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{{Infobox film
| name            = Cannibal Ferox
| image           = Cannibalferoxposter.jpg
| alt             = 
| caption         = Theatrical release poster
| director        = [[Umberto Lenzi]]
| producer        = {{ubl|Mino Loy|[[Luciano Martino]]}}
| screenplay      = Umberto Lenzi
| starring        = {{plainlist|
*[[Giovanni Lombardo Radice|John Morghen]]
*[[Lorraine De Selle]]
*Danilo Mattei
*[[Zora Kerova|Zora Kerowa]]
*[[Robert Kerman]]
*[[John Bartha]]
*Walter Lucchini
*Fiamma Maglione
*[[Venantino Venantini]]
*[[Perry Pirkanen]]
}}
| music           = {{ubl|Roberto Donati|Fiamma Maglione}}
| cinematography  = Giovanni Bergamini
| editing         = Enzo Meniconi
| studio          = {{ubl|Dania Film|Medusa Distribuzione|National Cinematografica}}
| distributor     = {{plainlist|
* Medusa Distribuzione (Italy)
* Aquarius Releasing (US, theatrical)
* [[Grindhouse Releasing]] (US, home video)
}}
| released        = {{Film date|df=y|1981|04|24}}
| runtime         = 93 minutes<br />83 minutes<!--Submitted runtime: 83:06--><ref>{{cite web|title=''CANNIBAL FEROX'' (18) (!)|url=https://bbfc.co.uk/releases/cannibal-ferox-1992|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029090929/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/cannibal-ferox-1992|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 October 2014|work=Horror Video, Ltd.|publisher=[[British Board of Film Classification]]|date=23 November 2000|access-date=7 August 2013}}</ref> (Edited cut)
| country         = Italy
| language        = {{ubl|Italian|Spanish|English}}
}}
'''''Cannibal Ferox''''', also known as '''''Make Them Die Slowly''''' in the US and as '''''Woman from Deep River''''' in Australia, is a 1981 Italian [[cannibal film|cannibal]] [[exploitation film|exploitation]] [[horror film]] written and directed by [[Umberto Lenzi]]. Upon its release, the film's US distributor claimed it was "the most violent film ever made". ''Cannibal Ferox'' was also claimed to be "[[List of banned films|banned]] in 31 countries", although this claim is dubious.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WWAbAQAAIAAJ&q=%22banned+in+31+countries%22+ferox|title=See No Evil: Banned Films and Video Controversy|first1=David|last1=Kerekes|first2=David|last2=Slater|date=4 November 2000|publisher=Headpress|isbn=9781900486101}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ovFBgAAQBAJ&dq=%22banned+in+31+countries%22+ferox&pg=PA55|title=Lucifer Fulci's Guide to the Italian Cannibal Film!|first=Lucifer|last=Fulci|date=8 June 2014|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=9781312218963}}</ref> The title derives from the [[Latin]] ''ferox'', meaning cruel, wild or ferocious.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://latin-dictionary.net/definition/20487/ferox-gen-ferocis|title=Latin Definition for: ferox, (gen.), ferocis (ID: 20487) - Latin Dictionary and Grammar Resources - Latdict|website=latin-dictionary.net}}</ref>

==Plot==
In [[Colombia]], siblings Rudy, Gloria, and their friend Pat prepare for a journey into the rainforest. They plan to prove Gloria's theory that cannibalism is a myth. The trio encounters a drug dealer named Mike and his business partner, Joe. Joe is badly wounded; Mike explains that cannibals attacked them. Gloria goes missing at night, and Rudy finds a native village while looking for her.

Due to Joe's injuries, the travelers stay in the nearly deserted village. Mike seduces the naive Pat. In a cocaine-fueled rage, he encourages Pat to kill a native girl. She is unable to do it, so Mike kills the girl himself. In his dying moments, Joe reveals that he and Mike were responsible for the cannibals' aggression. They came to the region to exploit the natives for [[Emerald|emeralds]] and [[cocaine]], taking advantage of their trust in white men. One day, while high on cocaine, Mike brutally tortured and killed their native guide in full view of the tribe. A badly charred body, previously believed to be that of a different guide, is this native. Mike kidnapped a native girl to lead them out of the jungle, but the outsiders were followed and attacked.

After the murder of the native girl, the cannibals finally snap and hunt the outsiders. Joe dies of his wounds, and his body is found and cannibalized by the natives in full view of Rudy and Gloria, hiding from the natives. Mike and Pat abandon the others, but all are captured by the natives and forced into a cage. The prisoners are forced to watch Mike as he is tortured, beaten, including having his [[Human penis|penis]] [[penis removal|sliced off]] with a large [[machete|machete-like knife]] and then [[eating|eaten]] by a native villager. The natives transport their prisoners to another village, but Rudy manages to escape. He is caught in a booby trap in the jungle, and his bleeding wounds attract piranhas. He begs the natives to help him. The natives shoot him with a poisoned dart, and he dies instantly in front of everyone.

