films
Direct-to-video horror films
LGBT-related films based on actual events
Films directed by Marian Dora
LGBT-related controversies in film
Obscenity controversies in film
Films about cannibalism
2006 directorial debut films
2006 LGBT-related films
2000s German films
2006 multilingual films
German multilingual films
English-language German films