Reviews
[Blu-ray Review] Sergio Martino Takes on Mondo Cinema with ‘The Mountain of the Cannibal God’
My journey through the filmography of the legendary Italian director Sergio Martino continued recently with The Mountain of the Cannibal God. Before divulging my thoughts on this film specifically, I should point out that the Italian subgenre of cannibal films have really never done it for me. I love Italian horror in general, as I’ve discussed several times here on Bloody Disgusting, but the cannibal films have never really been my favorite. I don’t dislike them, mind you, they’re just not my favorite and not something I typically go out of my way to watch. I feel like this disclaimer is important because there could be a bit of bias that slips into my review as a result. Or maybe not, but either way at least the air is now clear.
Ursula Andress stars as a woman who ventures into the jungles of New Guinea to find her husband. Assisting her in her search is her brother (Antonio Marsina) and Professor Edward Foster (Stacy Keach). The belief is that her husband may have explored the mountain of Ra Ra Me, and if so that’s bad new. Ra Ra Me is believed by the locals to be a cursed mountain that none should dare enter. As such, the authorities have forbidden any expeditions there, making a rescue mission quite difficult.
After some violent run-ins with the wildlife in the jungle, the trio finally make it to the mountain where they meet Manolo (Claudio Cassinelli). Manolo is a jungle explorer out on his own that agrees to help them find the missing husband. It quickly turns out that all parties involved have an ulterior motive for heading out on this trek. None of those motives really matter when it turns out that the mountain is home to a tribe of bloodthirsty cannibals. Turns out those locals were right — this place is cursed.
I’ve thought about this movie a lot after watching it and my opinion on it has constantly wavered. One moment I think to myself, “Hey, maybe this is the movie that will turn by on the Italian cannibal films,” and the next I say, “Nah, this is precisely why I don’t care for these films.” Ultimately, I believe this film falls somewhere between those opposing positions. The Mountain of the Cannibal God has a lot of what I don’t like from this period of Italian exploitation, but it does have some slight variations that appeal to me.
The number one factor responsible for pulling me into this film is that despite its brutal nature, it’s quite beautiful to look at, which is a testament to the stunning work from director of photography, Giancarlo Ferrando. The film was shot on location in Sri Lanka and really takes advantage of the gorgeous, lush jungles the island has to offer. Later, when the film moves into the mountain for the more horrifying moments, Ferrando does an impressive job photographing the grim caves. While what is actually taking place on camera isn’t always pleasant to look at it, it’s hard not to be impressed by the craftsmanship that went into capturing it all.
Mountain also earns some extra credit for having bigger stars than most like-minded films from the era. Keach is the most notable of the bunch and for good reason. The man is a bonafide star and it’s hard not to be mesmerized by him every moment he crosses into frame. It is, however, Andress, that manages to steal the show here. She has a certain magnetism and it’s easy to see why she was the first ever Bond girl. I think better results could have been achieved by plopping her character, along with those of Keach and Cassinelli, into a more fun oriented action-adventure movie. For those intrigued with seeing more of Andress I recommend checking out some of her other work. Hammer’s She and 1967’s Casino Royale are two that stand out, but if you just want to have fun you can never go wrong with Andress opposite Elvis in Fun in Acapulco.
The biggest problems with this film, are the same problems that plague other Italian cannibal films — animal cruelty and the representation of native people. The latest Blu-ray release from Shameless Films, fortunately, tackles the first issue by pulling back on some of the violence towards animals. The film opens with a message that indicates Shameless, along with the filmmakers (Martino), “soften” some of the animal cruelty, despite re-inserting some previously cut footage. So this isn’t an uncut release, but a lot of the time the animal cruelty doesn’t add to the story, so kudos to Shameless and Martino for electing to forgo some of it for this release. The issue regarding natives, however, well there really isn’t any way around that. I understand you have to factor in when the film was made and consider that it is an exploitation film setting out to shock, but the treating of natives as nothing more than uncivilized savages because their world is different than the world most of us are accustom to isn’t great. It’s especially bad when you think about how indigenous people are still poorly treated to this day. I won’t begrudge anyone that is able to set these issues aside to enjoy these films more, but for me, they leave a bad taste.
Special Features
My recent viewing of The Mountain of the Cannibal God gave via the new region B Shameless Films Blu-ray. The release features a new 2K restoration and it looks wonderful. That new restoration played a big role in making this film easier for me to watch. In my head the Italian cannibal films are always very grimy and muddy looking, but as I stated earlier this film has outstanding jungle scenery and it really pops on this new transfer. As far as the extras go, there isn’t a lot here, but what is included is a nice touch. The film has an intro from Martino and then there is a short interview-esque segment where he discusses animal cruelty. Martino talks about how they filmed some stuff that he’s not very proud of and the producers put that footage in the cut for international distribution. He genuinely seems to be bothered by the footage of a monkey and an anaconda and it’s actually a touching, warming moment with a man known for creating some truly barbaric films.