Pat and Gloria are put in a hole in the ground. Mike is placed in a separate cage. A native man, whom Pat had saved from Mike's aggression, lowers a rope into the hole so the women can escape. Mike digs out of the cage, chases the man away, and cuts the rope, preventing the woman from escaping. Mike flees into the jungle, where he tries to attract the attention of a search and rescue plane, but he is recaptured. The natives sever one of his hands and drag him back to the village. The search plane lands, but the natives tell the rescuers that the outsiders' canoes capsized in the river and crocodiles ate them.

As the search team leaves, Pat is bound, stripped to the waist, and the natives run hooks through her breasts to be hung by them. Gloria can only watch as Pat dies a slow and painful death. Meanwhile, Mike's head is locked in a crude contraption, and the top of his skull is cut off so that the natives can eat his exposed brain. During the night, the sympathetic native returns and frees Gloria. He guides her through the jungle but falls victim to one of the natives' booby traps. Gloria eventually encounters a pair of trappers who take her to safety. Instead of telling the true story, she recounts the natives' lie about the others being eaten by crocodiles.

Gloria, deeply disturbed by her experiences, returns to civilization. She publishes a book titled, ''Cannibalism: End of a Myth'', which lies to support her theory and covers up the events of her ordeal.

==Cast==
{{div col}}
* [[Giovanni Lombardo Radice]] (as John Morghen) as Mike Logan 
** Frank von Kuegelgen as Mike Logan {{small|([[Dubbing (filmmaking)|English dub voice]], uncredited)}}
* [[Lorraine De Selle]] as Gloria Davis
** Pat Starke as Gloria Davis {{small|(voice, uncredited)}}
* Danilo Mattei (as Bryan Redford) as Rudy Davis 
** [[Gregory Snegoff]] as Rudy Davis {{small|(voice, uncredited)}}
* [[Zora Kerova]] (as Zora Kerowa) as Pat Johnson
* Walter Lucchini (as Walter Lloyd) as Joe Costolani 
** [[Andy Luotto]] as Joe Costolani {{small|(voice, uncredited)}}
* [[Robert Kerman]] as Lt. Rizzo
** [[Edward Mannix]] as Lt. Rizzo {{small|(voice, uncredited)}}
* Fiamma Maglione (as Meg Fleming) as Myrna Stenn 
** Susan Spafford as Myrna Stenn {{small|(voice, uncredited)}}
* [[John Bartha]] as Brooklyn Mobster
** Richard McNamara as Brooklyn Mobster {{small|(voice, uncredited)}}
* [[Venantino Venantini]] as Sgt. Ross
** Lewis E. Ciannelli as Sgt. Ross {{small|(voice, uncredited)}}
* 'El Indio' Rincon as Juanito
* [[Dominic Raacke]] as Tim Barrett {{small|(uncredited)}}
** Steven Luotto as Tim Barrett {{small|(voice, uncredited)}}
* [[Perry Pirkanen|Perry Pirkkanen]] as Paul {{small|(uncredited)}}
** Larry Dolgin as Paul {{small|(voice, uncredited)}}
{{div col end}}

==Release==
{{More citations needed section|date=October 2024}}
''Cannibal Ferox'' was released in Italy on 24 April 1981.<ref>{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115161439/http://www.allmovie.com/movie/cannibal-ferox-v127251|url=http://www.allmovie.com:80/movie/cannibal-ferox-v127251|title=Cannibal Ferox|accessdate=10 August 2017|last=Firsching|first=Robert|publisher=AllMovie|archivedate=15 November 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Terry Levene's Aquarius Releasing opened the film in New York in September 1983, under the title ''Make Them Die Slowly''. Levene's assistant, Ron Harvey, explained to ''Fangoria'' magazine that the box office success of 'Mondo' documentary ''Savage Man, Savage Beast'' had inspired the company to seek out a similar property, but one aligned to a fictional narrative. Aquarius' marketing strategy was minimal: a sensational, gratuitously violent trailer (narrated, in a break from tradition, by a woman, in order to provide a jarring counterpoint to the grotesque imagery), no print ads, and the marquee of the Liberty Theatre on 42nd Street completely emblazoned with huge, garish banners and colour stills announcing the film. Harvey further remarked that, although the film was hugely successful at venues that would play it, most cinemas shunned the film - he approximated there were probably only 100 theatres nationwide in which it could play.

