Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

jadavix In "The Cannibal Man", a young man accidentally kills a taxi driver after an argument about a fare. His girlfriend, witnessing the attack, is going to go to the police, so he has to take care of her as well. Questions are asked, and the body count rises."The Cannibal Man" has many touches typical of an exploitation movie. Firstly, the title it was given in the English-speaking world is a clear case of the producers attempting to mislead the potential audience into parting with their cash. There are no "cannibals" in the movie. Also, the movie has quite a bare-bones plot, which is ideal to prevent any distractions from its scenes of gore. One particularly memorable moment - generally displayed on the movie's case - depicts a meat cleaver sunk into somebody's face.It also has some aspects that are atypical of exploitation, however, and they're quite perplexing. For one, the movie is much better made than you might expect; this is no D'Amato or Schnaas grade-Z garbage (not that there's anything wrong with that). It's filmmaker, Eloy de la Iglesia, was nothing if not an auteur; kind of a Godard of the gutter.De la Iglesia was also openly gay, and this movie features a bizarre, homoerotic dalliance between the main character and someone he meets. Is the character supposed to be gay? Well, they never have sex, and there's a surprising lack of male nudity in the picture. De la Iglesia more than made up for that (for those that like that sort of thing) in later movies such as "El Sacerdote", but his chief sexual interest seemed to be boys, not men.What you end up with is a gore movie made by an auteur with a social conscience that doesn't quite come togetherand homoerotic touches that add nothing. Therefore, I think most people would find it a needless distraction. If you're looking for gore, this is one Video Nasty that you'll have to fastforward a few times to get to. If you're into social commentary about Franco-era Spain, I, for one, couldn't find any.

fertilecelluloid Eloy de la Iglesia's "Cannibal Man" is an exceptional study of sociopathic isolation that also comments on the gulf between how the rich and poor were treated by the authorities in Spain in '72. Vicente Parra is Marcus, a slaughterhouse worker who accidentally kills a taxi driver. Convinced that the police will not believe his account of the incident, he refuses to turn himself in. His girlfriend has other ideas and wants him to go to the police (her social status is higher than his). When she refuses to understand his position, he is left with little option but to kill her. Thus begins a chain of bloody murders as Marcus is threatened with exposure by his friends, family members, and colleagues. Eusebio Poncola, who starred in the brilliant Spanish detective series, "The Adventures of Pepe Carvahlo", plays Nestor, a wealthy local who introduces himself to Marcus. Though subtly conveyed by Iglesia, Nestor's interest in Marcus extends beyond friendship. A surreal pool scene, in which the men become entangled in the water, perfectly communicates unspoken ambitions. It turns out that the affluent Nestor is, ironically, Marcus's only potential ally in his descent into depression and madness, but his offer of help may come too late. Similar in tone to "Henry - Portrait of a Serial Killer", this is a well written, thinking man's thriller that doesn't blush at its atrocities. The film is full of magnificent, clever details. For example, Marcus is slow to rid himself of the corpses piling up in his bedroom, so the place has started to reek. Iglesias conveys the situation with wonderful black humor by showing us packs of dogs loitering at his front door for a taste of the rotten meat inside. Every night Marcus arrives home, he has to scream at the dogs as they swarm about like flies. During one of the murder scenes, the director intercuts a game of soccer going on outside. Much more than a standard horror flick, this touches on the perils of becoming more successful than your friends and the consequences of tough decisions. We sympathize with Marcus's situation, even though his actions are illegal. Putting a cherry on top of the cake is a minimalist score and creepy, electronic sound effects. Unfortunately, most versions available (including the one I saw) are dubbed. I'd kill to see this in its original language.

Darth-Helmet A butcher was just having a date with his girlfriend until he cause some problems with a Taxi driver then he kills him and his girlfriend, he is going over the brink of insanity. He now goes on a killing spree creating some serious crimes and stuffing some parts of the bodies into the meat factory where it can be processed into what we eat.Despite the title "Cannibal Man", it's not really about the man being a cannibal but it's really a psychological horror drama and a character study about a man who's been driven to the edge of his insanity. There is some shocking graphic murders which made this movie banned in other countries, the film is a sick and twisted look at a psychopath's mind with good acting and is very dark.Also recommended: "Maniac" ( 1980), "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Series & 2003 remake", "Caligula", "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer", "High Tension", "American Psycho", "Driller Killer", "The New York Ripper", "Wolf Creek", "Eaten Alive! ( 1980)", "Cannibal Ferox", and "Jungle Holocaust" ( a.k.a. Last Cannibal World).

grendel-25 Most commentary I have seen on Cannibal Man focuses on the psychological horror, but the political side of the story seems more important to me. The film seems to place more blame on the society of Spain under Franco than even on the killer, the ultra cool swimming pool sequence is very reminiscent of Chaplin's "the Great Dictator".