Man from Deep River (1973)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Though not particularly well versed, I'd consider myself to currently be a big fan of Italian horror, and "Sacrifice!" is officially the first cannibal title I've seen, and let me say this wasn't 100% what I was expecting.The plot is simple enough, a British photographer while exploring the Thai/Burmese jungle gets captured by a native tribe and slowly starts to become absorbed into it. Now I say native tribe because it is not a cannibal tribe, and the actual cannibals in the movie only account for less than five minutes of screen time, so this technically isn't a movie about cannibals, but kind of an examination of an "undeveloped," (shall I say) tribe. First the positives. The sudo documentary opening is quite excellent. The rugged, dirty, and even rough Asian city contrasts nicely with the small village, and our lead's stories of London. Also, the story is quite effective. You get to know the characters, and grow to feel for them. This film was obviously concerned with telling a story with characters. And from what I've seen, the later cannibal films forgot about his aspect. And once again, Italian horror movies have to have an excellent score, and this is no exception. Everything fits the mood, and is another fine example of Italian horror scores. Now, the moderates. Though there is story and characters, this is still also an exploitation film. We're treated to many fine shots of naked Me Me Lai, and a few other girls, while basically minimizing the amount of male nudity. And as for the violence, while I would say the human element is fine. There aren't too many gory scenes, too which one is actually an effective cannibal scene, and all are quite effective, and even shocking even by toady's standards. And while there's also a bit of minor stuff, such as people getting shot with darts, both poisonous and non poisonous,I now have to address the main issue with this movie, which perpetuates the whole genre. The absolute negative aspect of this movie is the real animal killings. Though I fully acknowledge that these are all ways of tribal life, but watching animals die simply for shock value is unacceptable. It doesn't help that the animal abuse is a recurring thing through the movie. It just comes of as tasteless and sickening, especially when the footage could be cut and nothing would be lost."Sacrifice!" is only really notorious for starting the Italian cannibal boom. And despite the animal abuse, it is still a well executed film. This is only something for the strongest of the strong. No exceptions.

This movie might not satisfy the viewers who seek it out assuming it is full of explicit gore and cannibal depravity, but I thought it was a likable story. It is a little slow in some parts, but concentrates on narrative more than shock. As a fan of movies, not bloody effects, I appreciated the effort.A Westerner gets captured by a primitive tribe and slowly becomes accepted as one of them. A romance develops with one of the tribeswomen, and the love story becomes the focus of the rest of the movie.Simple, but I enjoyed it, I think because it felt just authentic enough. Most of the actors looked like they could have been from the area, the setting didn't look totally fake, and there were some moments that were obviously not done with special effects. Perhaps the least convincing part of it was the actress who played the love interest. Never once did I even remotely imagine she was a tribeswoman, looking more like a model (supposedly she worked on a game show). However, I enjoyed her character's playfulness and believed her when she gave the leading man shy but loving looks. Could it be that these characters from the first cannibal movie are one of my favorite on-screen couples?

"Man from Deep River" is about as shocking in its purpose as anything contained within its gore scenes. Directed by Italy's go-to-guy for cannibal sleaze, Umberto Lenzi ("Make Them Die Slowly") weaves in his share of exploitative and downright offensive elements (he can't get enough of *live* animals fighting/being cut apart) to tell the tale of an American photographer (Ivan Rassimov, sporting a bad blonde dye job) who stabs a surly bar patron while drunk, and flees up a river in the Philappines only to run afoul of a cannibal tribe. Now, while Lenzi's subsequent efforts have celebrated the 'gore-to-profits' equation to success, "Deep River" has a surprisingly human story at its core--upon first glance, Rassimov is a prisoner seeking escape; but he eventually assimilates to the tribal culture and even weds one of the ladies (Me Me Lai). In a bit of ironic turnabout, our Ugly American gets in touch with his inner human, and his journey there is told with a pulse more dramatic than horrific, which blind-sided me. While this might not be to all tastes, Lenzi's commitment to the material truly sucked me in and made me care. Those seeking an alternative to "Cannibal Holocaust" should be pleased with "The Man from Deep River."

