Slave of the Cannibal God (1978) User Reviews (88)

National Geographic Channel meets Italian Sleaze

[Coventry · 6/10 · 17 June 2004]

Sergio Martino's 'Mountain etc' is somewhat an outcast in the notorious Italian field of cannibalism… This film has a bit more style, depth and – compared to such films as 'Cannibal Holocaust' or 'Cannibal Ferox' – you don't necessarily feel the need to take a shower after seeing it. It's actually better to compare this film with old-fashioned adventure-movies, actually…but with cannibals and a healthy dose of authentic Italian sleaze. Ursula Andress (still the finest, most ravishing Bond girl to date) stars as a strong woman who goes on an expedition, deep down the Guinean jungle, to search her missing husband. Her brother and another respected anthropologist (Stacy Keach) accompany her to 'Ra Ra Mu' … Roughly translated: the mountain of the Cannibal God, where a savage tribe still feasts on human flesh.

The first hour of the film is slow, atmospheric and surprisingly educational! Several sequences, portraying animal's hunting rituals, seem to come right out of a National Geographic broadcast and you're actually waiting for the voice-over to inform you more. The original, uncut release of Mountain of the Cannibal God contains a good share of violence and nudity, but it never becomes repulsive or nauseating. To be entirely honest: the 'horrible' cannibal tribe actually is rather lame. So, the fact they're only appear in the movie after the first hour is a good thing! Until then, you've got compelling adventure and Andress's ravishing body to keep you entertained. Highly recommended viewing!

It started ok, but became tedious.

[Snake-666 · 5/10 · 29 October 2003]

Susan Stevenson (Ursula Andress) and her brother, Arthur (Antonio Marsina), travel to the jungles of New Guinea to search for a lost expedition, which included Susan's husband. They enlist the help of Edward Foster (Stacey Keach), an anthropologist, who has visited the area before and is certain that Susan's husband went to the supposedly cursed area known as Ra Ra Mea, on the island of Roka.

Sergio Martino's addition to the Italian cannibal sub-genre is a far more tame and forgettable movie than ‘Cannibal Holocaust' (1979) or ‘Cannibal Ferox' (1981). While featuring the numerous indignities that seemingly became mandatory amongst the sub-genre (such as castration, rape and real animal slaughter), ‘Mountain of the Cannibal God' is much less brutal and therefore less compelling. The plotline was dreadfully arranged which meant that all the supposed plot-twists were noticeable long before they even happened. Rather than be shocked or appalled by the depictions on-screen, it becomes far easier for the viewer to laugh at what is going on; a reaction that no good exploitation flick should produce. Having said that, the first thirty-five minutes or so were fairly entertaining and set the movie up nicely. The movie benefited from some surprising and effective moments, as well as many well-executed (but basic) effects. Unfortunately, scripting and pacing problems meant that ‘Mountain of the Cannibal God' started to become fairly dull shortly afterwards; something that no degree of `shock treatment' was able to fix.

The performances from the cast in ‘Mountain of the Cannibal God' are possibly the best of the Italian cannibal sub-genre. Veterans Stacey Keach and Ursula Andress (ex-Bond girl) were certainly the crème de la crème of the cast as they both offered dramatic and convincing performances. Ursula managed to portray the sexiness of her character (despite being over 40 at the time) very well which certainly allowed the movie to gain in some respects from the multiple nude scenes in which she was involved. However, nudity as we know does not make a good movie. Claudio Cassinelli also gave a pleasing performance in his role as jungle-wise Manolo. The only bad performance was that of Antonio Marsina who came across as monotonous and unmotivated. His performance was less than aided by the terrible scripting for his character. Although the character of Arthur was obviously meant to come across as an annoyance, he became too annoying and thus made all scenes in which he was involved almost too painful to watch. One could be forgiven for wishing that Arthur had been killed at the beginning of the movie.

For all the movies faults there were some pleasantly entertaining scenes scattered about and although the viewer may be put off by the constant dragging, the later scenes can be somewhat of an enjoyable experience. The more basic effects were usually of a good standard but some of the advanced effects later in the movie fell very short and were thoroughly unconvincing. Fans of exploitation flicks should be partially impressed with ‘Mountain of the Cannibal God' but will be very unfulfilled if they expect another ‘Cannibal Holocaust' or ‘Cannibal Ferox'. This movie is worth watching once, but I doubt many would deem it worthy of multiple viewings. My rating for ‘Mountain of the Cannibal God' – 5.5/10.

Keach & Ursula meet the cannibals

[macabro357 · 6/10 · 24 November 2003]

(aka: MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD)

Another of the cannibal rage that was popular in the late 70s, early 80s, this one involves a wealthy woman Susan Stevenson (Ursula Andress) who's husband is reported missing on a large jungle island off the coast of New Guinea. She enlists the help of explorer Stacy Keach to find him and they set out on their expedition.

