VIDEO NASTIES – Cannibal Apocalypse

Published on: 12th August, 2009

VIDEO NASTIES - Cannibal Apocalypse  | read this item

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Of all the Italian-produced cannibal movies to be featured on the ‘Video Nasty’ list, perhaps the least offensive was Antonio Margheriti’s Apocalypse domani, more commonly known as Cannibal Apocalypse. Relatively low on gore, at least until the final act, the film was considerably less harsh than Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust or Umberto Lenzi’s reviled Cannibal Ferox, both of which boasted real footage of animal cruelty amongst its depravities. Like many of its contemporaries, Cannibal Apocalypse seemed to carry some kind of message, with its story of Vietnam vets driven to bloodlust upon returning home to America, echoing the climate in the country at that time. Yet, whilst many of the Italian cannibal flicks were set in far away jungles, transporting the viewer to a more barbaric world, Margheriti chose to tell his story in somewhere a little closer to home. Yet, despite his restraint over gore and nudity, the movie would still eventually fall foul of the censors, possibly due to its association with the more controversial cannibal films of the era.

The success of the cannibal cycle in the late seventies and early eighties could be attributed to two sources. The first were the mondo films that originated in Italy during the early sixties, pseudo-documentaries that became popular after the release of Mondo Cane (A Dog’s Life) in 1962. The feature, directed by Paolo Cavara, Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi, gave birth to the mondo movement, which resulted in such dubious work as La Donna nel Mondo, Africa Addio and Magia Nuda (Mondo Magic). Subsequently, filmmakers eventually turned to one of the last taboos, cannibalism, and a new subgenre was born, with early notable examples including Lenzi’s Il paese del sesso selvaggio (Deep River Savages), Deodato’s Ultimo mondo cannibale (Last Cannibal World/Jungle Holocaust) and Joe D’Amato’s Emanuelle e gli Ultimi Cannibali (Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals). Then, with the release of Lucio Fulci’s Zombi 2 in 1979, Italian directors suddenly became fascinated with the undead, causing not only Fulci (who would make a further four zombie movies) to follow suit but also lesser efforts such as Zombie Holocaust (Butcher M.D.) and Virus (Zombie Creeping Flesh). This new wave of zombie films once again fuelled an appetite for cannibalism.

Margheriti had been in the film industry since the late fifties, having worked as a writer and co-director on a number of projects before finding acclaim with his 1964 feature Danza macabra (Castle of Blood). With the genre in Italy still struggling to find its feet, Margheriti was advised by a friend to credit himself with a more American-sounding name. After translating his name to English he came up with Anthony Daisies, but his distributors felt that it sounded too homosexual and instead suggested Dawson. Despite liking the sound of the name, Margheriti was cautious of an English actor called Anthony Dawson, who had appeared in the blockbuster Dr. No (and, coincidentally, had a house nearby at Lake Trevigniano), and so the director opted for a ‘M’ to be placed in the middle. Thus, Anthony M. Dawson was born. Margheriti’s career during the sixties and seventies was relatively successful in Italy, with Catle of Blood being followed by I criminali della galassia (The Galaxy Criminals) and Nude… si muore (Naked You Die), as well as providing makeup for the likes of Andy Warhol’s Flesh for Frankenstein in 1973.

With the country’s newfound taste for cannibalism, Margheriti soon found himself following suit by collaborating on a screenplay with Dardano Sacchetti called Apocalypse domain. Sacchetti, who would be credited as Jimmy Gould, had become one of the most popular screenwriters in Italy, having previously been involved with such renowned works as Dario Argento’s Il gatto a nove code (The Cat o’ Nine Tails), Mario Bava’s Reazione a catena (A Bay of Blood/Twitch of the Death Nerve) and Fulci’s Sette note in nero (Seven Notes in Black/The Psychic) and Zombi 2, often collaborating with his wife, Elisa Briganti. The script that Margheriti and Sacchetti developed told of a group of Green Beret soldiers who, during the Vietnam War, were bitten by their rabid comrades and, upon returning home, had begun to develop bizarre tendencies, including a taste for human flesh. Now integrated back into society, the story’s hero, Norman Hopper, is struggling to cope with his past as it comes back to haunt him.

