I watched Eaten Alive! The Rise and Fall of the Italian Cannibal Film in January, and thought it was superb and easily the most in-depth and academic documentary High Rising Productions has made. I have seen it a couple of times since then and haven't changed my mind at all. It works as a simple overview of the cannibal cycle of films, as a critique of the films and such things as the racism, sexism, ethnography and cultural supremacy generally contained in the films. It also includes quite a bit of humour, with the rivalry between Ruggero Deodato and Umberto Lenzi palpable even though the two men were interviewed separately.
The main academic contributors – Dr Shelagh Rowan-Legg and Dr Mikel Koven – are very informative and enlightening without being dry and speaking in a way which will alienate those who solely see the films as entertainment. There is a lot of really interesting stuff from Deodato and Lenzi, actors Me Me Lai, Robert Kerman, and filmmakers Luigi Cozzi and Sergio Martino about the productions themselves in terms of stories from the set and how they feel about them now. As usual, Kim Newman is great entertainment with his own, unique and extremely knowledgeable, opinions about films and the genre/cycle in general. The contrast between his views and those held by the academics makes for an interesting subplot in itself.
Eaten Alive! The Rise and Fall of the Italian Cannibal Film is a thoroughly informative and thought-provoking piece of documentary filmmaking, which should make the 88 Films release of Zombi Holocaust (or the Cannibal Ferox Blu-ray set from Grindhouse) a must-own title for all genre fans. Overall, it's an excellent documentary and makes me want to check out Emmanuelle and the Last Cannibals and Island of the Fishmen, probably the only films discussed I haven't seen.
