User reviews

I just watched the controversial movie Cannibal. It's a weird story that happened in real life in Germany a few years ago. Due the fact that it was all real this movie was banned as soon it came out. Just before it was retracted from the shelves I was able to buy it in a regular DVD shop over here. Now it is available again with the green cover but heavily cut. I have the yellow cover so it's full uncut. That's the story so far about the release. The movie itself contains for some people too much gay performances. If you knew what happened then you should know that it was between two guys, if you can't stand that go watch some Disney flicks. You know what I mean. But indeed, let's say the first hour is all about the love between the two guys. They are indeed naked all the time and all of their bodies is shown, even in close ups. But it never is erotic, you know what is going to happen after wards. The last half hour the disturbing part starts, and it is indeed disturbing. The movie is slow and contains maybe 20 sentences. The rest is on some weird score, if you know that Alexander Hacke was involved then you should know what to suspect. For those not into alternative music, he's from Einsturzende Neubauten. I can understand why it was banned due the extreme gory performances and the gay performances. Be sure to catch the uncut version, surely not for the squeamish. Eat it!

This reminded me of a two man version of "In the Realm of the Senses" in regards to focusing primarily on the physicality of a relationship than a layered story or strict narrative. Going with that, "Cannibal" is probably THE most twisted "love" drama out there in the wide world of cinema. While it doesn't succeed in the normal sense, it's a film for most that is going to be incredibly difficult to watch, not because it's overly sad or intentionally going for terror, but because as you're witnessing the bizarre events unfold you realize this was based on a real life encounter between Arwin Meiwes and Bernd Jurgen Brandes of Germany only five years prior to the film being released. The filmmakers included their own poetic license but left the rest up to our two friends to fill in the rest with their piece of strange history committed.

This is paced very slowly, at a purposeful rate and with extremely tight close-ups to the point of where it's hard to focus on what's going at moments. Communication wise, this goes for subtlety and tone rather than a reliance on dialogue. The music gives more mood towards sentiment than ominous overtures to come like in a typical horror movie going for suspense. This definitely has the potential to be shocking but the filmmakers leave that up to the viewer, as everything is shown point-blank, as is, no acceptance or dismissal of it: it was what it was. I found it downright uncomfortable, as it plays on odd and unfamiliar fetishes between two men that includes frequent kissing, fondling, tender touches and insertion. Not to mention it treats the material extremely personal without a hint of cutting away. There's no break here, except if you count dining on some privy body parts, lounging around completely nude with unsightly appendages dangling this way or that, or soaking up the sun while feeding a garden with left over human remains.

This won't make tops of lists of items to watch again, nor is it a film to invite others over to see with you. That is unless you've got time on your hands with some explaining to do, or you're playing a daring game of who can keep their eyes on the screen longest without covering up or looking away. It's hard to call this a "good" film. Though in the basic and unconventional framework that it delivers in it's an effective one. I haven't had to take a break when watching a picture since seeing "Salo"; this is even over no story exploitation pictures like "The Devil's Experiment" and "Aftermath" where I've killed a party and had other people leave the room, never to let me put on another film again. I can't say I agree with anything I seen here but the filmmakers were able to display a certain event without even having to inject little horror-like scares, but by just showing the audience what happened behind those walls that you'll wish never came down. If you didn't take the hint: get out now. This isn't scary, as you'll probably win the lottery and get struck by lightning in the same day before it happens to you. Except for maybe giving hope to those strange folks who's irregular interests stunt dating, the regular viewer won't be put in their shoes and there are no real relating points that are emphasized here, such as with the movie "Grimm Love" about the same subject and the whole sentimental approach and look into their background.

