Landing on a Greek Island after an incredible journey on a lifeboat, a man with cave-like features begins to exterminate all the few villagers and lives, relegated to a prehistoric stage, inside a cave, feeding on what remains of his victims.
A group of young people have the unfortunate idea of spending their vacation there, on that very Island lost in the Ocean, an outpost for Hell where Charon, represented by the brutal murderer, is about to lead the restless souls...
Featuring high-tension scenes, electrifying music, and ingenious gimmicks (the final scene inside a well), Anthropophagus is one of Joe D'Amato's best forays into thrills.
Banned as a cursed film in some foreign theaters, this is the debut film of Serena Grandi (unrecognizable). In the role of the monster the great George Eastman/Luigi Montefiori (also author of the screenplay), who will also play the role of a similar character in Rosso Sangue.
The film, in some respects indebted to Halloween, follows an entirely personal path, traveled unrestrainedly (and uncensored) by the excellent director.
Massaccesi, in the same year, on the same set and with almost the same actors, directed the first and only example of porn bordering on horror: Porno Holocaust (almost the same story as Anthropophagus, in a hard-core version, where young maidens, before death, will be barbarically tortured by the disproportionate member of the anthropophagus monster).
Anthropophagus, in conclusion, stands as perhaps D'Amato's best horror film, and certainly as a great thriller in Italian cinematography.
Review by Undying1
