Cannibal Girls

David Cronenberg said he was the first man to make a horror film in Canada, but I think this was made first. (unless it wasn't considered a horror film). SCTV's Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin star as couple who goes to a small town filled with strange people who turns out to be cannibals. The film is low on horror and dead on comedy. American International Pictures didn't know what to do with this film, so they tacked in a door bell sound to warn the viewers of all the shock scenes. (would be shock scenes is more like it). Siskel & Ebert gave this film "The Dog of the Week" back in 1980. Reitman second directional effort is a misfire to horror fans, but it's an intresting film looking back at it now.

This movie is pretty boring, but it DOES have a young Eugene Levy in a big messed-up afro, sideburns and sunglasses. That aside, it's either scary or funny and I woulden't recommended it. But it's watchable, most due to Eugene Levy (the genius from Waiting for Guffman and American Pie I & II).

The film is about a couple, played by young Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin in their pre-SCTV days, that rent a room in a small town called Farnhamville. It is here in this rather desolated, out-of-the-way town that the two hear about an old legend about three cannibal girls and their atrocious murdering. It turns out, of course, that the legend is in fact reality and not so old as explained. The film has some bright spots including some humorous touches added by the performances of the two leads. Reitman, yes that is right...Reitman the director of such blockbusters as Ghostbusters, creates a pretty good atmosphere of bleakness especially in the town scenes.

Considering the budget used, this is a pretty good cheap thriller high on atmosphere and low on plot. The story is weird...to put it bluntly. There is a goodly amount of gore and red blood as well to contribute to the atmosphere. The sets are cheap, the film quality is cheap, the acting unknown even to this day aside from the two leads, and the story is inane. Nonetheless I can think of worse ways to waste 90 minutes, so if you get the chance...take a peek and see if your curiosity is peaked.

Guess Charles Manson and his "cult" inspired the movie. What you get is some "reverend" and his cult craving for some blood and flesh, all shot in nice B-movie trash style of the 70s. The story: a young couple (like two years later Brand and Janet in Rocky Horror Picture Show) get in trouble with a lunatic master and his adepts.

What we get are a few "gore" (tame for today's hardened eyes and souls) effects here and there and some beautiful nude 70s ladies who could all be hired from some Boney M or ABBA performance dance group, and some poor guys and gals getting themselves killed and served for food.

Tasty for the lover of bad taste. Everyone else - avoid.

There is an explanation to the disjointed and jumbled storyline. From what I read, the movie was originally made in 1971 as a cheap quickie by producers Reitman and Goldberg, largely depending on improvisation. On seeing the completed footage, they felt that they could get a good distribution deal if they made some alterations... which took about two years to complete!

So it's no wonder that with all this make-it-up-as-we-go-along for two years that the finished product makes little sense - and moves awfully slow as it tries to figure out what to do with itself. It seems to have been intended as a horror comedy, but it doesn't work as such. The comedy, apart from a couple of moments that induce small smirks, is not only bad in itself, it's delivered with almost no energy. Levy and Martin show nothing of the zaniness they brought out later in their careers.

The horror moments are marginally better; the crudeness of the production does give a few of these moments an effective grittiness. There are some other moments that could have also worked had they not been spoiled by some terrible acting (voice and posing) by the actors.

I suspect you might have guessed already that this is a bad movie, considering how the movie has never received a video release or is readily available on cable or TV (at least in the U.S.) despite its association with Levy, Martin, and Reitman. Don't expect a DVD release of it any time soon - even MGM (which now owns the A.I.P. catalog) isn't *that* desperate!