Joe D’Amato and George Eastman teamed up several times over the years, bringing some of the most notorious movies ever made to the screen. This is one of them.
Presented here, uncut again at long last. It’s not as nasty as it appeared way back in the 80s. It’s well paced and well made. Several Cult names appear here. If you’re into this sort of film, there’s nothing I can say you won’t know already.
It’s stalk and slash. For those who don’t know it. Pretty violent in places. At one time, there were some people who for some unexplainable reason thought this was a snuff movie??? It isn’t. What it is, is a good film well worth owning if you like Cult Horror Films.
What surprised me most about the unpronounceable, in my case, Italian shocker was the time spent with the characters. You get to see the various aspects of all the relationships and how this group of folk are interconnected. Then the blood and guts happen and they are outstanding in their effectiveness and their gross nature. These are vicious and visceral horrors. But then there is a really good story as to why everything is happening as well. This was most unexpected but a really neat addition to this seminal D’Amato horror flick.
Well, this film IS boring, dumb and ludicrous. There are good moments in it (possibly stolen from other films), and camerawork is decent enough, but otherwise this film is a doubtful cinematic pleasure. As for the edition – I’ve no reservations about quality of the picture, restoration is skilful and visually pleasing (true to the source, for that matter). To my mind, there should be more bonus content – only half-hour interview is miniscule for that piece of a … cult.
The item came really fast, in perfect condition.Everything is as described.
The story is great – real fun,picture quality is perfect.100 % entertainment.The price is cheap so, don’t hesitate – BUY IT NOW!
This is one of those notorious video nasties that you might have heard of but never had the chance to see.
Well nows your chance with this excellent release on Bluray.
The picture and sound quality will never be perfect but the original source material probably wasn’t that great to begin with.
That said, this is a very decent presentation of this gorey little shocker.
Tourists on a cruising holiday land on a seemingly deserted Greek island only to find that the entire population has fallen foul of a mad ghoulish cannibal, and I must say, what an appetite he must have!
Great location for this film and it is well paced too with genuine creepiness.
Theres a great documentary on the disc as well which is all about the sleazy Times square movie houses in New York and the kind of movies they used to show back in the day.
Much better than its reputation suggests, this grisly Italian horror has some great atmospheric moments. There’s a fair bit of gore including the infamous fetus eating scene and is one of the Italian directors better efforts. Might be a bit slow for those wanting action all the time but I liked it and the 88 films release is the best it’s ever looked.
GREAT TO BE ABLE TO VIEW A COMPLETELY UNCUT COPY OF THIS VIDEO NASTY FOR ONCE INSTEAD OF THE CUT TO BITS TRAVESTIES ON THE MARKET.THE LAST ONE I HAD ON DVD WAS CALLED “THE GRIM REAPER”BUT I RECENTLY GOT RID OF THIS AT A CAR BOOT SALE AND IT WAS DEVOID OF ALL THE MAIN GRISLY SCENES FEATURED IN THE BLURAY VERSION.THE PLOT IS STRAIGHTFORWARD ENOUGH WITH YOUNG HOLIDAYMAKERS ARRIVING ON A DESERTED GREEK ISLAND AND THEN BEING STALKED BY A MANIAC CANNIBAL WITH CARNIVOROUS TENDENCIES PLAYED BY ITALIAN ACTOR GEORGE EASTMAN.OKAY THERE ARE NO SPECIAL EFFECTS OR C.G.I.TO SPEAK OF BUT THE MOVIE IS MENACING CREEPY AND STRONGLY ATMOSPHERIC.IF THIS TYPE OF MOVIE IS YOUR BAG THEN I CAN RECOMMEND IT WHOLEHEARTEDLY.THE PRINT QUALITY IS EXCELLENT WITH VIVID COLOURING AND DEFINITION SECOND TOO NONE
*****Please note that the following review has been amended for the new 2017 REMASTERED version of Anthropophagous The Beast. I have left the review of 2015 version up just for comparison purposes. All new content has been marked with an asterisk*****
*UK genre label 88 Films take their second stab at Joe D’Amato’s infamous video nasty Anthropophagous The Beast with a brand new transfer touted as being sourced from a 2k scan of the original 16mm negative. Extra features also change with the 42nd Street documentary from the first pressing being the biggest omission but this is replaced by a 30 minute interview with actor George Eastman, an exclusive deleted scene and interview with film historian Alessio di Rocco. My copy also came with an attractive soft touch slip cover (which may be an exclusive to the 88 Films site) and a reversible cover but sadly no insert booklet or artwork which have found their way into 88’s releases as of late.*
Joe D’Amato’s infamous video nasty Anthropophagous The Beast makes it’s worldwide Blu ray debut here from UK indie label 88 Films. For a first here in Blighty this controversial and long time banned Italian splatter classic is presented completely uncut and uncensored retaining all the scenes which the BBFC deemed as to grotesque for words back during the debacle that was the video nasty witch hunt of the early 80s. As a neat touch 88 Films have provided this new release with reversible cover art with the original back-in the day VHS sleeve from VFP being an option. It is also worth mentioning that the opening credits bear one of the films many alternative titles which in this case is The Savage Island.