In the end there isn't a big purpose as it leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination, guy soiling himself as he's missing his member and then leaking out the other end as he's dying and all. They squeezed in some tie-ins to "The Brothers Grimm" for some ambiguous meaning that seems a lost cause, though it doesn't appear like there is anything to ponder about here, except maybe why they would do this with each other and have the other one so willing to be a participant, or even how two guys like this lived so close? Is it just a modern thing, is the Internet the accelerator? There aren't going to be any heroes or villains, story arcs, layered surprises, just a non-stop candid look up to, during and briefly after these mens' interaction. Nothing fundamentally more, nothing sincerely less. (See my profile and click chronological for the first review "Grimm Love" or the third review of "Downloading Nancy.") (Also submitted on http://fromblacktoredfilmreviews.blogspot.com/)

Cannibal (2005)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Based on the true story of Armin "Rotenburg Cannibal" Meiwes, the German man who posted a wanted message on the internet looking for someone who was willing to be killed and eaten. Directed Marian Dora has created one of the most vile, repulsive and disgusting films I've ever seen. Having seen all the Italian cannibal films I thought I could handle anything but that wasn't the case with this film. Just how bad was it? I actually had to stop the film and throw up once. Reluctantly I went back and watched the film and just grew sicker and sicker. The film leaves nothing to the imagination and shows us everything. The director has only around ten lines of dialogue and everything else is just built up with atmosphere and mood. This atmosphere is of pure nastiness and this comes through in the final third of the film where the killing and eating actually starts. Apparently this film follows the real events very closely and lets just say it starts with a penis being cut off, fried and then eaten. This is where I lost it but the film keeps going. It's hard to rate this film because it's technically well made but I really can't recommend it to anyone due to the subject matter and brutality.

I was completely fooled by good reviews on that one and must say that I regret watching this movie deeply. I don't know if I'm just too hard for gore movies, or if other people are too soft for them.

This movie was 1 1/2 hour of pure weirdness that annoyed me so much. Nothing really happened. There is no bad graphic, there is no heavy gore happening and anyone saying something else is straight up lying. "Cannibal" was 90 Minutes of two gay men mingling nude the whole time, with a lot of uncomfortable heavy breathing and weird noises, while 90% of the movie were close-ups of their mouths.

The only real gore scene was so dark that you barely saw anything, besides said "cannibal" throwing up and spitting, because in the end he was not even a real cannibal and the person who wanted to be eaten was portrayed more of a sick person than said cannibal himself.

The whole story about Armin Meiwes has so much potential but in this movie the potential was wasted. I don't recommend watching this movie, especially not if you look for something shocking or gorey, and if you're interested in *this* specific story, you're way better off with watching a documentary.

The film's best aspects - THE GORE. I am a medical professional and work emergency medicine, so let me say first hand this gore is next level. So much so I'm skeptical how it is created morally... To be quite blunt, I believe MD uses animal carcasses to film and manipulates these to resemble humans moreso.

The good - the ability to disturb the viewer. Amongst the divine homosexually unappealing nature and over the top "awkward" individual personality this movie digs deep. The plot (although small) drags on appropriately to ensure your mind is unable to escape what it is seeing. Some may find this "boring, slow, unnecessary" but I ensure you this director knows what he is doing; and he does it well.

The bad - quite frankly for the genre there isn't much bad. If your here as a result of any other pieces of his work (MDE / Voyage etc) you know what your getting into and this movie offers a decent plot in addition to expected content. If not you'll hate this movie as it DOES NOT appeal to "Hollywood horror" fans.

Overall 7/10 would recommend to the few true horror fans. Family and friends not so much.

Good atmosphare and good camera, sound... BUT IT'S SO DISGUSTING! Too disgusting to watch

Going into Cannibal I was aware of a few things. I knew that it was based on a true story that involved two German men and cannibalism. I also knew that there was a good amount of gay sex and lots of weiners flippin and floppin all over the place. Well, the movie is indeed about two Germans with a incredibly rare fetish and it is also full of sex and male nudity. But I also came to realize that this movie has some of the best gore fx I've ever seen. So if any of this stuff itches you the wrong way, the best path to take is to avoid this movie. But if you're looking to widen your horizon and/or just check out an extreme, yet very well made movie, this is definitely a must see.