They bring along her sleazy brother (played by Antonio Marsina) who does everything he can to sabotage the truth of the expedition. See, Andress and her brother aren't really interested in finding her husband, they're only interested in the uranium deposits they believe he stumbled across. Along the way, they run into a guy named Manolo (the late Claudio Cassinelli) who saves Andress from being hacked up by a menacing native. Why he suddenly appears in the film when he did is never explained.

We get the usual gutting of a large lizard by the natives, the eating of a tree monkey by a large python and the devouring of a native baggage handler by a crocodile. Nice gore scene of his arm being bitten off in the water there, with the meat and the bone just hanging off.

Right after Keach is deliberately let go by Susan's brother and falls into a ravine, it's up to Manolo to lead the rest of them to the spot where Susan's husband was last seen. They reach a cave where Susan's brother is speared to death by a native and the two of them are taken off to be held prisoner. At the other end of the large cave (the same one where Deodato had earlier filmed JUNGLE HOLOCAUST) the natives then proceed to rip out and disembowel Susan's brother's body and later cook his remains over an open fire. Cool gore scene and he deserved his fate the same way John Morghen did in my favorite cannibal flick, CANNIBAL FEROX. There's also a later bizarre scene of a cannibal having simulated sex with a water buffalo!! Good gawd!!

But fortunately Manolo manages to trick his captors and kills one of them by smashing his head against a rock (cool exposed brains scene) and saves Susan (who the natives think is a goddess) by managing to make their escape.

This is one of the better cannibal films not so much for the gore as it was the acting by Keach & Co. While it's true that Andress' acting didn't pass any great thespian skills, nevertheless the film was made in English without the horrible overdubbing you get from others in the genre. Plus we get excellent views of her naked body (she was 40 at the time) that was something to behold. No wonder the natives thought she was a goddess.

Excellent, pristine widescreen uncut DVD by Anchor Bay with production stills, posters and trailers for both the U.S. and European market. We also get an embarrassing 12 minute interview with director Martino where he claims he didn't harm any animals at all and that the film was not exploitative. The clips the Anchor Bay editors inserted into the interview, prove otherwise.

6 out of 10

Madman's review!

[MrMad · 31 March 2004]

Italian horror supremo Sergio Martino managed to persuade Ursula Andress into this now notorious jungle adventure and moreover got her to display her boobies! Back in the days when animal rights activists were just a glimmer in their fathers eye, film makers were able to shock audiences by showing gratuitious scenes of animals being killed. In this case, a giant snake eating a monkey, tribesmen slicing open a large lizard, and a number of others - intense imagery but it does go to show how brutal nature can be.

Andress plays Susan Stevenson, the wife of a scientist who has become lost in the New Guinea jungle, and mounts an expedition with the help of her brother and another scientist. They soon meet up with the mysterious Manolo who helps in the search and discover that Susan's hubby has gone in search of a secret tribe living on a remote mountain called Ra Ra Me which translates as Mountain Of The Cannibal God.

Much of the group are killed on the way by members of the cannibal tribe and when they do arrive at the mountain, it is the Uranium in the rocks that Susan seeks for financial gain rather than locating her husband. However, her plans are quickly scuppered when the tribe capture her and the last remaining scientist and take them to their mountain lair. They believe that Susan is a goddess and create a living monument by smearing her naked body with fluid and putting ceremonial items on her. How sweet.

The jungle locations are rich and vibrant, and the cannibals are genuinly scarey looking characters - especially the midget one. The flick does over use shock tactics in parts such as the frenzied sex scene which includes a large boar as far as I can make out. That said, I personally enjoyed the whole 70's exploitation experience but that may be due to having something wrong with my head.

7.75 out of 10.

Beastiality - among the crew!

[Clift · 3/10 · 23 November 2002]

Of all the infamous Italian cannibal movies of the seventies and early eighties, this is the most tedious. They all include pointless depicting of animals killing animals - and people killing animals.

Of course, they also include people killing people, but whereas this, of course, is fake, the animal killings are for real. Not that nature's not cruel, but what's the point in including suffering monkeys, iguanas, snakes and turtles in the movies?

Most of the time, these scenes seem staged, and in this movie, it's very clear a monkey was thrown before a hungry boa, and there was probably even a rope tied to it, while throwing! At 23:31 into the uncut DVD, you can see that a very clear and sharp, green branch is added onto the film in the left of the frame afterwards, in order to cover something up.

If it isn't a rope, it's probably the arm of the one throwing the poor monkey to its certain death. The following scene, where the producers show close-ups of the monkey's face, in all its anguish, is almost unbearable, and adds, of course, nothing to the story, except a bitter aftertaste.

The music (by de Angelis & de Angelis) is beautiful, and watching the then 41-year-old Ursula Andress in the nude, all tied up, are this movie's highlights.