Synopsis:
With an opening that sets the tone for the movie perfectly we follow a young, loved up German couple as they make their way through a maze like Greek village and down to a secluded beach. Whilst the guy relaxes listening to jazzy funk music through a ridiculously large pair of headphones the girl goes for a dip in the inviting blue Mediterranean. On seeing a deserted fishing boat she investigates only to be attacked from below by an unseen assailant. In a incredibly creepy sequence the still unseen attacker makes his way onto the beach with only his point of view shown. With blood spotting onto the sand he walks over to the oblivious guy and plants a meat cleaver firmly in his head.
Cut to Athens where we meet up with a group of tourists who charter a sailing boat for a spot of island hopping. After meeting up with Julie (Tisa Farrow of Zombie Flesh Eaters)a young women traveling alone the group decide to offer her a lift to an island which she describes as paradise where she is to meet up with some friends with whom she is to spend the summer. One of the party Carol (Zora Kerova of Cannibal Ferox) sees Julie as a potential threat with her boyfriend lavishing far too much attention on her and when her tarot cards warn of impending doom she is even more apprehensive about the trip.
On arriving at the island it becomes apparent that something is amiss as there doesent appear to be a living soul in sight. Leaving their boat and a pregnant member of their party at the jetty in the capable hands the ships captain they set off to find Julie’s friends but find that the whole of the island is completely deserted apart from an eerie women dressed in black who seems intent on evading the small group but whom leaves warning messages informing them to leave. Unnoticed by the group their ships captain is killed, the pregnant women is kidnapped and the boat is left to drift away. When a stormy weather front forces their now unmanned boat out to sea the increasingly agitated travellers believing that the captain has moved it for safety reasons realise they must take shelter in one of the many empty villas until morning. It is only during this dark windswept night that they come to know the full horror as to why nobody remains on the picturesque island as they are picked off by a huge lumbering cannibalistic madman (Italian genre legend George Eastman)who has already killed all the residents including his own wife and son and who has now got his sights set on the group of tourists.
Disregarding the decent tension building opening sequence in many ways Anthropophagous could be thought of as a film of two halves with the first forty minutes or so certainly qualifying as quite possibly the most boring and inane horror film to come out of Italy or anywhere else for that matter. Of course there are nice little snippets of chilling atmosphere mostly down to the deserted island setting and the creepy lady in black but there are also far to many soap opera style scenes of characters standing around exchanging less than interesting dialogue and second unit travelogue footage of the Greek locales. But once the storm hits and we catch our first glimpse of the heavily made up, scraggly haired George Eastman the movie has a truly frightening presence building to a crescendo of edge of your seat horror and censor baiting gore for the final 25 minutes.
As with alot of spaghetti horror films Anthropophagous The Beast is an acquired taste and may well be a chore to sit through for those uninitiated in the delights of Euro schlock. As for it’s video nasty status it is indeed grotesquely unpleasant at key moments with one famous moment so sick in intention alone that I am still amazed that the BBFC passed it. Despite the repulsive nature of these set pieces they are indeed few and far between meaning that D’Amato does have to rely on mood, atmosphere and some surprisingly gripping scenes to tell his story with which he mostly succeeds despite his reputation as shoot them quick and get them in the can hack. Indeed this is surprisingly well done helped immeasurably by a number of perfect horror film settings and well photographed cinematography. The empty, whitewashed seaside village, the crumbling derelict ruins and the dark maze like catacombs complete with decomposing mummified bodies all add a sense of unease to the proceedings whilst the towering 6ft 9in George Eastman is perfect as the hulking intimidating monster.
Like alot of the video nasties Anthropophagous isn’t without it’s fair share of problems and had it not been for the whole video nastly debacle would have been all but forgotten today. Nevertheless Joe D’Amato’s picture remains a relatively engaging and sick piece of schlock that despite the thin plot and slow start is well worth staying with for the duration if only for the surprisingly tense and well crafted final half hour.
Picture:
*After a rather poor show with their first release of Anthropophagous, 88 Films go back to the original 16mm camera negative for this new 2k scan. Presented in an AVC encoded MPEG 4 1080p transfer and again framed at the more European friendly aspect ratio of 1.66:1, this is an immediate improvement and the best to date whilst still possessing a few possibly source related issues.
