Cannibal Terror / Devil Hunter (Blu-ray Review)

Cannibal Terror / Devil Hunter (Blu-ray Review)
Rated: UR/Region O/Widescreen/1080p/Number of Discs 1 (Share the same Disc)
Available from Severin Films

Cannibal Terror (1980) (Blu-ray Review)
Directed By: Alain Deruelle
Starring: Silvia Solar, Gérard Lemaire, Pamela Stanford

Even by the sleaziest standards of ’80s EuroTrash, it remains a film that must be seen to be believed: When a pair of criminal knuckleheads and their busty moll kidnap the young daughter of a wealthy tycoon, they foolishly choose to hide in a local jungle infested with ferocious cannibals. What follows is a mind-roasting exercise in atrocious acting, gratuitous nudity and gut-munching mayhem by a ravenous tribe of flesh eaters who inexplicably sport comb-overs and Elvis sideburns. Robert Foster (INCONFESSABLE ORGIES OF EMMANUELLE), Pamela Stanford (WHITE CANNIBAL QUEEN) and Burt Altman (THE DEVIL HUNTERS) star in this infamous Spanish/French co-production that was banned in Britain as one of the original ‘Video Nasties’ and is now presented uncut, uncensored and mastered in High-Def for the first time ever in America!

This movie is more along the lines of actual cannibal movie. Perhaps even more than anything you will find on the old Severin cannibal box set. So I’m not shocked to see it here. The movie covers some ground and goes from the jungle to other locations all the while really trying to bring something a little fresh to the cannibal table, but never goes too far off the tracks. It does perhaps gets a little too slow for its own good from time to time, but there is some blood and that might be enough to hold you down more or less since the story is interesting but slow. If you do like nudity, you will find more of that here than you can shake a stick at. The film got on that Video Nasty list for a reason and even if you take nothing else from the release here, at least you get it uncut like it should be. It might be an acquired taste of a film, but you could do much worse overall if you are looking for a cannibal flick or just a real nasty feeling flick.

I do want to mention that the movie looks great here. There are some scenes that look like they were filmed today and then we have some scenes that show signs of film damages and aren’t as great looking as the rest. The good side of the transfer is pretty amazing. So, as I’ve said before you get a really great transfer that makes it look a whole new film in compare to the old DVD, but Cannibal Holocaust or Cannibal Ferox this one isn’t. A little slow in spots, a little better in some spots, but it probably wouldn’t be on my list of essential cannibal movies if I was going to make one.

Extras

– Spicy Deleted Scene
– The Way of all Flesh: An Interview with Alain Deruelle aka Allan W Steeve
– Theatrical Trailer

Quality of Transfer: 89%

Devil Hunter (1980) (Blu-ray Review)
Directed By: Jesús Franco
Starring: Ursula Buchfellner, Al Cliver, Antonio Mayans

King Of EuroSleaze Jess Franco (BLOODY MOON, MACUMBA SEXUAL) takes on the `80s Cannibal genre and delivers a jungle sickie like no other! When a safari of sexy babes and violent boneheads ventures into native-crazed wilderness, Uncle Jess unleashes a deluge of relentless nudity, dubious anthropology and his own brand of cut-rate carnage. Ursula Fellner (SADOMANIA), Al Cliver (ZOMBIE), Robert Foster (CANNIBAL TERROR) and Gisela Hahn (CONTAMINATION) co-star in this original `Video Nasty — also tastefully known as SEXO CANNIBAL and MANDINGO MANHUNTER—with something to offend everyone, now fully restored from the original Spanish negative and presented uncut and uncensored for the first time ever in America!

Jess Franco’s weirdness is on full display with this cannibal flick, that isn’t like any cannibal movie you’ve ever seen I’m sure. There isn’t perhaps as much gore here as you’d want, but you have a film on your hands here that doesn’t look for much of a reason to keep the ladies topless for as long as humanly possible in the film. Look, this is Jess Franco, but I’m not so sure this was one that he really wanted to do a lot with. So as we see the stuff being tossed against the wall here we end up with typical Franco sleaze and just enough cannibal things tossed in to be able to call it a cannibal film without too many people taking a second look. It is odd, awkward, and the cannibal man in questions looks pretty far out, but if you know Jess Franco in pretty much anything outside Bloody Moon, then you know what to expect and it is up to you on if you can dig that or not.

Coming to us in a widescreen for, Devil Hunter does look amazing on Blu-ray here. Like with Cannibal Terror, Severin Films, went above and beyond to at least make things look good, regardless on if this was your cup of tea or not. I might not be the biggest fan of this Jess Franco film overall, but I am a fan of how the movie looks here regardless. So, to sum things up, if you are a fan of Jess Franco this is a movie that seems to go full Franco. Now that is a “for better or worse” type thing, so if that sounds like a good time for you in front of ol’ HDTV then by my guest. At least it looks great regardless of your Franco preference. And if you are going to enjoy a sleazy and strange cannibal movie, it might as well at least look good.

Extras

– Sexo Canibal Interview with Director Jess Franco
– Spirit of the B Hive: An Interview with Bertrand Altman

Quality of Transfer: 96%