Dario Germani made Anthropophagus II two years ago, a sort-of sequel to the Joe D’Amato-directed and George Eastman-starring baby munching epic. This starts almost like a giallo, as Hanna (Valentina Corti) wakes up to her husband dead. As she’s in the hospital, she learns that she’s a suspect and that she’s also pregnant.
She runs to Budapest, where she meets her cousin Hugo (Salvatore Li Causi), who lets her in on the history of their family tree, one littered with forced cannibalism. At least there’s a flashback to Anthropophagus and we get to see the familiar and beloved face of George Eastman in a boat freaking out over how he’s killed his wife and child before, you know, eating them.
Maybe I romanticize the 1980s Filmirage era, but I’ve watched so many of those movies so many times. Yet there was a time when The Grim Reaper played U.S. theaters and drive-ins and I can’t even imagine how people felt when being confronted by it. This feels like a cannibal movie that has grafted itself onto D’Amato’s film and you know, I can’t be mad. If he was alive today, he’d probably be doing the same thing and would love that digital video would allow him to shoot so quickly.
There is one pretty great scene where Hugo picks up a couple and they go to a park for a a tre vie. As he approaches the guy, he goes for what his victim thinks is a kiss and then tears out his throat. Then, nude, he chases the naked female victim as well.
That said, the original presented Eastman as a terrifying monster — as does Absurd, its spiritual sequel — with frenzied eyes. It’s an image that has stuck in my head for decades and I fear that I’ve forgotten a lot of this film already, which is astounding when its one that has infants being consumed.
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