The Long Island Cannibal Massacre

Nathan Schiff, along with his friends, made 4 no-budget underground gore films ranging from the late 70's to the early 90's...this being his second film. Shot on Super 8 with virtually no budget, even the music is borrowed from other films(through out the movie you'll hear music from the original Night of the Living Dead).

I find it amusing that people watch movies with titles like Long Island Cannibal Massacre, Weasels Rip My Flesh, They Don't Cut The Grass Anymore and then complain about the acting and plot(or lack there of) Seriously, why are you watching these kind of movies if that's what you're looking for? Nathan Schiff himself said that if he had had more money and better actors he wouldn't be making these kind of movies. I knew going into this that it was extremely low budget, and the point was to show gore...so I wasn't disappointed.

Cannibal Massacre is probably Schiff's best example of gore..some of the scenes are actually impressive...for instance there is a scene where a woman is disemboweled....all these scenes are shot at extreme close ups, and they linger there...and when the killer is pulling out her intestines(all the intestines used in Cannibal Massacre were real animal intestines acquired from butchers)it is quite effective and believable...another great example of well done gore effects is the chainsaw scene....(like another commenter said) the chainsaw scene was real and was very close to the actor's face...on the DVD Schiff said the only things separating the chainsaw blade and the actor was animal meat, and a kevlar vest.

The DVD release contains some interesting contents- interviews with Nathan Schiff, and two of his long time friends who have acted in his movies...also a full running commentary that I found entertaining because Schiff sounds like Jon Lovitz...I kept waiting for him to say- "That's the ticket"

If you're a fan HG Lewis, Frank Hennenlotter, Tim Ritter, Troma films then you should give Schiff a try...

Forget zero-budget, this is the step before that. This is a home movie project with a few friends and an optimistic approach to effects. Unfortunately the script, acting and effects all combine to let this film down. You need to be seriously drunk before appreciating its humour, though I wouldn't get rid of it out of my collection, so it must have some unknown value.

PLOT

A brutal series of murders has Long Island police baffed. Now its up to tough-as-nails Inspector Cameron (J. Smihula) to solve this blood-spattered riddle , which by the way , leads to an unspeakable secret….

COMMENTS

This is another `non-budget' horror flick by Nathan Schiff which I bought immediately as it appeared on Amazon , Feb. 25. After watching `They Don't Cut The Grass Anymore' I was ready for this one kind of knowing what could Schiff show audience in this flick. Well , I wasn't disappointed. The movie is 92 mins long , and its set better that `They Don't Cut…'. As always there is blood , guts ,organs and everything else all around but at least this flick has sort of a plot. It has some detective/thriller elements , though they are very childish and cannot be taken seriously. The acting is poor as always in Schiff's movies but also better than in `They Don't Cut…' . John Smihula along with Fred Borges give solid performances, enough I think not to fall asleep. Actually you won't be able to fall asleep every time a murder scene starts. Everything is shown up-close and in very graphic manner. Some elements such as cannibal masks , ripped body parts look pretty unrealistic , which is good at some point , for weak-stomached viewers. For gore hounds , other effects such as flesh ripping and cannibalism are very well made and look truly disgusting. Other options of this movie are less successful. Dialogs are short , stupid at times and make you think that N. Schiff wrote them for kids.

Movie is shot with a cheap home camera & doesn't look professional (which is typical for N. Schiff's movies). Every time a new scene begins you can hear a sound of a camera being turned on (or something like that).

Music is annoying and makes you search for a 'mute' button after 25-30 minutes. DVD quality is not really good but watchable. Extras include gallery , trailers for : `They Don't Cut The Grass Anymore' and `Weasels Rip My Flesh' , interviews with John Smihula , Fred Borges and the director himself Nathan Schiff.

OVERALL

Recommended for gore hounds only. Don't expect anything else from this movie. If you like `They Don't Cut The Grass Anymore' and `Weasels Rip My Flesh' , then you will like this one. Otherwise avoid it , don't even bother.

The second flick by no-budget horror gorehound Nathan Schiff. Shot on a super 8 and oftentimes you can hear the camera rolling through the scenes. The acting is below subpar, the plot is ridiculously bad, and the camera-work sloppy. But the gore is what you watch when you decide to sit down to a Nathan Schiff film. What he lacks in terms of money and casting, he majors in giving you the violent gore you so deserve.

And really that's about the only reason you'd ever sit down to watch this. B/c you're a sick depraved bastard who can't get enough of animal intestines being ripped out of a young girl's body and chainsaws ripping through deranged psychos' chests. Yum.

The Long Island Cannibal Massacre is a movie in the tradition of Herschell Gordon Lewis gore masterpieces. Lots and lots of gore, intestines and blood every were. The movie is slow-paced sometimes and quite boring but the gory climax is superb. The impalation scene and the chainsaw one are pure movie magic. OK, its very low budget. Its shot on 8mm film, the actors are very bad, this ain't no Hollywood, if you expect a Hollywood horror movie, this is not for you. You will enjoy this gem if you like gore movies, no-budget movies and party bloody movies.

6/10