Like I said the movie is about two German men, 42-year-old computer expert Armin Meiwes and 43-year-old engineer Bernd Brandes. Armin through his accomplished computer skills and perseverance sets out to find someone who would help assist him accomplish his deepest desire. Through hard work and many meetings with people he eventually finds Bernd. From the moment they meet face to face you instantly realize that this movie is gonna get serious, fast. Reason why I'm saying this is the first thing Bernd says to Armin is "I'm your flesh" and then an intensely sexual yet loving stare follows. Remember what I said above with the extreme subject matter? Well, that's what follows. For many of you the reason you're watching this film is to get a better idea of what transpired between these two men. And believe you me, you'll get the idea. One thing I didn't expect from this movie was the way they chose to tell the story. I was expecting the film-makers to show them in a different tone, a tone more fitting to this type of subject manner. I came away from the movie with a sense that I just saw a love story, one of the grossest love stories I've ever seen, but a love story. I really only have two gripes with this film. One of them being the dubbing was kind of weak, and two I would have enjoyed a follow up after the closing scene, telling us exactly how the true-life story ended. Minor nit-picking, but it would have upped my score.

Cannibal was directed by first-time director Marian Dora. And I have to take my hat off to him, he did a really nice job. The shots of the movie were intense, the dialog was minuscule yet powerful. The acting seemed inspired, the gore fx were unbelievable. The movie brought home the bacon and fried it in the pan....big time. Cannibal is an incredibly strong flick that should appeal to many people, even though most will be scared away by the penis shots and sex. Truthfully, there's so much nudity in it, after a while you're not even noticing it anymore. If you like strong flicks and aren't afraid of a little sex and blood, check this baby out. 9 outta 10.

This 2005 movie directed by Marian Dora is one of the most disturbing and horrific movies I've ever seen. It's based on the real life event surrounding Armin Meiwes, the "Rotenburg Cannibal" who posted an online ad searching for someone to volunteer to be mutilated and eaten. This movie version stars two people, the The Cannibal and The Flesh. As TC searches for some individual to literally give his body, TF shows up and is more than willing. In fact, he is by far the aggressor, as he wants to end his life, and wants TC to eat every single ounce of him. Both gay, they meet and before long the movie turns into a kind of gay orgy between the two, and little is left for the imagination as UNEARTHED FILMS presents "Cannibal" totally uncut in all its gory beauty. There is very little dialogue in the movie, only a few lines said between the two, but the visual images are among the most bizarre and graphic you'll ever see. In a way, it's a beautiful movie, but then that's me of course. I found it extremely disturbing, as it should be, and as the movie moved into it's darkest regions, what is depicted is enough to make many hardcore gorehounds turn away. Very well made, extremely well acted, and the video is flawless. It's hard to say I enjoyed the movie, but I did enjoy experiencing the movie, and the thought that this actually did happen. "Cannibal" is only for a very select audience, that wants such events to go ALL THE WAY. This movie does JUST that.

While it would be unfair to draw a direct comparison with the Italian exploitation pictures ("Cannibal Holocaust", "Cannibal Ferox" et al), Marian Dora's shot-on-film "Cannibal" is perhaps the ultimate cannibal movie. An unflinching view into what drives one human being to devour another, this beautifully crafted production is an incredible achievement and it's a joy to see it released on DVD in the USA by the ever-reliable Unearthed studio. This based-on-real-life-events film has fared less well in Germany, where it is banned as a result of its no-holds-barred content and will therefore be seen in its home-country only as a result of imported DVDs and bootlegs.

The story will be known already to most viewers. In 2003, a man advertised on the internet for somebody to eat. Following a successful application, the scene was set for one of the most grotesque "crimes" to hit the media for many years. It's a genuinely interesting film as you wonder not just what would drive a man to eat another but what strange desire would make a man want to be eaten?