First impressions are reasonably good with a far fresher and stable image with noticeably crisper, more natural contrast especially for the sunny daytime scenes. The quality still looks like 16mm (which it should) with a rather thick and at times flat feel to the high def visuals but depth is apparent in a number of instances and fluidity in motion is improved upon. Detail and textures are fine for 16mm with close ups picking out more Iife in character faces and textures in clothing whilst the rundown feel of the village and the surrounding countryside complete with the ruins are handled in a convincing enough way. Long to medium shots are still a little soft and lacking but are still a noticeable advancement over the previous transfer.
Black levels are still unfortunately problematic looking somewhat pale with visible crush and a rather murky feel but are better resolved thanks to defter grain management compared to the older disc resulting in less noise in the darker sections and increased shadow detail.
Colours do advance over the 2015 transfer and whilst they can still on occasion appear slightly anaemic primaries are indeed richer with the saturation of reds and greens benefiting the most. Blood now looks deeper, greens lusher and skin tones more life-like without any of the tinting which has plagued other Italian titles that have hit Blu ray from 88 Films which I am sure is down to the colour correction used on this new scan.
Unfortunately some damage is still prevalent throughout with occasional white specs, hairs in the gate and the occasional line. There is also some odd flickering around the 59th and 64th minute mark with what looks like some sort of chemical staining and minor colour fluctuations are visible during the dinghy scene. The wonderful 16mm grain structure thankfully remains intact for this remaster and now looks far more organic and filmic than the 2015 version. Yes this is rather heavy but it does suit the gritty visuals perfectly whilst also aiding overall clarity allowing details in the foreground to come through easier than on the smoother looking original release. Thankfully too the encoding is more than up to the difficult task of handling this (to my eyes at any rate) with nothing in the way of digital anomalies to disrupt the viewing experience.
It is also worth noting that this new transfer also seems to display more information in the 1.66 frame if there weren’talready enough reason to upgrade.
I have to admit that I have owned more copies of Anthropophagous than I care to remember and like anyone else who has seen D’Amato’s picture as many times as myself I’m sure you’ll agree it has never been a pretty movie. This new Blu ray with it’s recently sourced 2k scan is without a doubt the best available and whilst far from perfect is possibly as good as The Beast will look for the foreseeable future if ever and comes highly recommended to fans whilst newcomer’s can be rest assured that they are seeing the best version in current circulation.*
Anthropophagous The Beast lurches itself onto Blu ray for the first time in a problematic AVC encoded MPEG 4 1080p transfer framed at the more European friendly aspect ratio of 1.66:1. For the record this new Blu ray release from 88 Films is an improvement on any standard definition DVD I have seen but is still far from what you would consider a good transfer. On the whole the image looks brighter with much better contrast meaning that the daytime scenes are reasonably crisp and solid but unfortunately unremarkable. There is an uptick in detail during a handful of scenes namely the exteriors where textures in buldings, rocks, pebbles on the beach and foliage are visible to a certain extent although depth and dimensionality are distractingly lacking. Sadly the vast majority of the transfer is soft and flat and varies from scene to scene especially interiors which lack even the basic facial complexities of the cast and can look dark and dingy although a scattering of close-up shots of big George Eastman do show off his peeling sunburnt make-up reasonably well. The colour palette is rather muted with even the Mediterranean skies and sea looking far more grey than blue but reds have slightly more pop for the numerous gore scenes and Zora Kerova’s shirt whilst greens for the grass around the ruin are reasonably robust. There are moments where the colours can be inconsistent with the flashback sequence of Eastman killing his family in the boat being one prime example with the sea fluctuating from blue to an odd green tinge and skin tones exhibiting a flushed appearance.
The image also has some stability problems with a distracting warping effect and the grain which is present but not overly thick (especially during brighter moments of the film) doesent always appear natural or filmic with spiking around light sources, mosquito noise and smearing in motion. The sandpapery grain is much more prominent for interior scenes which can cause problems for the black levels too, sapping shadow detail and causing the transfer to look overly noisy. But again this varies with some nighttime sequences exhibiting some fairly penetrating blacks albeit with slight but noticable crush. The brighter contrast during the lower lit passages does indeed reveal more background details making scenes that were overly dark on previous editions far more discernable but again the gritty grain field can disrupt the viewing experience.
Strangely print damage is kept at a complete minimum with only the odd flash present which is a pleasant surprise considering the roughness of the overall quality of this release and the 1.66:1 framing is far more generous than previous editions looking better balanced with more information in the frame. Anthropophagous has never been a pretty film thanks to it’s low budget 16mm origins and the trend remains here although this is by far the most watchable I have ever seen this notorious Italian shocker and long time fans will definatly notice the upgrade however slight. It is also worth noting for any potential buyers who are judging this on screen caps alone that this looks far better in motion.