Very well-made jungle adventure

[gridoon · 7/10 · 24 April 2006]

"Mountain of the Cannibal God" may disappoint those looking for a hardcore cannibal flick, but if you're willing to accept it as a jungle adventure with occasional doses of gore it works better. The production is colorful and polished; this movie really looks great on DVD. Sergio Martino does a solid job with the direction; apart from "Predator", I don't think I've seen a film with a better sense of place during its jungle scenes. The plot has a good build-up, and even attempts a couple of twists. Ursula Andress handles her physically demanding role well (no wonder the cannibals mistake her for a goddess; that's what Ursula is. And did anyone else find one of the cannibal girls that were painting her up quite hot?). Stacy Keach is a solid lead and has the best (and best-delivered) line in the film: "You never forget the taste of human flesh!". By the way, I watched a 97-minute version which was quite gory, but had some "extreme" scenes that others have mentioned (bestiality) missing. (**1/2)

Indians Passed off as Papuans

[nafps · 1/10 · 27 February 2022]

Pure exploitation, not caring about who or what they lie about. The people and land of India and Sri Lanka passed off as Papuan, which is about as believable as passing Swedes off as Arabs. Different hair, different skin color, different faces.

This film has the usual nonsense about so called primitives somehow both worshipping white people as gods and also wanting to kill them. Ursula Andress has never looked so unappealing. In the jungle she somehow stays pasty and unhealthy looking, and with her eyebrows shaved off, alien.

And it's just a bad dull confused film that bombed, with cartoon violence that has obvious glowing red paint we are supposed to believe is blood. From reviews of the time:

Allmovie-"a graphic and unpleasant film, with all the noxious trademarks intact: gratuitous violence, real-life atrocities committed against live animals and an uncomfortably imperialist attitude towards underprivileged peoples."

Popcorn Pictures- "Mountain of the Cannibal God merely goes through the usual Italian cannibal exploitation film motions."

Daily Grindhouse-"problematic imperialist attitudes towards indigenous populations".

Ursula Andress - Goddess of the Sleaze Mountain

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 6/10 · 5 August 2008]

I'm a big fan of director Sergio Martino, who ranges among the finest filmmakers in Italian Horror, particularly for his Gialli. Especially his insanely brilliant "Il Tuo Vizio È Una Stanza Chiusa E Solo Io Ne Ho La Chiave" (aka. "Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key") is a masterpiece that ranks among my all-time favorites, and among the greatest Gialli ever made. Having adequately praised Martino, it has to be said that his early contribution to the Cannibal sub-genre is not one of the most stunning examples for its type of film. Nonetheless "La Montagna Del Dio Cannibale" aka. "The Mountain Of The Cannibal God" of 1978 is a film with undeniable qualities (Which other Italian Cannibal flick could claim to star an international star like proto-Bondgirl Ursula Andress in a very revealing role?). After the disappearance of a scientist in the unexplored jungle of New Guinea, his sexy wife Susan (Ursula Andress) is dedicated to find him. In spite of all warnings, She decides to search for him herself. Accompanied by her brother (Antonio Marsini) and her husband's colleague Professor Edward Foster (Stacy Keach), she travels deeper into the jungle... a menacing and savage jungle...

Within the Cannibal sub-genre, "The Mountain Of The Cannibal God" is not a particularly memorable film, but it has several qualities that no Italian Exploitation lover should miss. This is one of the early specimen of the sub-genre (as far as I know the fourth, after Umberto Lenzi's pioneering "Deep River Savages" of 1972, Ruggero Deodato's fascinating "Last Cannibal World" of 1977 and Joe D'Amato's ultra-sleazy "Emanuelle And The Last Cannibals" of 1977 starring the ravishing Laura Gemser). While this is not as nauseating and shocking as some of the Cannibal flicks to come (such as Deodato's masterpiece "Cannibal Holocaust" or Lenzi's "Cannibal Ferox" and "Eaten Alive") it is quite focused on the sleaze factor, at least in its uncut version. The film's main attraction, of course, is Ursula Andress, who was still very sexy at 41, when the film was made. But seeing sexy Ursula naked is not the only reason to watch the film. It often has a good atmosphere, the jungle settings are great and the score by the De Angelis Brothers is superb (the Cannibal sub-genre is generally known for great scores). As most other Cannibal flicks, the film includes real animal killings, which might shock animal protectors, but which actually seem like whatever one might see in wildlife documentaries. Overall this is a worthwhile, but not particularly memorable example for the Cannibal sub-genre. Fans of the genre should see it, and in case you wanna see Miss Andress undress (who would't?) this is your film. To experience a masterpiece of the Italian Cannibal sub-genre, however, watch "Cannibal Holocaust". This "Mountain of The Cannibal God" is warmly recommended to my fellow Italian sleaze fans.

Snake, er, snack, anyone?

