Mini Review: Cannibal Apocalypse (1980)

From http://wrongsideoftheart.com/wp-content/gallery/posters-c/cannibal_apocalypse_poster_01.jpg

Dir. Antonio Margheriti

Italy-Spain

[Note: The following is a start of a new post type on this blog, capsule reviews for films that need their own reviews separate from the This Week... series, which will return soon, but do not need a longer review. I hope these will be as of interest as every other type of post too.]

I’ve always found the pace in Antonio Margheriti films unbelievably sluggish. About a virus, that causes people to become cannibals, which is unleashed into an urban environment, Cannibal Apocalypse has a potentially great idea. The infected individuals, who first spread the plague, are Vietnam veterans, with John Saxon’s protagonist as the commander who is bitten by one of his infected men during the opening Vietnam scene and must deal with, years later, the likelihood of the disease corrupting him, an interesting take on the after effects of war from within the Italian cannibal subgenre. The Antonio Margheriti films I’ve seen as well always had potential in their production especially since he had a talent for action choreograph. Sadly this film feels like an impersonal film that goes from A to B without any sense of thrill, emotional connection or, excluding a well known gore moment, any visceral punch.

The plot is erratic as well, not becoming a cannibal virus film, or having anything to do with cannibalism for the most part aside some gory afterthoughts, or becoming a film fully from the perspectives of the infected Vietnam vets who are being hunted down. There are many plot holes in the film, but the real issue is how it never goes anywhere truly interesting. It takes a long, needless amount of time to get to the virus breaking out, but it never feels impactful, and after that the characters and plot threads are too threadbare to have any effect. It is extremely dull. The only thing of worth really from this former Video Nasty is one of the most effective gore scenes from Italian cinema which is, sadly, spoilt on the UK DVD cover even if the film is not good. Giovanni Lombardo Radice, who I’ve gotten into as an actor ever since viewing the DVD extras for the Arrow Video release of City of the Living Dead (1980), is also of interest alongside John Saxon, but the annoying thing is, like many Video Nasties, this is just a mediocre and ultimately tedious genre film.

Frpm http://www.horror-extreme.com/images/cannibal-apocalypse/cannibal-apocalypse-3.jpg

They got tons of popcorn there... [Strike Commando (1987)]

From http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7v80bgyJ01qg9b4bo1_500.jpg

Dir. Bruno Mattei

Italy

First I will make the confession that, when dealing with a film that capitalised on the Rambo series, I have only seen Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985). I liked it on the first viewing, the politics of the film making it fascinating to scrutinise as well, but on the second viewing it was a drudge to sit through. It felt like a slog, and to be frank, for all its explosions and helicopters, I was bored seeing the same Vietcong being killed on mass in front of the same green trees and rocky waterfalls. In terms of Vietnam genre cinema, and the macaroni combat sub-genre Bruno Mattei’s film is part of, Italian made war/WWII/Vietnam films, Strike Commando is sadly not the film that will win me over at the moment.

From http://s3.amazonaws.com/auteurs_production/images/film/strike-commando/w448/strike-commando.bmp?1326905255

With his squadron destroyed by his own side, Sgt. Mike Ransom (Reb Brown) is a very angry man, only willing to locate a Russian operated camp in North Vietnam for the commander who had his men blown up if a Vietnamese village that rescued him is escorted to safety. As his mission continues however, Ransom will be pushed into becoming a one man army. The film, not helped by my complete disinterest in the repetitive jungle sequences, is a pretty bland action film. Mattei, despite the lower budget, still manages to make the film look quite good in terms of scope, but it also never rises about merely being a c-grade action film with an occasional brightspot. That there are clear similarities to certain sequences from Rambo: First Blood Part II to this, despite the differences, makes this blandness worse, the repetition undermining Strike Commando as one could go and watch that film instead.

From http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/STRIKE-APOCALYPSE.jpg

The only thing that interested me, bar Mattei’s obsession with characters shouting at each other at the top of their voices, is Reb Brown himself. When he’s able to say anything that is not grunted machismo or not directly inspired from Rambo, usually screamed at the top of his voice, I can understand why this is a cult hit amongst some people. The ‘Disneyland’ speech, which should be infamous in the macaroni combat genre, is the so-bad-its-amusing moment of the film, but the version of the movie I wish I saw only takes place with Brown’s final piece of dialogue before the end credits that breaks the fourth wall. The rest of the film, bar an occasionally amusing moment, is the kind of action film I am not that interested in, not ridiculous or gaudy enough, neither unique or spectacular to engage me. The film is just boring and a disappointing considering how large its reputation in certain cult film circles it is. At least with something like the American low budget film Deadly Prey (1987), while not being the best of films in existence, it riffs on the Rambo iconography to make something barmier as well as distinct.

From https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgggYvTtykqDx1EKRbxHec-k3E-Hk_eDNpiAr2R_nE5HmH1ppa9pKFoyffSVRYtlKha-uyiIjpGURGCrogb6z7x0TLbsuiVVYuEs_4QqZnUXCI7MAbk9-Qm4VudTX4pndsmStuWHxgYY3I/s1600/Strike-Commando-8.jpg