Audio:
*The audio for this new release also rights a number of the wrongs that plagued the older version. Presented with a choice of either English or Italian (with newly translated English subtitles) in the films original mono this is delivered in 24bit LPCM 2.0 at 2034kbps. The English track on the 2015 version was far from great with balancing issues and off centre mono audio. The new audio now features a much better balance between music and effects and everything is also delivered dead centre as mono should. The dubbed dialogue is as clear as can be although this still sounds detached despite lip sync being reasonably good. There is though some light background crackle and hiss during the quieter moments and the organ sections of the score exhibit slight clipping but overall this is much easier on the ears.
It is also worth noting that the opening scene with the German couple is now correctly subtitled in English which wasn’t the case before.*
88 Films present this video nasty in an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 channel mono offering which like the picture has more than it’s fair share of issues. The track is at times quite loud and brash with alot of harsh sounding top end meaning that the ear offending travelogue style soundtrack can at times sound excruciating. That said the more 80s sounding electronic section of the score is far better reproduced even exhibiting slight depth. The dubbed dialogue is for the most part clear but with that canned almost ditached quality often associated with Italian movies of a particular vintage and as to be expected this sounds flat and lacking in dynamic range although a few ominous rumbles of thunder and other foley effects possess some aggression. By far the most disappointing aspect of the lossless soundtrack happens around the 40 minute mark where the well centred mono audio shifts bias to the left hand side making the audio sound of kilter for the remainder of the runtime. This was much more noticable through headphones and when played back through a reciever the Dolby Pro Logic did centre the audio a little more precisely although it still doesent sound as focused in the middle of the screen as it should have done. The included Italian soundtrack which again rarely matches lip movements has no such problems and sounds slightly less harsh with good English subtitles that offer alternative translation to the English dub track. It is also worth noting that the German dialogue at the start of the movie desent have subtitles for either soundtrack and as far as I believe was intended to be like this although my old German DVD did have English subtitles for this scene as well as a slightly different music score.
Extras:
*Extras too for this new release are significantly different. This 2017 disc drops the admittedly good 42nd Street documentary but does include a half hour interview with star of Anthropophagous big George Eastman. This is an excellent chat (which looks to incorporate two separate interviews) with Eastman talking about Anthropophagous and his friendship with director Joe D’Amato as well as his career in screenwriting. He also goes onto mention the more salacious pictures he made with D’Amato in the Caribbean (which he just saw as a vacation) with information on the stars of the movies including Laura Gemser, Gabrielle Tinti and even Porno Holocaust star Mark Shannon! Well worth a look for fans of European horror.
Also included is a short, never seen before deleted scene which is quite gruesome in it’s intent but shoddy special effects let it down which is quite possibly why is this hit the cutting room floor.
To round off the new extras is a short interview with Italian film critic Alessio di Rocco, alternative Italian opening and closing credits and trailers. As always from 88 Films this features a reversible cover but this time around there is no sign of the original video nasty art work that came with the 2015 version.*
Despite having nothing really to do with the accompanying feature the main extra on this new Blu ray from 88 Films is an informative and thoroughly entertaining 80min documentary entitled ’42nd Street:The Rise And Fall Of America’s Most Notorious Block’. Anything you could possibly want to know about this now defunct mecca for exploitation films is included in this shot in HD production. Featuring input from directors, producers and even adult movie stars who’s movie’s did the rounds on the infamous New york street this is a fascinating account featuring still photographs, trailers and movie clips. All the participants relive their memories of what sounded like a rollicking good time although the dark and seedier aspects are also brought to the fore often in graphic detail.
Also included are the original Italian opening credits and a collection of Anthropophagous theatrical trailers all in pretty rough shape that kind of make you realise that the picture transfer on this Blu ray isn’t really that bad.
Conclusion:
*The movie remains as nasty and as mean spirited as ever but this newly released version of Joe D’Amato’s infamous Anthropophagous The Beast with it’s 2k scan and more relevant extras is a worthy upgrade for fans and those buying for the first time it is the version to own.*
This Blu ray release from 88 Films marks yet another of the so called video nasties getting a shiny new HD release. The movie itself is far from perfect but has enough gore and atmosphere to make it of interest to fans of Euro horror or director Joe D’Amato. Truth be told the picture transfer could be better but unless new elements are found, a different source utilised or a complete new scan is performed I doubt much more could really have been done here and it is good to finally get this uncut in the UK. As mentioned the sound is a little bit of a let down and there are no real extras specific to the title at hand but the included 42nd Street documentary is well worth a look. Recommended.