Everyone who has ever heard of this movie knows that it was the first of the cannibal genre, so I'm not rave about why it's a classic because of it. Instead, I'm going to talk about why it's a classic because it's a good film. Of course, it's not a cannibal movie per se, at least not in the traditional sense. In a technique picked up by Amazonia, the main tribe isn't a cannibal tribe, and the tribe that they're at war with is, but I digress. Umberto Lenzi trades his gut-wrenching horror with a nice, flowing drama. His horror angles are present with some gore, but The Man from the Deep River goes nowhere near to becoming exploitation. Instead of being about brutal hatred and savagery, it's about human nature, development, and love. Rassimov and Lai give intense emotion in their roles, and it helps add a legitimacy to it. If Lenzi hadn't tried to advertise the violence of the film (and hadn't sparked the cannibal craze), this movie would be held high as the drama that it is. The movie blends the romance and horror of the movie perfectly, and makes it not only watchable, but rather entertaining.Photographer John Bradley (played masterfully by Ivan Rassimov) arrives at a small Thai town on assignment and subsequently kills a man in self defense (which is not mentioned again). He goes into the rain forest to take wildlife photos, but his guide says he's going too far up river. Knowing the theme of the movie, this isn't exactly shocking. His guide is killed and Bradley is captured by the natives, who thinks he's a fish-man, leading to the rather famous "I'm a man, not a fish!" scene. Enter Maraya (Me Me Lai), who thinks he's only a man, but finds the stranger fascinating none-the-less. The others agree and make him a slave. With the help of Maraya's maiden, Taima, a missionary child, he escapes and kills Maraya's fiancé. He's recaptured, and the torture begins to make him part of the tribe. The violence is incredibly mild compared to what the advertisements scream, which, in a way, is a refreshing change of pace. Again, with Taima's help, he teaches the tribe English, and now understanding each other (somewhat), Bradley and Maraya spur romance. After some bizarre rituals, they're married, and after some sick rituals, she's ready to have a baby. Joy turns to sorrow when Maraya falls ill from the pregnancy, and John must help his wife and the tribe when the cannibals finally attack.The first thing I noticed was the natives don't match the rugged environment, but it seems realistic enough, as they're more civilized than what you normally see. The cannibals at least were dirty and gritty, which is how they're supposed to be. Like I said before, this isn't a cannibal movie that you're used to seeing. The violence is incredibly toned down, and most is made up of animal violence, which is mostly ritualistic. Any combat violence is very low, but gore is still present here and there. I was at first hostile to this stray from the norm, but now I've had a change of heart. Like Foschi in Last Cannibal World, Rassimov does a great job transforming his character to being more savage. Acts that enraged him at the beginning he condones and participates in later. Despite the reputation of it and the genre, this film is rather beautiful. It starts how you would think, but then turns slow paced and lovely. The feelings in the movie is touching, and the dramatic angle is huge. It's like Love Story meets Cannibal Ferox. Some parts are very sad, and others are inspiring. Any nudity is not exploited, though some of the sex is very graphic. It's more love making, though, than savage screwing present in most of the other movies. The ending is equally a thing of beauty, when Bradley has a chance to rejoin civilization after the death of his wife, but decides to stay with the tribe.However, though it's a very competent movie with a lovely, dramatic musical score, The Man from the Deep River is sadly rather forgettable. It is a great film, but it's not a genre favorite for sure. It's so different from the rest of the genre that people tend to ignore its importance, and only give it's significance to starting the cannibal craze. The native environment is close to the only thing connecting it to the rest of the genre. At times, because of this slow paced and flowing difference, it can be rather dull. Some parts of the movie had such limited action that it was hard to sit through it. Though as a whole it was good, it seemed too long at 93 minutes. I still liked it. Rassimov and Lai were brilliant as two strangers coming together, and the communication problem was dealt with in a realistic way. Thankfully, the tribe eventually learned English, and didn't speak it from the get go (like the dreadful Cannibal Holocaust II). Lenzi bridges the gap from hardcore horror to lovely drama perfectly, showing that even horror can be beautiful. Though different, it's still a great film.