31 Days of Horror Day 08 In the Land of the Cannibals

Title-In the Land of the Cannibals
Source-Russian R0 DVD

Sometime in late 2006 I got lucky and found the Russian Region Free DVD release of this Bruno Mattei. Wanting to see more cannibal madness from one of my favorite lower tier Euro Horror/Sleaze directors. I had avoided the few reviews that were floating around. So went into this just knowing it was a cannibal film by Mattei that was made cheap in the Phillipines.

Back in the 60s thru 80s lots of Italian made horror movies were just ripoffs of bigger US films. With piles of Jaws and Dawn of the Dead ripoffs floating around. This time Mattei rips off Predator. Replace the Predator with a group of cannibals and you got In the Land of the Cannibals.

Thankfully to make up for the ripoff plot the FX work is at least practical. And looks pretty good.The people playing the cannibals look like real cannibals. And our soldiers aren't totally horrible in their roles.

In the Land of the Cannibals gets a C+

31 days of horror Day 24

Rats Night of Terror

Source- OOP Anchor Bay DVD

After a nuclear disaster a band of survivors find an abandoned town. The discover that this town has huge supplies of food,so they decide to stay. Little do they know that this town also has a major rodent problem. The rats of this quiet town are many and bloodthirsty. One by one the survivors are killed by the rats in many graphic and bloody ways. Until there is only 2 people left. Then they get "saved" by the people that live underground. But are the underground dwellers still human? Made by Bruno Mattei in 1985,Rats is a very weird twist on the typical Italian Mad Max ripoff. Italian directors made lots and lots of post-nuke movies after the success of Mad Max,but this one has the twist of the killer rats. It is rumored that painted guinea pigs were used in place of the rats,but to my eyes it looks like real rats. The actors and actresses are what you will normally find in an mid 80's Italian ripoff movie,Not bad but not anything to write home about. Most of the gore effects are pretty good,and are a main reason the film is entertaining. Nowadays this film if remembered is remembered for the twist ending. Which really doesn't hold up if you think about it too much. But if you are looking for some to pass some time and something that you can just shut your brain off and watch you could do a lot worse than this. Rats nights of terror earns a B-.