I don’t mind the film but I do have a tendency to snooze as some of the bulky duration just means we see people wandering around a house in a thunderstorm – too often. However when the gruel happens it is an unflinching wallop in the guts. Can see why it got 1980’s Daily Mail readers in a fluster , even though 99% didn’t actually see it. A worthwhile watch and addition to the Video nasty hysteria generated by an old school tory government back in the day. Worth watching for the foetus chomping scene alone – a perfect exercise in schlock, bad taste and , for it’s time, boundary pushing to see how nauseous a movie can make the viewer – to think the police at the time thought it was a snuff movie – hahahaha. I love it ! 88 Films triumphs again in trms of print and package – thank you !!
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Joe D’Amato and George Eastman teamed up several times over the years, bringing some of the most notorious movies ever made to the screen. This is one of them.
Presented here, uncut again at long last. It’s not as nasty as it appeared way back in the 80s. It’s well paced and well made. Several Cult names appear here. If you’re into this sort of film, there’s nothing I can say you won’t know already.
It’s stalk and slash. For those who don’t know it. Pretty violent in places. At one time, there were some people who for some unexplainable reason thought this was a snuff movie??? It isn’t. What it is, is a good film well worth owning if you like Cult Horror Films.
What surprised me most about the unpronounceable, in my case, Italian shocker was the time spent with the characters. You get to see the various aspects of all the relationships and how this group of folk are interconnected. Then the blood and guts happen and they are outstanding in their effectiveness and their gross nature. These are vicious and visceral horrors. But then there is a really good story as to why everything is happening as well. This was most unexpected but a really neat addition to this seminal D’Amato horror flick.
Well, this film IS boring, dumb and ludicrous. There are good moments in it (possibly stolen from other films), and camerawork is decent enough, but otherwise this film is a doubtful cinematic pleasure. As for the edition – I’ve no reservations about quality of the picture, restoration is skilful and visually pleasing (true to the source, for that matter). To my mind, there should be more bonus content – only half-hour interview is miniscule for that piece of a … cult.
The item came really fast, in perfect condition.Everything is as described.
The story is great – real fun,picture quality is perfect.100 % entertainment.The price is cheap so, don’t hesitate – BUY IT NOW!
Well nows your chance with this excellent release on Bluray.
The picture and sound quality will never be perfect but the original source material probably wasn’t that great to begin with.
That said, this is a very decent presentation of this gorey little shocker.
Tourists on a cruising holiday land on a seemingly deserted Greek island only to find that the entire population has fallen foul of a mad ghoulish cannibal, and I must say, what an appetite he must have!
Great location for this film and it is well paced too with genuine creepiness.
Theres a great documentary on the disc as well which is all about the sleazy Times square movie houses in New York and the kind of movies they used to show back in the day.
Much better than its reputation suggests, this grisly Italian horror has some great atmospheric moments. There’s a fair bit of gore including the infamous fetus eating scene and is one of the Italian directors better efforts. Might be a bit slow for those wanting action all the time but I liked it and the 88 films release is the best it’s ever looked.
*UK genre label 88 Films take their second stab at Joe D’Amato’s infamous video nasty Anthropophagous The Beast with a brand new transfer touted as being sourced from a 2k scan of the original 16mm negative. Extra features also change with the 42nd Street documentary from the first pressing being the biggest omission but this is replaced by a 30 minute interview with actor George Eastman, an exclusive deleted scene and interview with film historian Alessio di Rocco. My copy also came with an attractive soft touch slip cover (which may be an exclusive to the 88 Films site) and a reversible cover but sadly no insert booklet or artwork which have found their way into 88’s releases as of late.*
Joe D’Amato’s infamous video nasty Anthropophagous The Beast makes it’s worldwide Blu ray debut here from UK indie label 88 Films. For a first here in Blighty this controversial and long time banned Italian splatter classic is presented completely uncut and uncensored retaining all the scenes which the BBFC deemed as to grotesque for words back during the debacle that was the video nasty witch hunt of the early 80s. As a neat touch 88 Films have provided this new release with reversible cover art with the original back-in the day VHS sleeve from VFP being an option. It is also worth mentioning that the opening credits bear one of the films many alternative titles which in this case is The Savage Island.
Synopsis:
With an opening that sets the tone for the movie perfectly we follow a young, loved up German couple as they make their way through a maze like Greek village and down to a secluded beach. Whilst the guy relaxes listening to jazzy funk music through a ridiculously large pair of headphones the girl goes for a dip in the inviting blue Mediterranean. On seeing a deserted fishing boat she investigates only to be attacked from below by an unseen assailant. In a incredibly creepy sequence the still unseen attacker makes his way onto the beach with only his point of view shown. With blood spotting onto the sand he walks over to the oblivious guy and plants a meat cleaver firmly in his head.