For the lead role, the producers sent a copy of the script to the agent of American actor John Saxon who, coincidentally, had first attracted attention for his performance in the Italian classic La ragazza che sapeva troppo (The Evil Eye/The Girl Who Knew Too Much), a significant movie due to the fact that many have cited it as being the first of the giallo genre, and was directed by the legendary Bava. For the next twenty years, Saxon appeared in countless cult classics including the Bruce Lee hit Enter the Dragon and the pre-slasher slice ‘n’ dice thriller Black Christmas (he would later return to Italy for Agento’s Tenebrae two years after Cannibal Apocalypse). He was intrigued at the concept of cannibalism being infectious like a virus and was later shocked to discover that Margheriti was unimpressed with the script which, at one point, was known as Tough City.

Saxon’s co-star, portraying his former war buddy and the catalyst for the carnage that was to follow, was Giovanni Lombardo Radice, who had previously been a stage actor and, throughout the early eighties, would become one of the most popular horror actors in Italy, appearing in Fulci’s Paura nella città dei morti viventi (City of the Living Dead), Lenzi’s Cannibal Ferox (a film he has publicly expressed his distaste for) and Deodato’s La casa sperduta nel parco (The House on the Edge of the Park). As Margheriti had experienced earlier in his career, Radice was advised to change his name to something that was more accessible to American audiences and eventually settled on John Morghen, taking his grandmother’s maiden name and the closest translation of his Christian name. Radice would soon become typecast as deranged or sleazy characters and would often appear in controversial movies (three of which would make their way onto the ‘Video Nasty’ list).

The remaining principal roles were filled by recognisable faces from Italian cinema, including Elizabeth Turner (The Psychic) and Cinzia De Carolis (Karl Malden’s niece from Argento’s The Cat o’ Nine Tails)i. The producers on the project were Edmondo Amati (who had previously worked with Saxon on the 1976 feature A Special Magnum for Tony Saitta), Maurizio Amati (having collaborated with Edmondo on Fulci’s Una sull’altra/Perversion Story) and Sandro Amati. A common factor with many Italian films is that much of the cast and crew will, at some point, work with most of well-known directors. Thus, cinematographer Fernando Arribas’s prior output included La novia ensangrentada (The Blood Spattered Bride) and La morte accarezza a mezzanotte (Death Walks at Midnight), whilst composer Alexander Blonksteiner would later work as a conductor on Fucli’s Quella villa accanto al cimitero (The House by the Cemetery).

Filming took place early in 1980, in and around Atlanta, Georgia. Despite Radice finding the concept of the movie ridiculous, he was impressed with Margheriti and found him to be a pleasant director. Saxon, however, had difficulty understanding the script due to it being translated from Italian, and during a scene when several characters suddenly began to devour their victims (which would, allegedly, include genitals) he was shocked to discover that Hopper, who he had believed was the hero, had finally succumbed to the cannibalistic urge. Unimpressed with this revelation and the excess of the scene, he refused to take part. He was also overwhelmed to discover that this type of film had such a market and that the production cost would be covered just from the sales in Japan and Germany, where cannibalism seemed to sell the most. Upon viewing other recent Italian shockers, Saxon became concerned as to what kind of project he had agreed to take part in.

Apocalisse domani was released in Italy on August 4 1980 and, over the next few years, was released around the world under a variety of different names, as was common with many Italian productions. Its official English title was Cannibal Apocalypse and this was the uncut version that was distributed around many countries. In America, the movie was released as Cannibals in the Streets, with a ruling that no one under the age of 17 was allowed. Soon afterwards, the film was drastically edited and re-released as Invasion of the Flesh Hunters by Almi Cinema 5. In many countries, including the United Kingdom, Cannibal Apocalypse was available relatively uncut, and distributed by the likes of Replay Video, Palace Explosive Video and Vestron Video. Other titles that the movie was released under in various countries included Cannibal Massacre, The Slaughterers and Cannibals in the City.

The clampdown on censorship in the United Kingdom during the early eighties meant that any movie that had associations with a film already deemed inappropriate could be subjected to similar treatment. If the poster included a caption stating ‘From the director of…’ and the movie in question was a Video Nasty then this could prove troublesome for the filmmakers. Italian horrors, in particular, were a major target during this era and certain words seemed to anger members of the BBFC. One word in particular was ‘Cannibal.’ These movies often featured scenes of torture, sexual violence, impalement, animal cruelty, racism, graphic nudity and, of course, cannibalism. And the fear that Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox had created was no doubt in part responsible for the treatment that Cannibal Apocalypse would receive, remaining unavailable in the UK until May 11 2005. The notes included with the BBFC’s classification stated that ‘The cut(s) were Compulsory. To obtain this category cuts of 0m 2s were required,’ before later adding ‘When a film is transferred to video the running time will be shorter by approximately 4% due to the differing number of frames per second. This does not mean that the video version has been cut or re-edited.’

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