Excellent, Without a doubt!!

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I've never been a huge fan of the cannibal movies that were made for some time by Italian directors in the 70s and 80s. My first exposure with them if I'm not mistaken was MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY and it didn't make a lasting impression on me. The fact I'm not sure if that was the first one I saw should show that. Later I saw the infamous CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST which again didn't impress me. It wasn't until I saw THE GREEN INFERNO that I found a cannibal movie I actually enjoyed and that's saying something since I'm not an Eli Roth fan. Having the chance now to see EATEN ALIVE I can now say I've seen two films in the genre I felt were good.The movie opens at Niagara Falls of all places as a native from Borneo kills a man with a blow dart. Move to New York and he does the same again, first killing one man and then getting hit by a truck after killing a second. The police investigating the deaths contact Shelia Morris (Janet Agren) when a roll of 16mm film is found on the Bornean. On the film is footage of her missing sister Diana (Paola Senatore). Professor Carter (Mel Ferrer), who she contacts for help, tells her that Diana appears to have run off to join a cult located in New Guinea. Of course she heads out to retrieve her sister.Hiring a local mercenary named Mark Butler (Robert Kerman) to help her save her sister she learns about the cult. Led by the charismatic Jonas (Ivan Rassimov) the cult is a pain worshipping cult who follows his every command. As the pair travel upriver they are attacked by a group of cannibals who capture their guide and cut him apart to feast on. Avoiding capture themselves they are captured by the cult and taken to their compound where they are welcomed. Diana pledges allegiance to Jonas but secretly wants to escape. Unfortunately Shelia falls under his spell and wants to stay. Even though she learns that the three men who we saw die in the beginning were ex-cult members who escaped she still feels that Jonas is a leader worth following. Whether Mark and Diana can convince her to leave or not, whether the military will come in to rescue cult members before they can commit mass suicide and whether or not the cannibals just outside the compound can satiate their hunger is left to be seen before the end of the film.Movies in this genre were known for two things. The overflowing amount of gore they put on display and the inclusion of numerous scenes of actual killings of animals interspersed throughout the films. The success of films like MONDO CANE (1962) that showed shocking scenes like these but milder piqued the curiosity of film goers at the time and their inclusion in these films drew the ire of censors and the dollars of movie goers. This film offers plenty of those moments. A battle between a mongoose and a cobra while bets are placed, a python grasping a dying monkey who tries to escape, the beheading and gutting of a live alligator are just some of the moments included here.The gore moments are memorable as well for fans of special effects and those gruesome moments. Breasts being sliced off and eaten, a penis sliced off, guttings and more are on display in glorious color with plenty of dripping red fake blood and meaty looking flesh left behind where incisions take place. The cannibals are seen eating their kills, pulling out guts in from their victims, scenes that would stun a few years later in DAWN OF THE DEAD but were clearly shot for films like this one. What sets this movie apart from many in the genre is the amount of storytelling going on here. Most have some scientists searching for some miraculous jungle cure or sociologists looking for lost tribes in these films. The combination of cannibal movie with a Jim Jones/Jonestown style story offers something different here. The depth of story is far from what you'd normally expect.In addition to that the sets look much better than most. It was money well spent, especially the village where the cult is set up. While not as elaborate it made me think back to the city Marlon Brando's Col. Kurtz was set up at in APOCALYPSE NOW. They did a great job here on those sets.But let's not that forget that deep down this is an exploitation movie. That means you'll not only see plenty of blood being spilled but a decent amount of exposed flesh as well. Ceremonies in the camp tend to have topless females walking about. Shelia at one point is painted in gold. When attacked by cannibals clothes are the first things to go. A woman whose husband is killed is raped by his brothers to determine who she marries next. And as punishment one woman is sodomized by the main bad guy guard, Karan. If you go by drive-in critic Joe Bob Brigg's staples of drive-in movies the film features all three necessary items: breasts, beasts and blood. The movie was directed by Umbert Lenzi, a famous director on the Italian scene who made a name for himself directing police dramas, horror films and at least three of the most famous cannibal films in the genre: THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER, this film and CANNIBAL FEROX. In an interview included in the extras he notes that many credit Ruggero Deodata as the inventor of the Italian cannibal film for his CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST this film was actually released before that one. I've been singing the praises of Severin for several films they've just released and I'll have to include this one as well. This is the first time the film has been remastered for hi-def and it shows it. The film looks much better than one would expect for what they had to begin with. In addition to that they've included plenty of extras that when combined run longer than the actual movie itself. Included are WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE the interview with Lenzo, ME ME LAI BITES BACK a documentary on the actress who was known as the Queen of Cannibal Moves, THE SECT OF PURIFICATION an interview with production designer Antonello Geleng, archive interviews with Ivan Rassimov and Robert Kerman and a 2013 Q&A with the late Lenzi at the Festival of Fantastic Films, UK. Lenzi fans will want to have this version of the film in their collection. Horror fans and cannibal movie fans should grab this one up as fast as possible. Those who are curious about the films would do well to start with this one as it not only offers up everything the genre had to offer but has plenty of story as well. It's not a movie that the squeamish will want to watch but if you love horror like this by all means give it a try.

