A remake of infamous Italian director Joe D'Amato's Antropophagus aka THE GRIM REAPER, Cannibal is the story of a group of friends who travel to a small town where everyone has mysteriously disappeared. I'm rather certain that no one watches an Andreas Schnaas movie for the plot, and while this is hardly groundbreaking is serves its purpose of putting a lot of people in the path of a killer.

A big knock on Schnaas has always been that his movies felt, and looked amateurish. CANNIBAL, although obviously shot on video, features some very nice camerawork and great locations(it was filmed in Tuscany, Italy). Acting is sub-par, even for the genre/budget-level which is disappointing as it did pull me out of a few scenes..

If you're a fan of Schnaas or underground horror in general, you're almost certainly a fan of gore, and that's what CANNIBAL is all about. We get ax-work, face-ripping, disembowlments, and a few that I won't spoil. The effects are mostly great although some do suffer from budget restrictions(mostly prop heads), but most will certainly shock and gross out the audience. We also get some topless nudity from a heavily tattooed babe early on.

What really impressed me with the film was the atmosphere Schnaas created. The lighting on the night interiors is especially moody and the forest scenes have a genuine dangerous vibe. The moments leading up to the kills are well-shot and suspenseful, leading to a few jump scares.

I haven't seen the original, so I can't compare the two but CANNIBAL is a must-see for gore-hounds and is worth a look for average horror fans too. You'll need to overlook some flaws(a thunderstorm in which the rain is obviously being sprayed from a garden hose, a long sex scene where the actress keeps on her bathing suit bottom, )but if you can get past that - and you can - you're in for a blood good time.