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Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:
- Black Comedy
- Cannibalism
- Horror
Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this low-budget black-comedy horror flick “starts out well, but becomes dull and confusing”. Beautiful female cannibals who lure men, siren-like, to their bloody deaths has the potential for interesting feminist overtones — but this potential is destroyed by the inexplicable appearance of a male ringleader (Robert Ulrich), whose purpose in the movie I still can’t figure out. Other than a few moments of improvised humor between Levy and Martin, most of the scenes in Cannibal Girls are painfully derivative, and hold little intrinsic interest. But perhaps most disappointing of all is Levy’s lackluster performance — he seems to be hiding beneath his glasses and enormous afro, while his bubbly co-star, Andrea Martin, fares much better.
Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
- Andrea Martin’s ditzy portrayal as Gloria
Must See?
No. While it holds a special place in Canadian film history (see the Canuxploitation review, link below), it will probably only be of interest for true 1970s horror fans.
Links:
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One thought on “Cannibal Girls (1973)”
First viewing. Not a must.
Though I rather agree with the assessment here, I don’t think this even “starts out well”. And even though Martin comes off better than Levy, that’s not saying much; neither one appears allowed to reveal what would, years later, be true comic talent (i.e. Levy in the Christopher Guest films; Martin doing terrific work in ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ and ‘All Over the Guy’, etc.).
This “Wouldn’t it be funny if~” idea would, indeed, have been so if the execution of it weren’t so witless. I don’t think it’s even up to the ‘standards’ of college dorm humor.