Movie Review # 33: Cannibal

CANNIBAL (2005)

Directed by Marian Dora

I can't help myself -- I have to see every horror movie about cannibals and clowns. Such characters can yield the most entertaining horror flicks and in some cases, the most shocking. Afterall - clowns are the scariest people on earth and cannibals - well, they eat human flesh for dinner. In brief, Cannibal is about a deranged individual who seeks his victims (or "volunteers") on the internet for sex followed by a hot meal. The entire film, based on a true story about real-life murderer Armin Meiwes, is silent (except for a handful of dialogue) which leaves interpretation up to the viewer. After meeting a few men who reject him, our main character finds a man online who actually wants to be eaten. Meiwes brings the man home and we are exposed to an abundance of man-ass and endless amounts of gay sex that I had to fast-forward through to get to the gore. When the blood finally spills, Cannibal made my skin crawl worse than the pregnant woman being gutted in the closing scene of Inside (2007). I'll try to summarize what happened without being too disgusting:

Meiwes tries to bite off the man's penis but cannot bring himself to do it. Then he takes an ordinary kitchen knife, sawing and cutting through it in a long, drawn-out realistic scene that will give any man chills down his spine. Meiwes leaves a bucket between his legs to bleed into between cries of pain and horror. Our cannibal then turns up the stove and grills the penis, feeding each other. Check, please.

The effects are so real we begin to question whether or not it is actually happening. This is perhaps every man's worst nightmare -- the film really hits us where it hurts. I was about to shut the movie off at this point and wish I did. Meiwes brings the naked man into another room, hangs him upside down by his feet, and slices his stomach open. He then reaches inside with his bare hands and removes the steaming hot intestines & guts. If that wasn't enough to make you reach for a barf bag, Meiwes smothers the innards all over his face and body while vomiting. This is where I shut it off.

Cannibal succeeds in only one area: totally grossing out the audience on a very low-budget. The lack of dialogue affects the character devlopment, but perhaps Dora did this to emphasize the underlying theme of extreme need -- both the need of Meiwes and his victim, which doesn't require dialogue to get across. The victim seems to have more control over the situation then Meiwes himself, considering the sex and cannibalism is consensual. However, if you're in the mood to witness some of the most disturbing gore effects ever seen on screen, then this is the movie for you. I would suggest keeping a barf bag close by and the TV remote if you just can't stand it . . .

Cannibal on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910548/