Cut to Athens where we meet up with a group of tourists who charter a sailing boat for a spot of island hopping. After meeting up with Julie (Tisa Farrow of Zombie Flesh Eaters)a young women traveling alone the group decide to offer her a lift to an island which she describes as paradise where she is to meet up with some friends with whom she is to spend the summer. One of the party Carol (Zora Kerova of Cannibal Ferox) sees Julie as a potential threat with her boyfriend lavishing far too much attention on her and when her tarot cards warn of impending doom she is even more apprehensive about the trip.
On arriving at the island it becomes apparent that something is amiss as there doesent appear to be a living soul in sight. Leaving their boat and a pregnant member of their party at the jetty in the capable hands the ships captain they set off to find Julie’s friends but find that the whole of the island is completely deserted apart from an eerie women dressed in black who seems intent on evading the small group but whom leaves warning messages informing them to leave. Unnoticed by the group their ships captain is killed, the pregnant women is kidnapped and the boat is left to drift away. When a stormy weather front forces their now unmanned boat out to sea the increasingly agitated travellers believing that the captain has moved it for safety reasons realise they must take shelter in one of the many empty villas until morning. It is only during this dark windswept night that they come to know the full horror as to why nobody remains on the picturesque island as they are picked off by a huge lumbering cannibalistic madman (Italian genre legend George Eastman)who has already killed all the residents including his own wife and son and who has now got his sights set on the group of tourists.
Disregarding the decent tension building opening sequence in many ways Anthropophagous could be thought of as a film of two halves with the first forty minutes or so certainly qualifying as quite possibly the most boring and inane horror film to come out of Italy or anywhere else for that matter. Of course there are nice little snippets of chilling atmosphere mostly down to the deserted island setting and the creepy lady in black but there are also far to many soap opera style scenes of characters standing around exchanging less than interesting dialogue and second unit travelogue footage of the Greek locales. But once the storm hits and we catch our first glimpse of the heavily made up, scraggly haired George Eastman the movie has a truly frightening presence building to a crescendo of edge of your seat horror and censor baiting gore for the final 25 minutes.
As with alot of spaghetti horror films Anthropophagous The Beast is an acquired taste and may well be a chore to sit through for those uninitiated in the delights of Euro schlock. As for it’s video nasty status it is indeed grotesquely unpleasant at key moments with one famous moment so sick in intention alone that I am still amazed that the BBFC passed it. Despite the repulsive nature of these set pieces they are indeed few and far between meaning that D’Amato does have to rely on mood, atmosphere and some surprisingly gripping scenes to tell his story with which he mostly succeeds despite his reputation as shoot them quick and get them in the can hack. Indeed this is surprisingly well done helped immeasurably by a number of perfect horror film settings and well photographed cinematography. The empty, whitewashed seaside village, the crumbling derelict ruins and the dark maze like catacombs complete with decomposing mummified bodies all add a sense of unease to the proceedings whilst the towering 6ft 9in George Eastman is perfect as the hulking intimidating monster.
Like alot of the video nasties Anthropophagous isn’t without it’s fair share of problems and had it not been for the whole video nastly debacle would have been all but forgotten today. Nevertheless Joe D’Amato’s picture remains a relatively engaging and sick piece of schlock that despite the thin plot and slow start is well worth staying with for the duration if only for the surprisingly tense and well crafted final half hour.
Picture:
*After a rather poor show with their first release of Anthropophagous, 88 Films go back to the original 16mm camera negative for this new 2k scan. Presented in an AVC encoded MPEG 4 1080p transfer and again framed at the more European friendly aspect ratio of 1.66:1, this is an immediate improvement and the best to date whilst still possessing a few possibly source related issues.
First impressions are reasonably good with a far fresher and stable image with noticeably crisper, more natural contrast especially for the sunny daytime scenes. The quality still looks like 16mm (which it should) with a rather thick and at times flat feel to the high def visuals but depth is apparent in a number of instances and fluidity in motion is improved upon. Detail and textures are fine for 16mm with close ups picking out more Iife in character faces and textures in clothing whilst the rundown feel of the village and the surrounding countryside complete with the ruins are handled in a convincing enough way. Long to medium shots are still a little soft and lacking but are still a noticeable advancement over the previous transfer.
Black levels are still unfortunately problematic looking somewhat pale with visible crush and a rather murky feel but are better resolved thanks to defter grain management compared to the older disc resulting in less noise in the darker sections and increased shadow detail.