[wbswetnam · 4/10 · 19 April 2012]

I just finished watching "Mountain of the Cannibal God", one of a 50 movie Mill Creek collection of "Drive-In Movie Classics". This version is titled "Slave of the Cannibal God", oddly enough - maybe because it is the 82 minute R version and not the original version. The movie is about a rich beautiful woman (Ursula Andress) who goes to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, where her husband disappeared while prospecting for uranium. She is accompanied by a professor (Stacy Keach) and her slimeball brother. A good bit of time is spent hacking their way through dense forest on some jungle island off of Papua New Guinea in search of the supposedly lost Puka tribe.

The movie is mildly entertaining, it's sort of like watching a more cruel version of Wild Kingdom at times. The version I saw has most of the more disturbing animal cruelty parts cut out, and more disappointingly, the nude scene with Ursula Andress is cut out. As compensation though, a pretty native girl (played by Luigina Rocchi) appears in a scene where she lifts her top off and shows off her nice titties for several seconds.

The Mill Creek version is poor quality, unfortunately. The colors are washed out badly, and there are several places where it is obvious that it is a dub from a VHS tape.

Ursula, Goddess of Cannibals

[Vomitron_G · 7/10 · 6 August 2009]

"Normal" movie-watchers wouldn't probably rate this type of sleazy Italian trash any higher than 4/10. But when it comes to Italian cannibal-movies, these films should be judged by different standards and different rules apply to the genre. I say MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD delivers the goods. It's entertaining, adventurous and contains a healthy dosage of cannibalistic gore and nudity (provided by a gorgeous-looking Ursula Andress, amongst others). Of course, there's also the obligatory violent wildlife stock-footage and cruelty-to-animals scenes. I myself am not in favor of such scenes, but one can always close his eyes for a few seconds when they come on. Regardless, this is certainly one of the better cannibal-movies I've seen so far.

Disappointing Jungle Caper

[Rathko · 4/10 · 29 August 2005]

Many of the Italian cannibal movies tread a fine line between jolly jungle caper and gut-munching exploitica; 'Mountain of the Cannibal God' falls firmly into the former category. With a bigger budget than most movies of it's kind, the higher production values allow for a more coherent storyline and, in Stacy Keach, an actor who is able to deliver a badly written line with an admirable level of conviction. Nevertheless, the whole thing is really just a mildly interesting romp through the jungle, with very little suspense, and no real violence, sex or gore to speak of. Quite inexplicably, considering the movie's total removal from the trapping of the cannibal genre, it is littered with real-life animal killings. Of all the elements of the cannibal movie to keep, why the animal suffering? I'd rather have seen a good disemboweling.

The only redeeming qualities are the locations and the tribespeople. The vast cave complex is a beautiful and awe inspiring sight (and looks suspiciously like the caves of 'Ultimo Mondo Cannibal'). The tribespeople, caked in dried mud and wearing home made masks are actually quite frightening for once, like a Jungle DIY version of Leatherface. It's refreshing to see something new in cannibal design, it's just a shame the efforts are wasted in a movie that is more reminiscent of 'King's Solomon Mines' than a cannibal movie.

A fine example of it's genre...

[adam_m_curtis · 10/10 · 18 August 2004]

I decided to buy the uncut and digitally remastered version of 'Mountain of the Cannibal God' after having read some online reviews, (which were pretty mixed), and after having watched the trailer for the film on some of the other Vipco Screamtime Collection DVDs.

The Horror film genre is one that particularly interests me, as does the sub-genre of Cannibalism and films that have been previously banned, and I feel that this film delivers all that can be expected of it.

There are interesting plot twists and developments, (although the story is very straight-forward), the dialogue is simple but effective and well executed for a film of this genre, it has the former Bond girl Ursula Andress 'in all her beautiful glory', it has an intriguing musical score, lashings of violence and gore that are shot in a fairly realistic fashion, and even an annoying cannibal dwarf! What more could you possibly ask for?

Although perhaps at not quite the same level of entertainment and cinematic quality of a film like 'Cannibal Holocaust', which is far more tense and shocking, this is nevertheless an extremely highly under-rated and enjoyable film that is more than well worth a look if you are interested in this type of genre. However, if you do not like this type of film, then it certainly isn't a film for you - just leave us enthusiasts to enjoy and appreciate it in our own company.

The DVD sleeve hails it as 'one of the best cannibal films you'll ever see' - and I must say that I wholeheartedly (excuse the pun) agree. Go watch it now!

10 out of 10.

Rises above the usual cannibal flicks...

[Cannibal_Connection · 7/10 · 20 February 2008]

Well, as far as the standard cannibal flick ingredients goes, this one has them all:

Animal Attacks: Check

Animals being disemboweled while still twitching: Check

Randomly inserted animals killing each other: Check

Castration scene: Check

At least one fairly close-up shot of a woman's hairy crotch: Check

Sexual violence towards women: Check

Cannibalistic natives covered in dried mud: Check

Cheesy and out-of-place soundtrack: Check

So, pretty standard as cannibal movies goes, as said.

