I careen back and forth between artistic film and movie filth, and my goal on TMDB is to discuss both.

Eaten Alive!/Mangiati Vivi! (1980) definitely, inarguably, falls in the latter category. It has the lowest rating I've yet given here on TMDB, a 3 out of 10. Which goes to demonstrate my oft-stated remark here on TMDB, that I'm a generous grader. Most folks, I am sure, would give this flick a 1, or a 0. Which is understandable, and I'd not disagree, despite my slight leniency with this movie.

It's a straight-up cannibal flick, no way around it. Absolutely believable-- which is to say, disgusting --practical effects. Various people get disemboweled by said cannibals, and eaten, and as the title says, often alive.

The story involves a woman (Janet Agren) going to search for her sister, who is part of a cult that has relocated to a cannibal-infested area of New Guinea. This movie was actually shot in Sri Lanka, by the Italian director Umberto Lenzi. The cast is international: Italian, American, British, Swedish (Agren), a ton of Sri Lankan extras, and probably other nationalities I'm forgetting about.

In addition to the simulated cannibalism, there is actual animal suffering-- critters being killed and skinned, some, apparently, before they are dead.

So why a 3 out of 10, and not a 1? Well, there is a (mostly coherent) story. And some of the animal violence is simply footage of animals doing what animals do: a snake eating a monkey. A mongoose killing a cobra. Et cetera. In other words, ". . . Nature, red in tooth and claw", as Tennyson said. Some in the environmental crowd in "the West" wish to believe that the natural world is all peace and love. This movie clearly shows that it is not, and that oftentimes, animals brutalize other animals.

Also, there is the beautiful Me Me Lai (a stage name), a British actress of British and Burmese parentage, which gives her a very exotic look. She plays one of the "native" girls. There is a scene where, per the rules of the cult, since her husband has died her marriage must be dissolved. Which entails a perversion of the ancient rules of levirate marriage-- in this case, having the three brothers of her deceased husband take turns having intercourse with her outside, while the entire village observes.

It is both repulsive and sensational at the same time.

In any case, don't take this review as a recommendation. I don't want anyone to read this, and then watch the movie, and then hate me!

Mangiati Vivi!:

A 3 out of 10, and you've been warned.