IN THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS

A military expedition is sent to the Amazon to recover the daughter of a senator, who went missing in the jungle along with the group of explorers she was part of. Upon arriving at the location, the soldiers will discover that the explorers have been captured and devoured by a tribe of cannibals who kept the senator's daughter alive because they mistook her for a deity. "In the Land of Cannibals" is the second film, after "Mondo Cannibale," of the operation undertaken by Bruno Mattei and the producer and screenwriter Gianni Paolucci in an attempt to revive the Italian cannibal subgenre. If "Mondo Cannibale" was a pedestrian attempt at remaking "Cannibal Holocaust," "In the Land of Cannibals" is an inexplicable clone of "Predator," the excellent film directed by John McTiernan. In fact, throughout the entire movie, we keep encountering situations already seen in the Schwarzenegger film, complete with identical lines and even some stolen scenes from the original film and inserted here (pay attention to the night sequence in the jungle when the soldiers are attacked by a wild boar—practically a frame was stolen!). Naturally, the overall result can only be disarmingly comical: seeing famous scenes (which I personally know almost by heart) reworked and inserted into a completely different context makes one smile, not to mention hearing the same dialogues from "Predator" applied to cannibals rather than an alien headhunter, which gives a sense of involuntary parody similar to the sketches of "La Premiata Ditta." If in "Mondo Cannibale" particularly extreme scenes were avoided (although some splatter scenes are present), in "In the Land of Cannibals" there is not even a trace of splatter, a characteristic that can only further diminish the quality of this film. A quality that is increasingly inferior if we also consider the nonexistent direction of Mattei (who hides behind the new pseudonym of Martin Miller) and the school play-level acting of the performers (Claudio Morales and Cindy Matic, also stars in "Mondo Cannibale"). In conclusion, "In the Land of Cannibals" is a product that, if taken for what it is—that is, a ridiculous trash film—entertains, although it leaves one very uncertain about the producers' intentions for wanting to copy a famous film like "Predator." Nevertheless, it is worth appreciating the courage of Mattei and Paolucci in attempting to revive this subgenre, which was thought to be dead. If only they had put in a bit more effort...