*minor spoilers* This one though, rises above genre standards due to a bit better acting and a somewhat tighter story, with a bit of a twist at the ending. It's no Cannibal Holocaust but still...

Like a few other commented, it actually plays out more like an adventure story with the cannibal movie genre's ingredients sprinkled in between. It falls short story wise in some places. Stacey Keach's character, (who is the male lead for the better part of the movie) who has the most interesting reason for returning to the mountain of the cannibal god, is killed off and hastily replaced. It is a major error and it would've made for a better movie if his character had been kept alive.

One thing I've never understood though is the random scenes of animals killing each other. Those scenes that seems to be in every other cannibal movie. In this case, an anaconda eating an unfortunate monkey. It's not incorporated into the story but just seems to be there for its gruesomeness. Is it an attempt at some sort of crude symbolism or just giving the audience a bit of blood while not having to spend anything of the limited (I guess) graphic effects budget? I don't know...

What I do know, is that if you are into Cannibal movies, this is a decent watch, both for having all the right ingredients, Ursula Andress' naked body (despite being over 40 years old when this movie was made, she is nothing short of stunning) and amazingly, a somewhat decent story and acting.

Within its own genre this is a clear 7 from me.

Shameful exhibition of a filmmaker's depravity and greed

[Groverdox · 2/10 · 29 August 2019]

"Slave of the Cannibal God" is a cannibal film. This genre followed the "Mondo" craze of the '60s, which were basically a series of mostly Italian pretend-documentaries that purported to show the cruelty and depravity of nature, and the barbarism of native peoples, but instead only demonstrated the ruthlessness and greed of the filmmakers, staging as they did horrifying acts of animal cruelty and sacrifice for the cameras.

The cannibal film basically took all those aspects but threw away the pretence of documentary. They were fictional films that did perhaps introduce new standards for the realism of graphic violence in film, and tastelessness/racism in the depiction of foreign cultures. They would be entertaining exploitation movies if not for the fact that they just would not do away with the animal cruelty. Maybe a couple of them did, but by and large, cannibal film and actual animal death go hand in hand, for no better reason than perhaps that the "Mondo" films had demonstrated that they could get away with it.

Take "Slave of the Cannibal God", for example. In one scene we see (if we can manage to keep watching) a snake slowly encircling and crushing to death a small monkey. Oh, how cruel mother nature can be. Except of course for the fact that you can clearly see the mechanism used to launch the monkey into the snake's grasp. They probably angled it to make absolutely sure the monkey couldn't possibly escape. It probably took them several tries to get it right. But that monkey HAD to die, right? And in a horrible way? You're marked for death, our little friend. The filmmakers say so. Like I said, actual animal death/cruelty goes hand-in-hand with cannibal films.

Other than that, "Cannibal God" is an absolutely run-of-the-mill cannibal flick. You know the deal: clueless whites go to some jungle someplace to disprove rumours that cannibals exist there. They meet a surprisingly friendly tribe... but the real cannibals lurk just around the corner, they get kidnapped, some graphic violence happens, they escape, the end.

What the hell was Stacy Keach, a great actor, doing in this drivel? Shame on him, but mostly - shame on the filmmakers.

More ghastly cannibal stuff........

[damonfoster · 20 January 2003]

I can't figure out why these late 1970s, Italian cannibal adventures intrigue me so much. I always get disgusted when they kill animals for the sake of a stupid movie, and yet time and time again, I'm drawn to movies like SLAVE OF THE CANNIBAL GOD, which, in this case, I saw under its uncut European version, MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD. I had thought that with big names like Ursulla Andres and Stacey Keach involved, this one would be at least a little cleaner than CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, the most notorious of the genre.

As another of those "movies we love to hate", I recommend this one if it's easily accessible. Fans of Andres will enjoy seeing her naked, of course. As a jungle adventure, it succeeds and the occasional gore makes it that much more intense. Scenes of humans bleeding are faked, but as is often the case, the scenes of animals (i.e. a monitor lizard) bleeding are way too authentic. I don't advise eating spagheti while watching this story of some lady seeking her missing husband in a dense jungle, and stumbling upon "The Puka", a group of cannibals (one of which is a dwarf; added for comic relief).

Cannibal movie with good cast : Andress and Keach , as well as savage cruelty juxtaposed with great scenario

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 12 November 2022]

Exploitative Cannibal movie is filled with some genuine fright , horror and doom. A woman named Susan Stevenson (Ursula Andress) and her brother Arthur (Antonio Marsina) get off a plane in Papua New Guinea, looking for her missing husband . As they fly to New Guinea to look for a lost expedition, they team up with Dr. Edward Foster (Stacy Keach) to find her husband which has vanished in the great jungle . Subsequently , they reveal the horrible truth behind his disappearance . Then they're trapped by a barbaric , evil tribe of cannibals are not left to the imagination and subjected to further torture and humiliation . When the price of lust is death..! Filmed in the savage and unexplored jungle .Their cult was death...their lust was blood !.

