Antropophagus - The Grim Reaper

Okay, I have to admit to you, I'm not a big fan of Joe D'Amato. Since most of what Mr. D'Amato does is considers 'sexploitation' and I'm not a big fan of that particular genre, I will confess to having not seen too many of his films, but one has haunted me for some time. It was a movie that I've seen the beginning of several times and have never managed to stay awake until the end...not through any fault of the film, let's chalk it up to the very screwed up hours that I keep. But, the movie I'm talking about is Antropophagus, but I've always known it by it's American title, The Grim Reaper.



Now, I'm pretty sure I had this confused with one of the Fulci zombie movies for quite some time, so when I finally sat down to watch it, I was confused for a moment, but then just decided to let the movie take me and sit back and enjoy! Here's the story: A group of people, on vacation in the Greek Isles, decide to help out an attractive young lady, by taking her to a specific island. She needs to get there because she has a job there as a nanny, and she's missed her flight and so, missed her boat. Well, since the group is on vacation too, and don't have any real plans, they decide to do her a solid.

Once out to sea, things begin taking a dark turn. When one of the girls on board does a tarot card reading for another, she sees that there's no future for her...a bad omen, indeed! So, our intrepid group arrives on the island, which seems to be deserted, as time moves on, they first discover that their boat has been moved away from the dock, and then they begin to be killed one by one. Sound like you typical 80s slasher fare? Well, you're not far off.

While Antropophagus was made in 1980, this is a slasher movie with a slightly different twist, the killer is a cannibal, and as the movie progresses, we discover what drove him to this insane culinary choice he's made. Antropophagus is a true grindhouse movie, the DVD I viewed has no extras, you pop it in and the movie starts and when THE END comes up on screen, there are no credits and the DVD shuts down, it's the movie that does all the talking here! And, while the horror isn't as horrible as I would like, it still kept my attention and didn't bore me, and there's enough of a twist to the story that I actually found myself wondering how it would end. I'm giving Antropophagus, or The Grim Reaper, if you'd rather, three out of four cigars,

because, while I haven't been a big fan of Italian horror from this era, this may have changed my mind, I may revisit some of the Fulci or Bava movies that I keep hearing about, just to see if maybe I'll get them now, after all these years. So, until next time, when I'll dive to the bottom of the DVD bin, just to see what everyone else is avoiding, remember that the best movies are bad movies!