5.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A girl and her brother fly to New Guinea to look for a lost expedition, led by her husband, which has vanished in the great jungle.
Starring: Ursula Andress, Stacy Keach, Claudio Cassinelli, Antonio Marsina, Franco FantasiaHorror | 100% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The killer cannibal subgenre receives another workout with 1978’s “Slave of the Cannibal God,” but director Sergio Martino has a tad more to share with the audience than a routine of ugliness and suffering. There’s decent acting for a change in the picture, with Stacy Keach leading co-stars Ursula Andress and Claudio Cassinelli into the thick of Sri Lanka locations to sell the stuffing out of a jungle adventure that periodically stops to watch horrible things happen to animals and humans.
"Slave of the Cannibal God" comes to Blu-ray billed as a "Brand new HD scan with hours of restoration done in the U.S." The results are appealing, with the AVC encoded image (2.35:1 aspect ratio) presentation capturing the limited reach of the original cinematography, providing some level of clarity to best extract frame detail, which survives. Jungle elements are distinct, with defined animal fur and skin, while human particulars are open for study, including bodily surfaces and make-up design. Colors are healthy, leading with pronounced greenery and golden skintones, reflecting time in the sun. Costuming adds some livelier hues. Delineation is secure, handling evening events well. Some minor blemishes and scratches are present. More distracting is a two-minute-long switch to an SD source at the 90-minute mark, possibly used to fill in for missing footage.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix falls in line with other Italian productions from the era, delivering sustained dubbing efforts, keeping dialogue exchanges defined. Scoring is also satisfactory, and while it lacks precision, musical moods are set through sheer force. Damage is present, with intermitted pops and fuzziness, and hiss is constant throughout.
"Slave of the Cannibal God" hits all the subgenre highlights, including battles with rushing water, a sampling of spit-based liquor, and a close-up of a castration. It's a weird one, offering violence and melodrama, but there's filmmaking polish here that not found in competing pictures. And when all else fails the movie, there's Keach giving it his all, trying to make something out of a B-movie assignment.
1981
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Also Includes = I Eat Your Skin and Blue Sextet
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