¨Slave of the Cannibal God¨ turns out to be a really gory film with full of nudism , cruel indigenous cannibalistic tribes , lots of gratuitous animal cruelty, resulting in one the most savage and brutal tales in modern history along with Ultimo Mondo Cannibale (1977) also titled Jungle Holocaust or The last Survivor and of course the classic¨Holocaust Cannibal¨ by Ruggero Deodato , the latter deemed to be the most controversial movie of all-time and the mother of all cannibal films. A sinister and disturbing flick that goes on growing more and more and developing little by little until the predictable finale. A typical cannibal film that went on a sub-genre about a familiar theme in the Seventies , the cannibalism , a script full of shocks , scary happenings and screams in which is disembowelled internal organs , pulling out guts , and while the native warriors eating loathing in front of the prisoners who watch the whole thing . It's an average semi-documentary flick by adding several animal scenes with much stock-footage , including excitement enough , filled with sleaziness and non-sense of style . Despite exploitation style , short budget and poor dubbing , this is more interesting film that its schlock-horror and subject matter might suggest. ¨La montagna del dio cannibale¨(1978) is really a brutal yarn with full of graphic killings , iguana getting eviscerated , body dismemberment, sexual violence , disfigured people , grisly murders by means of slashing , ripping to death , killings in cold blood executed by ominous cannibals, loathsome and lots of blood and gore . A mysoginist movie with plenty of nudism , sadistic frames , explicit scenes of violence and extremely violent style and no for squeamish . ¨La montagna del dio cannibale¨ displays passable special effects , with special mention for the really disturbing scenes of chopping, beheading , stomach ripped out , actual animal slaughters and other cannibalistic frames .

It contains a creepy and eerie musical score by Guido De Angelis, Maurizio De Angelis . Along with an atmospheric and colorful cinematography by Giancarlo Ferrando , shot on location in Royal Botanical Gardens, Sri Lanka, Peradeniya, Kandy District, Central Province, Sri Lanka, Rainforest , Malaysia and Centro Safa Palatino, Piazza dei Santi Giovanni Rome, Lazio, Italy. This was one of the most grueling films ever made , being original but regularly made by Sergio Martino which remains his most successful horror film . Prolific filmmaker Sergio Martino usually uses pseudonym as Martin Dolman . Talented and versatile writer/director Sergio Martino has made a vast array of often solid and entertaining films in all kind of genres as horror , Giallo , comedy , Western , and science fiction in a career that spans over 40 years . He was especially expert on Western as proved in ¨Mannaja¨ and this ¨Arizona returns¨ , Giallo such as ¨The case of scorpion's tail ¨ , ¨Torso¨ ,¨the scorpion with two tails¨ , ¨The strange vice of Mrs Ward¨ , Cannibal movies such as "Mountain of the Cannibal God", Italian crime thrillers as "Violent Professionals" and ¨Sci-Fi as ¨Destroyer¨ , "2019: After the Fall of New York" . Rating: 5/10 , acceptable and passable , this is a so-so horror flick in which the camera stalks in adequate style throughout a story with decent visual skills . This is a bewildering and violent story , only for Cannibal sub-genre followers .

Fantastic adventure

[Prof-Hieronymos-Grost · 7/10 · 18 April 2008]

Susan Stevenson (Ursula Andress) and her brother fly to New Guinea to look for her missing husband who went on an expedition deep into the jungles. There she gets no help from the authorities as the expedition was illegal. She entrusts the search to Professor Edward Foster (Stacy Keach) a man experienced in such situations and along with some natives they set off, soon though the natives are spooked by some bad omens and most run off, those that stay either disappear or are killed off one by one in one gruesome way or another. When they reach their destination they find it is protected by a mysterious cannibal tribe, long since presumed extinct, this is when their journey becomes real hell. Mountain of the Cannibal God is another hugely entertaining cannibal film, chock full of gore, nudity and gruesome killings, along with the usual controversial animal slayings. One such killing is the now infamous monkey/python scene, which it must be said is a little disturbing, Martino for his part claims that said scene was not scripted for the film but that it just happened, because the snake kept straying onto the set, so he had an idea to film it by luring it out with a monkey, the fact that the snake eats and crushes it was just a bad luck and he says he is rather ashamed he filmed it, he denies any forethought, closer scrutiny shows that the monkey was tethered and promptly pushed into the snakes mouth. Martino also claims that there were no extreme scenes or pornographic content and yet there are vivid scenes of female masturbation, rape, genital mutilation and bestiality, now none of these bother me in the slightest, what irks me though is Martino's blatant lying, I feel he should have the courage of his convictions and admit what he filmed, the evidence is there after all that contradicts his comments and its one of the reasons we love those damn Italians

Blazay and Cruel Horror

[Rainey-Dawn · 1/10 · 29 October 2015]

This is a film I got in the Mill Creek Drive-in 50-pack collection. The Mountain of the Cannibal God (1978) is aka Slave Of The Cannibal God. Apparently the version I have is the cut version. I'm lacking between 10 and 15 minutes of the film but that is fine by me.I read about the animal cruelty that was cut out of this film so that is enough for me. This cut version of the film has enough real cruelty in it already, like the real killing of a lizard on film... that was going to far to make a bland movie in my opinion.