This is a film that may astound even the seasoned gorehound. The camera lingers on sights that you wouldn't expect to see on the screen, particularly up-close. Without a doubt, this is the bloodiest film I've seen for some time - Dora's film is a canvas of body fluids. The effects work is flawless and its realism will impress even the most critical of viewers.

The actors playing The Man and The Flesh deliver extremely realistic performances. This is a chilling, fly-on-the-wall recreation of real events, delivered in a sympathetic, non-judgemental way. There's a psychological level to the film as well as the visceral impact of the proceedings. Dialogue is kept to a bear minimum in the film but the relationship between the two men is both very believable and bizarre.

An important movie and one that deserves tracking down, I've given "Cannibal" a 9. I can't see how the subject matter could have been dealt with any better than this. Lovers of true-life crime will be in their element but horror fans expecting a non-stop gore-fest will be disappointed. This is an atmospheric, well-paced film that's more art-house than horror. Not a million miles from the pleasures of Nacho Cerdà's "Aftermath", this film is a "love it or hate it" production. I'm firmly in the first camp.

Marian Dora is like the Lars Von Trier of extreme horror. Naturalistic and artistic, Dora creates a language all his own in his films. Cannibal is a fairly accurate retelling of the Armin Meiwes case. A quick search of Meiwes will let you know exactly what you're going to get with Cannibal. Dora has an amazing ability to showcase the most depraved acts with a sense of beauty. Not for weak stomachs.

"Cannibal" by Marian Dora is based on a gruesome criminal case of Armin Meiwes.Meiwes,the self-confessed cannibal from Rohtenburg admitted that he had met a 43-year-old Berlin engineer Bernd Brandes,after advertising on the internet and had chopped him up and eaten him.Meiwes cut off Brande's penis and fried it for both to eat,then stabbed his in the neck with a knife and dismembered the body.Over the next few weeks he defrosted and cooked parts of Bernd Brandes in olive oil and garlic,eventually consuming 20kg of human flesh before police finally turned up at his door."Cannibal" is very graphic and filled with scenes of rough homosexual activity.There are several truly revolting images including penis chomping and later castration scene that made me squirm in my seat.The evisceration and dismemberment of Brandes is shown in unflinching detail.The direction by Marian Dora is flawless as is the acting of two main characters.The minimalist score by Jim Thirwell creates truly oppressive atmosphere of darkness and despair.Overall,"Cannibal" is a grisly and very disturbing shocker that is recommended only for fans of extreme cinema.9 out of 10.

Sparse, economical, and surprisingly affective, this film wisely eschews exploitation to instead attempt an oddly serious and almost artistic analysis of the famous Meiwes case. Almost in 3 clinical acts (the hunt, the seduction, and the consumption), the film minimalistically explores the theme of sex as predation, consummation as consumption. It also superimposes Meiwes' favorite Grimm tale of Hansel and Gretel onto it as a frame, creating an odd fairy-tale for adults.

It is not an entertaining or pleasant film--but it works very ingeniously. With little to no dialog, the film creates a sense of unease and distaste in the audience through the simple use of frank male nudity, homoeroticism (which for some will seem more disturbing than the violence), and ritualistic slaughter and cannibalism implied cheaply and brilliantly with what appears to be almost no real special effects. Much of what we see is most likely the carcass of a pig, and yet we will feel like we are seeing much more.

The film also creates a sense of an actual relationship between the two men--not that they loved each other, but that they understood each other and each other's desires. The way they interact seems genuine and a part of the paradox of this case.

Shot using the simplest and cheapest of home equipment and with only 2 real actors, the film is also a testament to how successfully done an independent film can be. So little was needed to create this, and it all comes together very well.

Unlike American films like "Hard Candy", which try to moralize its themes to death, this film is far superior in its provocation. I'm not sure who else the audience for this film is, but for those to whom it works--it works almost perfectly.

