Mondo Cannibale (English: Cannibal World; also known as The Cannibals – or simply Cannibals –, Die Blonde Göttin, White Cannibal Queen, A Woman for the Cannibals and Barbarian Goddess) is a 1980 Spanish-Italian cannibal exploitation film directed by Jesús Franco and stars Al Cliver and a then-17 year old Sabrina Siani. It is one of two cannibal films directed by Franco starring Cliver, the other being Devil Hunter.
| Mondo Cannibale | |
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| Directed by | Jesús Franco |
| Written by | Jesús Franco |
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| Music by | Roberto Pregadio |
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| Distributed by | Atlas Films SPRL-PVBA |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
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Franco's original shooting title was Rio Salvaje, but it was changed to Mondo Cannibale before its release. While not prosecuted for obscenity, the film was seized and confiscated in the UK under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 during the video nasty panic.
Premise
A father attempts to rescue his teenage daughter from a tribe of man-eating primitives who (unknown to him) have made her their queen.
Cast
- Sabrina Siani as Lana
- Anouska as Young Lana
- Al Cliver as Jeremy Taylor
- Oliver Mathot as Charles Fenton
- Antonio Mayans as Yakaké
- Lina Romay as Ana
- Jesús Franco as Mr. Martin (uncredited cameo)
Production
Franco said in the interview that he only did the two cannibal films (this one and Cannibal Terror) for the money, and said that he had no idea why anyone would want to watch such films. He said that Sabrina Siani was the worst actress that he ever worked with in his life (second only to Romina Power) and that Siani's only good quality was her "delectable derrière" (lit. "delectable behind").[1]
Release
The film was theatrically released in France on October 21, 1981.[2]
Blue Underground released a DVD version on November 13, 2007.[3]
Reception
Ian Jane from DVD Talk awarded the film 1.5 out of 5 stars, criticizing the film for its poor acting, ineffective special effects, screenplay, music score, and editing. However, Jane went on to state "there's a strange manic energy to the picture that makes it a lot of fun to watch."[3]
Nanarland found that "The pace of the film, deliberately slow, can provoke boredom if the spectator is ill-disposed, but the pretension which underlies this “disturbing” atmosphere contributes to the general comical effect of the production."[4]
Another commentator described the film as "Without the tight compositions, dizzy visuals, and strategically placed reverb" that generally characterise Franco's work, "Cannibals is just another cheap Cannibal Ferox rip-off with savages in flip-flops .."[5]