Colours do advance over the 2015 transfer and whilst they can still on occasion appear slightly anaemic primaries are indeed richer with the saturation of reds and greens benefiting the most. Blood now looks deeper, greens lusher and skin tones more life-like without any of the tinting which has plagued other Italian titles that have hit Blu ray from 88 Films which I am sure is down to the colour correction used on this new scan.
Unfortunately some damage is still prevalent throughout with occasional white specs, hairs in the gate and the occasional line. There is also some odd flickering around the 59th and 64th minute mark with what looks like some sort of chemical staining and minor colour fluctuations are visible during the dinghy scene. The wonderful 16mm grain structure thankfully remains intact for this remaster and now looks far more organic and filmic than the 2015 version. Yes this is rather heavy but it does suit the gritty visuals perfectly whilst also aiding overall clarity allowing details in the foreground to come through easier than on the smoother looking original release. Thankfully too the encoding is more than up to the difficult task of handling this (to my eyes at any rate) with nothing in the way of digital anomalies to disrupt the viewing experience.
It is also worth noting that this new transfer also seems to display more information in the 1.66 frame if there weren’talready enough reason to upgrade.
I have to admit that I have owned more copies of Anthropophagous than I care to remember and like anyone else who has seen D’Amato’s picture as many times as myself I’m sure you’ll agree it has never been a pretty movie. This new Blu ray with it’s recently sourced 2k scan is without a doubt the best available and whilst far from perfect is possibly as good as The Beast will look for the foreseeable future if ever and comes highly recommended to fans whilst newcomer’s can be rest assured that they are seeing the best version in current circulation.*
Anthropophagous The Beast lurches itself onto Blu ray for the first time in a problematic AVC encoded MPEG 4 1080p transfer framed at the more European friendly aspect ratio of 1.66:1. For the record this new Blu ray release from 88 Films is an improvement on any standard definition DVD I have seen but is still far from what you would consider a good transfer. On the whole the image looks brighter with much better contrast meaning that the daytime scenes are reasonably crisp and solid but unfortunately unremarkable. There is an uptick in detail during a handful of scenes namely the exteriors where textures in buldings, rocks, pebbles on the beach and foliage are visible to a certain extent although depth and dimensionality are distractingly lacking. Sadly the vast majority of the transfer is soft and flat and varies from scene to scene especially interiors which lack even the basic facial complexities of the cast and can look dark and dingy although a scattering of close-up shots of big George Eastman do show off his peeling sunburnt make-up reasonably well. The colour palette is rather muted with even the Mediterranean skies and sea looking far more grey than blue but reds have slightly more pop for the numerous gore scenes and Zora Kerova’s shirt whilst greens for the grass around the ruin are reasonably robust. There are moments where the colours can be inconsistent with the flashback sequence of Eastman killing his family in the boat being one prime example with the sea fluctuating from blue to an odd green tinge and skin tones exhibiting a flushed appearance.
The image also has some stability problems with a distracting warping effect and the grain which is present but not overly thick (especially during brighter moments of the film) doesent always appear natural or filmic with spiking around light sources, mosquito noise and smearing in motion. The sandpapery grain is much more prominent for interior scenes which can cause problems for the black levels too, sapping shadow detail and causing the transfer to look overly noisy. But again this varies with some nighttime sequences exhibiting some fairly penetrating blacks albeit with slight but noticable crush. The brighter contrast during the lower lit passages does indeed reveal more background details making scenes that were overly dark on previous editions far more discernable but again the gritty grain field can disrupt the viewing experience.
Strangely print damage is kept at a complete minimum with only the odd flash present which is a pleasant surprise considering the roughness of the overall quality of this release and the 1.66:1 framing is far more generous than previous editions looking better balanced with more information in the frame. Anthropophagous has never been a pretty film thanks to it’s low budget 16mm origins and the trend remains here although this is by far the most watchable I have ever seen this notorious Italian shocker and long time fans will definatly notice the upgrade however slight. It is also worth noting for any potential buyers who are judging this on screen caps alone that this looks far better in motion.
Audio:
*The audio for this new release also rights a number of the wrongs that plagued the older version. Presented with a choice of either English or Italian (with newly translated English subtitles) in the films original mono this is delivered in 24bit LPCM 2.0 at 2034kbps. The English track on the 2015 version was far from great with balancing issues and off centre mono audio. The new audio now features a much better balance between music and effects and everything is also delivered dead centre as mono should. The dubbed dialogue is as clear as can be although this still sounds detached despite lip sync being reasonably good. There is though some light background crackle and hiss during the quieter moments and the organ sections of the score exhibit slight clipping but overall this is much easier on the ears.