The other big bonus included is a documentary called Cannibal Nightmare. This looks to be an older, making-of, doc centered specifically around Mountain, but there is some discussion of other Martino works throughout. This is a fun watch, with Martino and some of the other folks involved sharing their opinions on the film and its production.
The special features are topped off with some alternate Italian credits and a theatrical trailer.
The Mountain of the Cannibal God didn’t really do much to sway my overall viewpoint on Italian cannibal cinema. Even with my reservations, I was able to enjoy this, and my guess is that most horror fans are much higher on this than I am. If I were judging the film on just its own merits, I’d give this a 2.5/5, but considering the excellent quality of the Blu-ray release I have to bump this up to 3/5. If you’re a Martino completest, or just a fan of the Cannibal films, you’re going to want this Blu-ray.
The Mountain of the Cannibal God is available on region B Blu-ray from Shameless Films.
With all the hullabaloo surrounding Kane Parsons’ big screen adaptation of/sequel to his Backrooms web-series, it’s easy to forget that the Backrooms phenomenon itself actually began years ago. Since 2019, countless creators have tried to leave their own unique mark on this memorable piece of collaborative fiction, with game developers being especially interested in exploring the architectural nightmare of the rooms in virtual environments.
However, now that this once-niche creepypasta has escaped the online bubble and permeated all of popular culture, several of these developers have decided to rework and rerelease some of their old titles in order to reach a new audience. Puppet Combo did this with their interpretation of The Backrooms last month (originally released in 2019 as Day Seven), and now Cortez Productions is doing the same with the console release of The Backrooms: Lost Tape.
However, Lost Tape is more than just a cleverly timed rerelease, with Vini Cortez having taken the time to completely overhaul the 2022 game’s graphics and transfer the project over to Unreal Engine 5.6 – complete with bug fixes, exclusive new content, and a brand new visual style that’s a little too impressive when compared to what the original version of the game was trying to do. In fact, I’d argue that this is more of a remake than anything else, though it’s still built over the skeleton of that original game.
In the updated title, which is presented as a found footage anthology where each “tape” tells a self-contained story, players initially take control of a movie theater usher named Josh as he no-clips into the titular Backrooms and tries to find his way out of a liminal labyrinth. The second (and final) tape follows Josh’s brother Nikolas as he attempts to track down the missing usher and ends up embarking on his own journey through infinite hallways and not-so-empty pools.
What follows is a highly atmospheric first-person walking simulator with the occasional light puzzle and a handful of thrilling chase sequences. While the liminal environment is obviously the star of the show here, the rooms are actually populated by monsters in this game, and our characters have plenty to say about the situation they find themselves in.
Unlike Parsons’ more introspective take on the Backrooms mythology, Cortez has decided to incorporate the multiple levels of the Backrooms wiki as well as several crossovers with the SCP “franchise”. While I personally don’t mind this inclusion due to the creepypasta’s collective origins, die-hard fans might be bothered by the fact that you can run into SCP-173 (affectionately referred to as Peanut by some fans) while wandering around the yellow hallways.
However, the real problem here is the fact that the game is simply presenting imagery and ideas made by other people without adding anything new to these familiar elements. There is an undeniable novelty to exploring these beautiful renditions of classic liminal environments, but Lost Tape offers little in the way of originality in both narrative and presentation. This extends to the unfortunate use of generative AI in some of the new textures and audio files – issues that weren’t present in the 2022 version of the title.
Though Cortez has promised that he’s working on bringing back the VHS filter that made the original experience so grungy and atmospheric, the glossy new visuals make the game feel a lot less scary while also consuming way more computing power than can be reasonably expected from an indie title. Sure, the game is pretty in a “tech-demo” sort of way, but there’s no reason for it to be hogging resources like a blockbuster AAA title.
This is made even more frustrating by the fact that this found footage anthology is technically still incomplete. The two existing tapes only scratch the surface of the setting’s narrative potential, and Cortez has announced that the next ones will only be available as (likely paid) DLC. Josh and Nikolas’ tapes are self-contained yarns that’ll each get you about a feature film’s worth of entertainment, though a lot of that runtime is taken up by very slowly walking from one point to another. But it’s a shame that there isn’t a concrete promise of more content to come.
At the end of the day, Backrooms: Lost Tape isn’t a bad game. Cortez really nails the liminal atmosphere and even breathes new life into tired SCP tropes, and the upcoming VHS filter will likely resolve most of my gripes with the revamped visuals. That being said, I find it hard to recommend a project that took a completely functional experience and spoiled it with AI-generated assets and poorly-optimized “upgrades” that no one was really asking for – especially since it doesn’t give existing owners the chance to roll back to a previous version of the game.
So, if you’re looking for more Backrooms-related thrills after enjoying the A24 adaptation, Lost Tape isn’t necessarily a bad place to start, but there are certainly better and more original options out there.
Backrooms: Lost Tape is available now on Steam and PS5.
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