Eaten Alive! (1980)

Original title: Mangiati Vivi!

Director: Umberto Lenzi

Writer: Umberto Lenzi

Composers: Roberto Donati, Fiamma Maglione

Starring: Robert Kerman, Janet Agren, Ivan Rassimov, Paola Senatore, Me Me Lai, Fiamma Maglione, Franco Fantasia, Franco Coduti, Alfred Joseph Berry, Michele Schmiegelm, Mel Ferrer

More info: IMDb

Tagline: They didn't have a chance!

Plot: A young woman teams up with an adventurer to find her missing sister in the jungles of New Guinea and they stumble upon a religious cult led by a deranged preacher whom has located his commune in an area inhabited by cannibals.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

After seeing the disappointing Eli Roth picture, THE GREEN INFERNO (2013), I stumbled upon a whole mess of cannibal pictures at a local shop.  I'd seen most of them but it's been years and I was jonsing for some 70s and 80s Italian cannibal action.  Now, this picture is a mixed bag.  On one hand you've got some neat stuff centered around a cult leader in South America ala Jim Jones.  There's some nudity and gore (YAY!) and some familiar music that was later used to a much better effect in Lenzi's CANNIBAL FEROX (1981).  Oh, and the jungle location shooting is marvelous.  I love that stuff.  Part of the problems this picture has is the extraordinary amount of footage (cannibalism, kills and more) that was re-used from Lenzi's earlier films like THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER (1972) and, even worse, is some of the dubbing (especially for Mark (Kerman)) and acting (Kerman is the worst offender) but that could be how Lenzi wanted Kerman to behave.  Still, it's an entertaining film despite (or because of) some of its shortcomings. The Shriek Show DVD has a good looking anamorphic widescreen print.  The extras include the original trailer (anamorphic widescreen), trailers for ZOMBIE 4, ZOMBI 3, ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST, JUNGLE HOLOCAUST, the still gallery consists of only posters, lobby cards and VHS covers, and interviews with Lenzi (14 minutes), Kerman (15 minutes) and Rassimov (5 minutes).  Beware of the interviews as several of the questions asked are idiotic, ill-conceived and downright embarrassing.  SS did a great job with putting this picture out.  More, please.