''Cannibal Apocalypse'' ( it, Apocalypse domani, lit=Apocalypse tomorrow, also known as ''Invasion of the Flesh Hunters'') is a 1980
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
directed by
Antonio Margheriti
Antonio Margheriti (19 September 1930 – 4 November 2002), also known under the pseudonyms Anthony M. Dawson and Antony Daisies ("daisies" is "margherite" in Italian), was an Italians, Italian filmmaker. Margheriti worked in many different film ...
(under the pseudonym 'Anthony M. Dawson') and starring
John Saxon
John Saxon (born Carmine Orrico; August 5, 1936 – July 25, 2020) was an American actor who worked on more than 200 film and television projects during a span of 60 years. He was known for his work in Western (genre), Westerns and horror film ...
, Elizabeth Turner,
Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Giovanni Lombardo Radice (born 23 September 1954, Rome, Italy) is an Italian film actor, better known to audiences as John Morghen.
He first began his career in theater before he starred in Ruggero Deodato's ''The House on the Edge of the Park'' ...
,
Cinzia De Carolis
Cinzia De Carolis (born 22 March 1960) is an Italian actress, voice actress, dialogue writer, dubbing director and singer. She appeared in more than fifteen films since 1968 including her performance as Lori in ''The Cat o' Nine Tails
''The Cat ...
,
Tony King and
Ramiro Oliveros
Ramiro Oliveros is a Spanish film and television actor.Goble p.32
Selected filmography
* ''Spanish Fly'' (1975)
* ''Naked Therapy'' (1975)
* '' Death's Newlyweds'' (1975)
* '' La cruz del diablo'' (1975)
* ''The Pyjama Girl Case
''La ragazza da ...
. The film combines the
cannibal film genre with a forerunner of Margheriti's Vietnam War films.
Plot
The film opens with a flashback to the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, where Norman Hopper is bitten by a U.S.
POW
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
Charlie Bukowski who is infected with a virus which leaves people with a
craving for human flesh. In
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, some years later, Hopper wakes up from a nightmare about this incident, and then receives a phone call from Bukowski, who invites his old comrade out for a drink. The call comes in at an inopportune moment, as a young neighbour girl, Mary, was trying to seduce him, so he turns down the invitation. Hopper falls for her charms and as they are about to engage in oral sex, he bites her. After hearing from his concerned wife that a Vietnam vet barricaded himself in a mall, he gets into his car. Just as he is about to leave, Mary reveals that she enjoyed the bite. After arriving on the scene, he convinces Bukowski to surrender to the police. While being hauled away to the hospital, Bukowski bites a police constable.
After returning home, Hopper instructs his wife Jane to wait for him in the house, and walks in front of Mary's window. Later, he admits to the incident and his wish to bite a fellow-human, to his wife. At the hospital, Bukowski and fellow vet Tom get into a fight with the guards, and Bukowski bites the leg of nurse Helen. Dr Mendez calls Jane and tells her that Norman might be experiencing the same symptoms and that she should bring him over to the hospital for a checkup, while he is listening in on the conversation, after which he leaves the house.
The police get the coroner's report on the mall shootout and it contains warnings of cannibalism. At the same time, Jane meets Dr. Mendez, who has been trying to seduce her before. They are at a fancy piano bar, where he explains to her that the virus causes a biological mutation, due to psychic alteration. Norman voluntarily goes to the hospital and talks to a doctor about his symptoms and his well-founded suspicions on Dr. Mendez' intentions with his wife. The doctor also takes a blood sample.
At the police station, the bitten constable shoots a fellow cop, bites another cop and ends up shot by Captain McCoy. Norman comes across his sedated fellow vets Charlie and Tommy. He experiences a flashback to the initial incident where he got bit by an infected
POW
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
. The doctor gets attacked by Helen while inspecting Hopper's blood sample. First she bites off his tongue and then she bashes his head in with a rock. In an ambulance the bitten cop gets aggressive before she dies. In the hospital, Helen frees Tommy and Charlie. Norman kills a staff member who tries to notify the authorities.
Norman, Helen, Tom and Charlie leave the hospital in an ambulance. Jane returns to an empty house and searches for Norman when the phone rings and Dr. Mendez notifies her that Norman disappeared. The police are on high alert and looking for the escapees. The escapees break into a tire shop and find a gun. Charlie uses an
angle grinder
An angle grinder, also known as a side grinder or disc grinder, is a handheld power tool used for grinding (abrasive cutting) and polishing. Although developed originally as tools for rigid abrasive discs, the availability of an interchangeable ...
to slice up a victim. Tom steals a station wagon and the infected leave with a pistol and a bag of snacks.
They get confronted by a
biker gang
An outlaw motorcycle club is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, ...
that Charlie already fought at the mall, killing one of their members. After defeating the gang, they run away on foot and escape into the sewer just as the police arrive on the scene. The police coordinate a blockade of the sewer exits in order to trap the suspects. At the Hopper residence, Jane is unable to make a telephone call and goes next door to ask Mary's aunt to use the phone. Mary and her brother greet her and let her use the phone to call Dr. Mendez, but the aunt is nowhere to be seen. The children behave suspiciously and ask her how come her phone is not working, but they let her leave.
In the sewer, Helen gets attacked by a rat just as the cannibals are about to slip away from the police. She ends up being shot along with a cop. Charlie is killed by the police, while Norman is wounded. Tom goes berserk, attacks the police and is killed with a
flamethrower
A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World ...
. Even with a wounded leg, Norman crawls out of the sewer, steals a car and leaves the scene.