''Cannibal Ferox'' was released uncut on video in the United Kingdom circa 1982 by Replay, but the film's [[transgressive art|transgressive]] imagery and scenes of real animal torture and slaughter resulted in the film promptly being banned under the Obscene Publications Act, finding itself languishing for years on the [[Video nasty|video nasties]] list. (In 1983, Replay issued a cut version, based on informal suggestions from the BBFC, bearing an 'advisory', and consequently without legal standing, '18' certificate. These efforts were to little avail, since this version was also effectively banned by the VRA). Early DVD versions, available in the UK were missing around six minutes of footage (chiefly of graphic violence and animal cruelty), which was cut before being given to the [[British Board of Film Classification|BBFC]] for a rating. The full version of the film was submitted to the board in 2018, and again received 2 minutes of cuts to the animal violence.

In Australia, where it was released as ''Woman from Deep River'', the film also faced censorship issues, being given numerous censored releases. In 2005, the uncut version was released on DVD by [[Siren Visual]] under the ''Cannibal Ferox'' title.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.refused-classification.com/censorship/films/c.html|title=Films: C #1 {{!}} Censor|publisher=RefusedClassification.com|access-date=28 February 2018}}</ref>

In the United States, ''Cannibal Ferox''{{'}}s (a.k.a. ''Make Them Die Slowly'') "original, uncensored director's cut" was released by [[Grindhouse Releasing]] in the late 1990s. Grindhouse is still the sole official licensed distributor of the film in North America. On 22 May 2015, Grindhouse released the film in a 3 Disc Blu-ray/DVD feature, the film's first time on [[Blu-ray Disc]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/93827/grindhouse-releasing-brings-cannibal-ferox-to-blu-ray/|title=Grindhouse Releasing Brings Cannibal Ferox to Blu-ray|date=19 March 2015}}</ref> The Blu-ray featured the documentary film ''Eaten Alive! The Rise and Fall of the Italian Cannibal Film'' and a 12-page booklet.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fangoria.com/new/youll-eat-up-cannibal-ferox-on-grindhouses-new-blu-ray-set/ |title=You'll eat up "CANNIBAL FEROX" on Grindhouse's new Blu-ray set! |access-date=19 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322232823/http://www.fangoria.com/new/youll-eat-up-cannibal-ferox-on-grindhouses-new-blu-ray-set/ |archive-date=22 March 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Critical reception==
{{expand section|date=October 2014}}
The film had mixed reception on its airplay. On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has a 40% approval rating, based on five reviews.<ref>{{rottentomatoes|cannibal_ferox}}</ref> [[AllRovi|AllMovie]] called the film "revolting," but "nauseatingly effective," though noting that it is "primarily a showcase for the gory special-effects artistry of [[Giannetto De Rossi]]."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://allmovie.com/movie/v127251 |title=''Cannibal Ferox'' (1981) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast - AllMovie |last=Firsching |first=Robert |work=[[AllRovi|AllMovie]] |access-date=12 August 2012}}</ref> Some critics criticized the film for its depictions of animal abuse, the poor acting and lines, and sexism.

==See also==
* [[Cannibal film]]
* [[Video nasty]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0082700|Cannibal Ferox}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|cannibal_ferox|Cannibal Ferox}}
* [http://www.sexgoremutants.co.uk/spot10.html Interview with exploitation film distributor Bob Murawski of Grindhouse Releasing]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100810201619/http://www.houseofhorrors.com/grindhouse.htm Cannibal Ferox DVD release information]
* [https://archive.org/details/MakeThemDieSlowly-Trailer ''Make Them Die Slowly'' trailer] download at the Internet Archive
* [http://www.discogs.com/Roberto-Donati-Cannibal-Ferox-Original-1981-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack/master/665874 Cannibal Ferox Soundtrack on Discogs]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140407073918/http://www.onewaystatic.com/artists/roberto-donati Cannibal Ferox Soundtrack on One Way Static Records]

{{Umberto Lenzi}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannibal Ferox}}
[[Category:1981 films]]
[[Category:1981 horror films]]
[[Category:1981 multilingual films]]
[[Category:1981 adventure films]]
[[Category:1980s exploitation films]]
[[Category:1981 Italian films]]
[[Category:1980s Italian-language films]]
[[Category:1980s Spanish-language films]]
[[Category:Cannibal-boom films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Umberto Lenzi]]
[[Category:Films produced by Luciano Martino]]
[[Category:Films set in Brazil]]
[[Category:Italian adventure films]]
[[Category:Italian films set in New York City]]
[[Category:Italian horror films]]
[[Category:Italian multilingual films]]
[[Category:Italian splatter films]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in film]]
[[Category:Video nasties]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Cannibal Ferox|access_date=2026-02-28}}