It is also worth noting that the opening scene with the German couple is now correctly subtitled in English which wasn’t the case before.*
88 Films present this video nasty in an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 channel mono offering which like the picture has more than it’s fair share of issues. The track is at times quite loud and brash with alot of harsh sounding top end meaning that the ear offending travelogue style soundtrack can at times sound excruciating. That said the more 80s sounding electronic section of the score is far better reproduced even exhibiting slight depth. The dubbed dialogue is for the most part clear but with that canned almost ditached quality often associated with Italian movies of a particular vintage and as to be expected this sounds flat and lacking in dynamic range although a few ominous rumbles of thunder and other foley effects possess some aggression. By far the most disappointing aspect of the lossless soundtrack happens around the 40 minute mark where the well centred mono audio shifts bias to the left hand side making the audio sound of kilter for the remainder of the runtime. This was much more noticable through headphones and when played back through a reciever the Dolby Pro Logic did centre the audio a little more precisely although it still doesent sound as focused in the middle of the screen as it should have done. The included Italian soundtrack which again rarely matches lip movements has no such problems and sounds slightly less harsh with good English subtitles that offer alternative translation to the English dub track. It is also worth noting that the German dialogue at the start of the movie desent have subtitles for either soundtrack and as far as I believe was intended to be like this although my old German DVD did have English subtitles for this scene as well as a slightly different music score.
Extras:
*Extras too for this new release are significantly different. This 2017 disc drops the admittedly good 42nd Street documentary but does include a half hour interview with star of Anthropophagous big George Eastman. This is an excellent chat (which looks to incorporate two separate interviews) with Eastman talking about Anthropophagous and his friendship with director Joe D’Amato as well as his career in screenwriting. He also goes onto mention the more salacious pictures he made with D’Amato in the Caribbean (which he just saw as a vacation) with information on the stars of the movies including Laura Gemser, Gabrielle Tinti and even Porno Holocaust star Mark Shannon! Well worth a look for fans of European horror.
Also included is a short, never seen before deleted scene which is quite gruesome in it’s intent but shoddy special effects let it down which is quite possibly why is this hit the cutting room floor.
To round off the new extras is a short interview with Italian film critic Alessio di Rocco, alternative Italian opening and closing credits and trailers. As always from 88 Films this features a reversible cover but this time around there is no sign of the original video nasty art work that came with the 2015 version.*
Despite having nothing really to do with the accompanying feature the main extra on this new Blu ray from 88 Films is an informative and thoroughly entertaining 80min documentary entitled ’42nd Street:The Rise And Fall Of America’s Most Notorious Block’. Anything you could possibly want to know about this now defunct mecca for exploitation films is included in this shot in HD production. Featuring input from directors, producers and even adult movie stars who’s movie’s did the rounds on the infamous New york street this is a fascinating account featuring still photographs, trailers and movie clips. All the participants relive their memories of what sounded like a rollicking good time although the dark and seedier aspects are also brought to the fore often in graphic detail.
Also included are the original Italian opening credits and a collection of Anthropophagous theatrical trailers all in pretty rough shape that kind of make you realise that the picture transfer on this Blu ray isn’t really that bad.
Conclusion:
*The movie remains as nasty and as mean spirited as ever but this newly released version of Joe D’Amato’s infamous Anthropophagous The Beast with it’s 2k scan and more relevant extras is a worthy upgrade for fans and those buying for the first time it is the version to own.*
This Blu ray release from 88 Films marks yet another of the so called video nasties getting a shiny new HD release. The movie itself is far from perfect but has enough gore and atmosphere to make it of interest to fans of Euro horror or director Joe D’Amato. Truth be told the picture transfer could be better but unless new elements are found, a different source utilised or a complete new scan is performed I doubt much more could really have been done here and it is good to finally get this uncut in the UK. As mentioned the sound is a little bit of a let down and there are no real extras specific to the title at hand but the included 42nd Street documentary is well worth a look. Recommended.
I don’t mind the film but I do have a tendency to snooze as some of the bulky duration just means we see people wandering around a house in a thunderstorm – too often. However when the gruel happens it is an unflinching wallop in the guts. Can see why it got 1980’s Daily Mail readers in a fluster , even though 99% didn’t actually see it. A worthwhile watch and addition to the Video nasty hysteria generated by an old school tory government back in the day. Worth watching for the foetus chomping scene alone – a perfect exercise in schlock, bad taste and , for it’s time, boundary pushing to see how nauseous a movie can make the viewer – to think the police at the time thought it was a snuff movie – hahahaha. I love it ! 88 Films triumphs again in trms of print and package – thank you !!