Marian Dora's 'Cannibal' is based on the real-life case of German sicko Armin Meiwes, the Rotenburg Cannibal, who killed and ate Bernd Jürgen Brandes, the willing 'flesh' he found via an online forum. Sparing no detail in its depiction of the gruesome crime, the film is one of the most gruelling viewing experiences I have ever endured, easily rivalling such disturbing works as August Underground Mordum and Aftermath.

Those who successfully make it past the film's scenes of man-lovin' will be confronted with some of the most disgustingly realistic and gut-churning scenes ever committed to film, including a penis severing guaranteed to leave men squirming in their seat, the nauseating sight of the almost-dead victim vomiting and emptying his bowels as he is carried to a barn for slaughter, the prolonged butchering of his corpse by his naked killer (including time out for a bit of entrail fondling and stump licking), and the final consumption of the meat.

While it's hardly what I would call an enjoyable experience (it certainly won't be getting a re-watch from me anytime soon), Cannibal is an effectively disturbing piece of no-holds-barred film-making that succeeds in reminding the viewer what a messed up world we live in. For being so balls-out (rather too literally at times), I reckon it's gotta be worth at least 7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

When I first saw that the title of the film was "Cannibal", my first instinct was to let my curiosity get me to watch the film.

The start did not get that much attention from me, but as the movie progressed, I found myself in a maelstrom of emotions-- disgust, sadness and pity.

The movie's brilliant cinematography was something worth praising. It definitely captured the film with that sort of dramatic angling. The lighting and art direction was also astounding.

The scenes where The Flesh begins to die was somewhat gruesome. It almost had me puking, but anyhow, as an art form, it was brilliant. That gore was captured so dramatically. The scene where the man gave his final goodbye to The Flesh had me cry a little.

All in all the movie is not for the faint at heart. As an art form, it has exceeded the genre of abstract.

The first thing that I would recommend to anyone who wants to see this movie is to read up on the actual true life case - there's plenty out there on the web.

When you are familiar with the story you will get a lot more out of this film, the main reason for this being the limited dialogue. If you know what is supposed to be happening then you'll be able to follow the story easily.

There are only two main characters in this film, the cannibal and the 'Flesh'. The story picks up pace when the Flesh is introduced to the story. From here we witness the build up to the inevitable conclusion. Let me just warn you that there is a lot of male nudity and several scenes of a sexual nature. Whereas this is not a problem for myself or many other viewers, there are numerous posts on these boards that complain, so there you go, you have been warned.

You will soon witness the journey that this odd couple take, the torment the cannibal goes through when he briefly questions if he will be able to go through with things. The Flesh stating that it is his deepest desire.

There are some shots that will have you squirming in your seat. The last half hour or so will please fans of exploit/extreme/gore and may be a little bit hard core for the average cinema fan. This is no Saw movie, these things really did happen! Get yourselves a copy of this movie, turn down the lights, kick back and enjoy the ride!

In short, the previous review sums this movie up perfectly.

It's almost like a snuff movie, so get it seen before it's banned. You will be shocked and may not even think you can watch the whole movie, just watch it, it's all theatrical but extremely extreme.

As I said, the previous review sums it all up perfectly, and I have just been warned not to pad out my comment. As a result of this warning, I am trying to think of bettering the previous review. It is hard because, as I said the original review is perfect.

I was close to turning off this movie, due to squeamish reflexes of the natural kind, but continued to watch it with unabated breath.

If you like horror movies with lots of American kids, and a bad guy that gets killed at the end then this film is NOT for you.

If you want to see a harrowing account of 2 lost souls, one who had nothing to live for, other than being literally eaten by someone who loved him to death: By a person who had a life so mundane, that all he wanted to do was eat someone who wanted to be eaten by one who loved him so much to be physically devoured in the literal sense.... then watch this movie.