The story is a bit blazay, not much to hold my interest for very long. This film might be for some people but it's not my kind of horror film at all - far from it.

Apparently the only real highlight of the flick is to see Ursula Andress in the nude because the rest of the film is nothing to see in my humble opinion.

Ursula Andress & Stacy Keach are the only real reasons I cared to watch this film and I was very disappointed with it.

Great film to some, but it's not a film I care to see again.

1/10

You don't forget the taste of human flesh!

[Bezenby · 6/10 · 9 November 2018]

Just like Brian Blessed being asked to shout "Gordon's Alive!" by fans all over the world, the same thing happens with Stacey Keach, only he's asked to utter to immortal line: "You don't forget the taste of human flesh!"

Yet another entry in the 'nobody asked for this' genre of Italian Cannibal films, Slave of the Cannibal God features slightly less animal cruelty that the more notorious Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox, but there's still enough of it to sour up what could have been a pretty good jungle horror adventure.

Ursula Andress stars as a woman out to track down her husband, who has gone missing in New Guinea. Taking her arrogant Teutonic brother along with her, she enlists the help of Stacey Keach, a man who knows the area and thinks that her husband has gone to the island of Ra Ra Me, which translates into English as "Horrible island filled with cannibals and booby traps". Why Keach knows about this is kept a secret for now. They also take along some locals to bulk up the number of victims a bit, including one guy who keeps eavesdropping on everyone's conversations.

Things get down and dirty right away when the guides don't take kindly to a spider being killed and end up sacrificing a lizard in the only scene in the film that involves a human killing an animal. Don't you worry though, as you'll get to see a lot of animals eating other animals in footage I thought was David Attenborough-level documentary stuff, but have since learned was staged by the filmmakers. Thanks for that.

Once everyone gets to the island they find a few corpses and it's about this time that freaky masked natives start springing traps that whittle down the non-white cast in various ways, from spike traps to the more up close and personal beheading. The white folk are fine though, so I guess that's okay. When the natives start making moves on Ursula, it's time for bitter irony to hit the screen as doe-eyed Claudio Cassanelli turns up as a guy working for priest Franco Fantasia, who has a mission on the island. The irony takes shape in Cassanelli's character - he's an animal lover who doesn't harm animals.

There's various twists and turns before the cannibals get involved and any semblance of taste goes out of the window as people are hacked up and eaten, rotten flesh is smeared on Ursula's face, and a dwarf literally gets his brains knocked out of his head. There's also seems to be extra footage in the version I watched most recently where a guy pretends to bugger a pig. What the fxck that's all about is beyond me. You get to see Ursula Andress naked but she doesn't float my boat to be honest.

Sergio Martino was a master of the giallo so why he chose to go down this road is beyond me.

Repugnant Gore

[kenjha · 3/10 · 1 September 2008]

A woman goes into the jungles of New Guinea in search of her husband, who has been missing since an expedition. The lush setting is very picturesque and there is plenty of action, but the characters are strictly B-movie stereotypes and the plot is less than compelling. Andress looks fine but the film would have benefited from having more scenes of her undressed. What the film has too much of is gore. There are repugnant scenes of animals and people having their insides pulled out and eaten raw. The director also lingers too much on scenes of animals killing each other, which is OK in a National Geographic show, but serves no purpose here other than to add to the gore.

Definitely some things I have never seen in a movie

[lastliberal · 6/10 · 31 August 2008]

This video nasties was known as Prisoner of the Cannibal God in Britain, and banned until they cut 2 minutes and 6 seconds. They re-released it in 2001. The cuts were presumable some of the killing of animals to satisfy PETA, but they still managed to gut an iguana. or, maybe it was some of the unnatural things done to a pig once they reached the mountain.

There is a lot of animal killing in the film, but it is the same stuff you would see on Wild Kingdom, but maybe for a little longer than you are used to.

There is also Ursula Andress. Not like you remember her in Dr. No. No, this is the real deal. All her glory is revealed to us.

Be prepared for some real gore and sex in the mountain kingdom, as well as some strange action.

Claudio Cassinelli, last seen in Flavia the heretic turns out to be the hero in this movie of deceit and horror.

There's snakes out there this big??

[Anonymous_Maxine · 4/10 · 12 May 2008]

Mountain of the Cannibal God immediately strikes me as almost exactly the same thing as Last Cannibal World with a slightly bigger budget. It seems that the cannibal sub-genre is pretty limited as far as what kinds of things you can do with the story, so I kept my expectations low. Ursula Andress stars as the grieving wife of a man lost in the mysterious jungle, and she is determined to go in after him, although her intentions aren't exactly what they seem to be.

