Papaya dei Caraibi

Joe D'Amato seems to be Italy's answer to Jess Franco. As most of you no doubt know, this means he made a ridiculous number of exploitation films and pornos. Like Franco too, his output usually has the feeling of a man with a little bit of talent making a film with great speed and little concern for the end result. In fairness, Franco did at the very least direct some interesting and stylish erotic horror films but in the case of D'Amato it's simply trash all the way.

Love Goddess of the Cannibals is a sexploitation movie in the guise of a cannibal flick. Presumably it was retitled to this moniker to cash in on the brief cannibal craze in Italian cinema circa 1978-81. I say that it must've been repositioned to exploit this craze after the event because the movie has extremely little flesh-eating action. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure if there was any at all. What it does have though is lots and lots of sex and nudity. There are several endless soft-core fumbles that are surprisingly dull, all things considered. The best part in the film I thought was the native ceremony where some naked people get down and dance to some hilariously inappropriate 70's Euro funk. Sadly, there aren't too any other highlights for anyone who is not a D'Amato disciple. The pacing is pretty terrible and not a whole lot really seems to happen although the Caribbean location is admittedly quite diverting and does give the film a certain exotic flavour. It stars Maurice Poli of Rabid Dogs fame. It's a bit of an artistic fall for Maurice working under the great Mario Bava, only to then be prancing around with his John Thomas flapping about in a Joe D'Amato flick four years later.

It must be said that, alongside Jess Franco, Joe D'Amato is one of the undisputed kings of exploitation. His films such as Anthropophagous, Beyond the Darkness, Images in a Convent, Caligula: The Untold Story and his sleaze-filled Black Emanuelle sagas are bona fide classicks of the "genre". Papaya: Love Goddess of the Cannibals is one of his lesser known titles which has now been made available fully uncensored for the first time on DVD by the fine folks at Severin Films.

Maurice Poli (Rabid Dogs, Five Dolls for an August Moon) is part of a team of Geologists who, for reasons unexplained, are installing a nuclear reactor on a remote Caribbean island paradise. Before long Maurice unexpectedly bumps into his old reporter friend Sirpa Lane (La Bete) who just happens to be vacationing on the island. (Cue plenty of softcore sex as the old chums get reacquainted). When the couple picks up a hitchhiking native named Papaya, she tells them of an ancient annual ritual happening nearby and they decide to go along and check it out… and end up getting much more than they bargained for.

Papaya opens with probably one of the best scenes in the film; island sexpot Papaya seduces a bearded Geologist in his hut by rubbing fruit on his body then castrates him with her teeth. This is the first of two scenes of cannibalism in the film. The rest of it is pretty much held together with an abundance of sex set against a picturesque tropical backdrop and a vague plot which involves the natives protesting against having a nuclear reactor built on their island by having Papaya seduce and kill all the Geologists involved.

The title of the film is very misleading and the name on the actual print is Caribbean Papaya which makes much more sense because as mentioned above there are only two very brief scenes of cannibalism, the aforementioned one and another which is during the cannibal ritual and involves the eating of a sacrificial victims heart and some dead pigs being graphically gutted.

One thing there is no lack of though is sex & nudity - Nordic sleaze princess Sirpa Lane gets her kit off plenty and so does Melissa Chimenti who plays local temptress Papaya and looks a little like transvestite actor/tress Ajita Wilson which can be either a good or bad thing I guess depending on your orientation. The sex can sometimes be pretty graphic for softcore and there's plenty of variety from interracial couplings to threesomes and even a full-blown "cannibal" orgy underscored with some irresistibly funky disco beats.

Ultimately I cant say this is a must-have D'Amato film; it's basically a mediocre softcore fare with some vague cannibalism themes thrown in for added shock value. For Sirpa Lane fan-boys and/or D'Amato completists only.

I finally obtained a copy of this very obscure D'Amato film. After successfully tolerating both "Erotic Nights of The Living Dead" and "Porno Holocaust," I found it necessary to further push the limits of my tolerance with this, another D'Amato porno/horror galivanting-in-paradise film. First off, I don't speak German, and since this film only exists in a German dubbed print I had to get what I could out of the body language, of which there was quite a lot, albeit of the sexual kind. I couldn't help but snicker at myself about what I have become. Here I am watching a more than likely 8th generation bootleg in a language I don't even speak. Yet I am intent on seeing it and have no inclination to stop it. Have I gone insane? Has the awesome power of Italian Horror Sleaze turned me into one of its own zombies? Though this film is terrible, it possesses a charm that I can't resist. It is the same charm that has afforded me the will to watch about %50 of D'Amato's output. The beautiful Caribbean scenery, the sexy women, the pig slaughter, the leg-crossing oral castration that opens the film, all culminate into one rediculous, schizophrenic movie. I guess that is what most of D'Amato's horror/porn films are...schizophrenic. Worth watching if you are a hardcore D'Amato fan, otherwise don't buy into those video bootleg companies who try to promote it like its some crazy, gory, sex filled cannibal romp Because its not. There is plenty of softcore sex, some gore but not much. There is only one scene of cannibalism (not counting the castration scene). This film can be sometimes found under the title "Papaya: Love Goddess Of The Cannibals." From what I could tell, this film had more to do with Voodoo then cannibalism. Nonetheless, I liked the film, I love D'Amato and I don't apologize for indulging in this kind of sleaze. Cheers Joe! May you rest in peace!

The titular character of Joe D'amato's Papaya, Love Goddess of the Cannibals is an exotic dark-skinned beauty played by Melissa Chimenti; I'm guessing that Laura Gemser wasn't available. Papaya belongs to a tribe who are fighting back against industrialists planning to build a nuclear reactor on their tropical island. Using sex as bait, Papaya lures her victims into deadly traps, her latest target being geologist Vincent (Maurice Poli). Vincent is drawn to a remote village where he and his companion, reporter Sara (Sirpa Lane - average face, great body), are forced to participate in a voodoo ritual, and are subsequently held captive, both falling under the erotic spell of Papaya.

Kicking off things with an oral castration, Papaya, Love Goddess of the Cannibals looks set to be one hell of a trashy treat for fans of Italian sleaze, but the film turns out to be far less brutal than expected, the bulk of the film focussing on the main characters sexual liaisons: Papaya, Vincent and Sara play 'pass the partner', with the leader of the island rebels joining in the fun later on. Anyone watching for splattery cannibalistic action will be sorely disappointed: apart from the opening emasculation, the only other gory moment comes during the the islander's 'round stone' ritual, where two dead pigs are eviscerated and a man has his heart cut out and eaten. Other than that, it's just an endless succession of soft-core coupling (albeit with full frontal from both sexes), and very little in the way of plot; while this might still appeal to many D'amato fans, I found it all rather dull and repetitive.

4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for the twist ending, the only original thing about the whole film, and for the funky disco music that gets the islanders naked and gyrating during the round stone ritual.

If you're looking for gore in this film, you'll probably be disappointed. Apart from two brief moments of cannibalism and the slaughtering of two dead pigs, there is nothing else worth mentioning. I believe that this time D'Amato's heart was more in the erotic aspect. And he either got lucky or he got smart with the casting here, because it is spot-on: the actress who plays Papaya has a face that looks a little like Pam Grier's and a body to die for (and some men do!), and the blonde female lead is even more gorgeous, and a fairly capable actress as well. The true climax of the film is a 3-minute lesbian scene between them that is very well-done - one for the anthology books, as these things go. To sum up, as a horror film this gets a ** but as an erotic film it gets a ***.