Eaten Alive! (1980) *** (out of 4)Sheila Morris (Janet Agren) is looking for her missing sister and hires Mark (Robert Kerman) to lead her into the jungle where the police believe the sister is. It turns out that the sister is there in the jungle but is with a religious nut (Ivan Raassimov) who is forming a cult.Umberto Lenzi previously kickstarted the Italian cannibal genre with MAN FROM DEEP RIVER and then Ruggero Deodato took it to the more extreme with both JUNGLE HOLOCAUST and CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. Many people consider EATEN ALIVE! to be the most disgusting film that the genre ever delivered and in many ways they are probably correct. It's certainly not as well made as some of the other films I mentioned but there's no question that Lenzi clearly wanted to top Deodato in terms of trash and sleaze.The most controversial thing about these Italian cannibal movies is the fact that they featured a lot of animals being killed for real. If that sort of thing bothers you then you're really going to hate this movie as I think there are more animal deaths here than in any of the other films from the genre. There are some ugly killings here so one needs to be warned. With that said, this type of "violence" was expected in films like this and in the end it really adds to the sleaze factor.I've always enjoyed these cannibal movies because to me they are basically action and adventure films. They are cheap "B" movies just like the old Tarzan films were and that's part of the charm. The jungle locations just seems very taboo and you often think that the filmmakers were crazy for filming out there. The settings are perfect and there's certainly a lot of sleaze in the real violence as well as all of the nudity and the graphic fake violence, which does offer up what the title says: people are eaten alive! Kerman and Agren are both good enough to keep you entertained in what's going on. You've got Rassimov turning in a good performance and it's fun seeing Paola Senatore, Me Me Lai and Mel Ferrer in smaller roles. EATEN ALIVE! certainly isn't a masterpiece but it is a good trash picture that offers up what you'd expect in a film like this.

Eaten Alive follows a young woman (Janet Agren) who searches for her lost sister. Turns out her sister have joined a sect that has disappeared into the jungles of Borneo. With Vietnam veteran Mark at her side she sets off to find her sister.As per usual, the acting isn't of the highest quality but you do get cannibal flick poster girl Me Me Lai spending most of the time on screen with her breast bare, female lead Janet Agren covered in gold paint and abused with a dildo dipped in snake blood among other things. Now that's gotta count for something! But, I must say that I find it bit hard to recommend this title. If you are fan of the genre, you will most likely recognize every gore scene in the movie bar a select few. And I mean that literally. A lot of the gore scenes are lifted straight out other Cannibal movies, like MAN FROM DEEP RIVER and LAST CANNIBAL WORLD. There's probably more movies stuck in there.Ultimately, this is one for die-hard fans to check off their list. If you haven't seen any Italian jungle movies, you'd be better off watching CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and if you're an avid fan, you have seen most of the gore scenes in other movies.

Umberto Lenzi's "Mangiati Vivi" aka. "Eaten Alive By The Cannibals" of 1980 is one of the gruesome Cannibal-movie classics of the early 80s. It is not quite as (in)famous as Lenzi's "Cannibal Ferox" of 1981, but it's easily equally effective, and definitely one of the absolute must-sees for fans of shocking Italian Horror exploitation. Alongside Ruggero Deodato, who is responsible for the only true masterpiece of the Cannibal sub-genre, the brilliant "Cannibal Holocaust" of 1980, director Lenzi is THE master of this nasty and controversial sub-genre, and may also be credited as its pioneer, since his very own "Paese Del Sesso Selvaggio" aka. "Deep River Savages", was the first movie of the kind in 1972. This "Mangiati Vivi" is easily one of the nastiest highlights of the genre, and has a particularly interesting plot, as the film is, among other things, about a bizarre purification cult that resembles Jim Jones' infamous 'People's Temple'. The film features a lot of sleaze, and the violence is extremely disturbing and engrossing, and even though these vicious scenes are not as frequent as it is the case in "Cannibal Ferox", they are extremely vicious and sometimes hard to watch, even for well-trained exploitation lovers like myself. The cast contains several Cannibal-genre regulars, Robert Kerman ("Cannibal Holocaust", "Cannibal Ferox") and beautiful Me Me Lai ("Deep River Savages", "Jungle Holocaust), who plays a native girl, as always, and Exploitation-star Ivan Rassimov. The music was generally great in these Italian Cannibal flicks, and "Mangiati Vivi" has an excellent score (actually, it's partly the same score as in "Cannibal Ferox"). People who are sensitive about violence should avoid this film since it shows what the title promises - people being mutilated and eaten alive. Animal-protectors and vegetarians are also not well-advised to see this, due to the vicious scenes in which actual animals were killed (probably more than in any other Cannibal movie). To all the fans of shocking exploitation and ultra-violent Eurohorror out there, however, "Mangiati Vivi" is an indispensable Shock-classic that must not be missed. Definitely not a movie you'll forget quickly! Highly recommended!