I love it when they first enter the jungle, one of the guys says "Don't say a word to anyone, we don't want the police on our tail!" Yeah, if you're ever going into a cannibal-infested jungle, make sure not to tell anyone where you're going. It would be awful if anyone were able to find you!

The tribe we meet in this installment is the same as the last cannibals, although their animal-like qualities are not quite as blown out of proportion. They are highly barbaric and undeveloped, of course, but this time instead of being too animal-like, they have a genuinely bizarre religion, although ancient religions are not always known for their conduciveness to modern logic. At one point they make a sacrifice for having killed a tarantula, but even more bizarre, when it is revealed that they have turned Susan's (Andress) husband into a god by pinning his rotting corpse on some kind of rack, it seems that one of the ways that they worship him is to wipe the pus and mucus from his decaying face and rub it on their own face. Nice.

Stacey Keach also shows up in an early role long before his outstanding work in American History X, although he isn't given anything memorable to do here. He eventually reveals that his entire goal of going into the jungle is to find this tribe and destroy them so he can sleep peacefully, I guess. He has the obligatory role of the modern man forced to participate in the cannibalism, and it is properly disgusting.

There is a rafting scene near the end of the film that is botched in the way that most b-movies botch something like sky-diving. It is so unrealistic and so campy that it is genuinely amusing. The editing, as well, is unbelievably cheap, like the rest of the movie. But as a cannibal film, this is about what you can expect. Horror fans should be entertained. It's not a classic, but it's a passable sample of its sub-genre.

King Solomon's Mines meets the Cannibals

[Macholic · 8/10 · 30 December 2004]

This is your classic Saturday matinée movie, just done with more gore. It offers the best production values of any Italian cannibal movie, it has an all star cast, excellent production values, it really looks great. Or, to be more specific: It looked great: The DVD prints in circulation today are made from color faded Kodak Eastman prints. They are not made to last, so when I saw it in the cinema in 1979 it looked great and colorful. Still...if faded colors doesn't ruin your day, there is plenty to enjoy. Ursula Andress offers some of the best celeb-nudity caught on film. Being in her mid-forties, she still looks absolutely fantastic. My suggestion to you is to suspend your disbelief, find your best chair, lower the lights and press play to enjoy 8/10.

Very good Italian Cannibal film

[rbjr330 · 7/10 · 24 January 2005]

Mountain of the Cannibal God aka Slave of the Cannibal God is a very good Italian Cannibal film. It has a good cast (no one seemed to annoy me to bad) and some pretty good acting, though i did not really like the score to much. I saw the uncut version so that is the one i will be commenting on. The story is about a woman and her brother who are traveling to the jungle in search of her husband who went missing. Along the way they run into a man who tells them that he knew her husband, and that he was most likely in search of a "cursed" mountain on an island near the jungle. So they set of in search of this mountain, only to find it is inhabited by a tribe of ruthless cannibals. Like most Italian cannibal movies, there are real animals being killed throughout, so if that bothers you, stay away. Most of the gore is saved until the end of the film, and it is also less brutal and gory than most other cannibal films. There is also a very strange mass sex orgy amongst the cannibals, which includes someone having sex with a water buffalo! Almost all of the animal violence and some of the human violence, including the castration scene, were completely ripped off, re-edited, and thrown into Umberto Lenzi's much less effective cannibal movie Eaten Alive. I give Mountain of the Cannibal God a 7/10 for any Italian cannibal fans like myself, but if not, make that a 6/10. I prefer Deodato's far-superior films, Jungle Holocaust and Cannibal Holocaust.

Jungle Jeopardy

[BaronBl00d · 4/10 · 16 September 2007]

Not nearly as disgusting as some might have intimated, Slave of the Cannibal God(the title I viewed it under) was more bereft of solid storytelling and genuine scares than laced with horrific, disgusting cannibal visions, which is fine with me. There are a couple scenes that do qualify - the monitor lizard being torn apart by native guides helping Ursula Andress, her brother, and jungle guide/professor Stacy Keach find her husband being the most offensive. In a film with such obvious budgetary constraints(just wait until you see the cannibal tribe the Puka), there is no way I can believe that the realistic butchering of this animal(and there are others) was not real. That saddens me that this was done, but, moving on, these scenes will probably disgust rather than energize. Director Sergio Martino actually is not all bad; the first hour is rather decent as the three with a native guide in tow go into country no one goes into for fear of jungle perils hitherto unknown to civilization. Martino creates some good tension and the forest jungles are quite convincing. Andress, even at her age here, is just lovely(especially when disrobed!). Keach is solid in his performance as well, and the film does have its entertainment value at times but once we get to the actual tribe of cannibals and the resolution of finding Andress's husband - logic, tension, and taste take off completely.