Jane tries to leave the house in her car but cannot start it. As she comes back into the house, she hears strange noises and calls for Norman. She finds him in his dress uniform, telling her to stay away. Norman is hurt and dying, and Dr. Mendez walks into the house. Jane runs over to him, but he bites her as Norman shoots him. Jane points his gun at her own head and two shots are heard just as the police arrive on the scene.
The infected children watch as the bodies are being hauled away. The boy asks Mary if they will be looking for their aunt. Her hand is seen inside the fridge.
Cast
Production
Filming took place on-location in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
and
Decatur,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. Locations included the
Savannah College of Art and Design
Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private nonprofit art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France.
Founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the Unit ...
,
CNN Center
The CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, is the international headquarters of the Cable News Network (CNN). The main newsrooms and studios for several of CNN's news channels are located in the building. The facility's commercial office space is occu ...
, and the Candler Discount Mall. Interiors were filmed at De Paolis Studios in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
Giannetto De Rossi
Giannetto De Rossi (8 August 1942 – 11 April 2021) was an Italian makeup and special effects artist for motion pictures. His career included work for several high-profile directors, including Bernardo Bertolucci, Sergio Leone, Federico Felli ...
was the special makeup effects designer. The opening
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
sequence re-used props and costumes from Antonio Margheriti's previous film, ''
The Last Hunter
''The Last Hunter'' ( it, L'ultimo cacciatore) is a 1980 Italian " macaroni combat" directed by Antonio Margheriti and starring David Warbeck and Tony King. Initially made to capitalize on the success of '' The Deer Hunter'', ''The Last Hunt ...
''.
Actor
John Saxon
John Saxon (born Carmine Orrico; August 5, 1936 – July 25, 2020) was an American actor who worked on more than 200 film and television projects during a span of 60 years. He was known for his work in Western (genre), Westerns and horror film ...
had gotten a badly translated script, in which the gory parts were left out. In a 2002 interview Saxon explained: "It was talking about the Vietnam war like it was a virus you could bring home. I thought it was a great metaphor for a psychological condition." Saxon only learned what the movie was truly about during shooting. "At one point we were shooting a scene and a guy brings in this tray of meat. I asked what it was for and they explained to me it was supposed to be body parts, even genitals, and we were supposed to gnaw on them. I asked Margheriti to take me out of the scene and I went to my hotel room. Once I found out what the true nature of the film was I got so depressed." Saxon contemplated leaving the production altogether.
Release
''Cannibal Apocalypse'' was released theatrically in 1980.
The film 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 kin ...
by
Image Entertainment
RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 ...
as part of the ''Euroshock Collection'' on March 19, 2002. On Blu-ray,
Kino Lorber
Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...
Studio Classics released a high-definition, brand new 4K master version on March 17, 2020.
Critical reception
Patricia MacCormack of ''
Senses of Cinema
''Senses of Cinema'' is a quarterly online film magazine founded in 1999 by filmmaker Bill Mousoulis. Based in Melbourne, Australia, ''Senses of Cinema'' publishes work by film critics from all over the world, including critical essays, career ...
'' critiqued, "Although the film has been maligned by critics, who claim Margheriti disinherited his adeptness at the gothic by meddling in the vulgar genre of high-gore, the sympathies he evokes for perversion as at turns tragic pathology and strange alternative desire, the disdain with which he represents hyperreal examples of ‘normal’ male sexuality and the extraordinary versions of human flesh he presents for our pleasure, a pleasure which compels us into a world of perversion and desire beyond the palatable, are all continued thematically if not stylistically in this film. Margheriti's use of
Radice and gore brings him from the gothic worlds of
Bava and
Freda Freda may refer to:
* Frida (given name), also spelled ''Freda''
* Freda (surname)
* Freda (character) from The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
* Ford Freda, a motor vehicle introduced in the Japanese market in 1995
* Freda Sandstone, a member of t ...
into a subgenre more often associated with
Fulci,
Umberto Lenzi
Umberto Lenzi (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist.
A fan of film since young age, Lenzi studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and made his first film in 1958 which went unr ...
and
Deodato, yet he remains faithful to his perverse paradigms."
Danny Shipka, author of ''Perverse Titillation'', a book on exploitation films from Italy, Spain and France, noted that the films premise was both "interesting" and "silly" and that the film "contains enough blood and gore to make Eurocult fans happy, including some graphic flesh munching, a French-kissing scene that will scare the hell out of you, and a shotgun blast that has to be seen to be believed." Online film database
AllMovie
AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne.
History
AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
stated that the film will "never be confused for high art but ''Cannibal Apocalypse'' offers plenty of bizarre low-budget thrills for the Eurotrash aficionados," and that the highlight of the film was John Saxon, noting that "no matter how bizarre or sleazy the premise becomes, Saxon plays the material straight and delivers a serious, well-crafted performance that makes it possible to stick with the film's strange premise."
See also
*''
Deathdream
''Deathdream'' (also known as ''Dead of Night'') is a 1974 horror film directed by Bob Clark and written by Alan Ormsby, and starring Richard Backus, John Marley, and Lynn Carlin. Filmed in Brooksville, Florida, it was inspired by the W. W. Jacob ...
''
References
Sources
*
*
*
External links
*
*
''Cannibal Apocalypse'' traileris available for free download at the Internet Archive
{{Antonio Margheriti
1980 films
1980 horror films
Italian horror films
Films directed by Antonio Margheriti
Films set in Atlanta
Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state)
Films about viral outbreaks
Post-traumatic stress disorder in fiction
Films shot in Atlanta
Spanish horror films
Italian action horror films
Vietnam War films
1980s Italian films