CANNIBAL GIRLS (1973)
Article 2493 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 1-31-2008
Posting Date: 6-9-2008
Directed by Ivan Reitman
Featuring Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Ronald Ulrich
Country: Canada

A young couple visit a small town and go to a restaurant, unaware that it is a haven for female cannibals.

The most interesting thing about this movie is in the above credits. Director Ivan Reitman would go on to success as a director of comedies with MEATBALLS, STRIPES and GHOST BUSTERS, and fans of SCTV will certainly recognize Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin as the young couple. Martin and Levy were hired for their improvisational abilities, and much of their dialogue was improvised. This gives the movie a slightly offbeat feel to it, and the humor is more wry than laugh-out-loud funny. Unfortunately, the movie overall is fairly weak; the story is pretty obvious, and there are unnecessary subplots that really don’t go anywhere interesting. Another problem is that the movie gives too much away too soon; for example, it lets on that the whole town is in on the racket early on, when it would be better for it to have been saved a surprise for the final reels. There was also a gimmick similar to those of CHAMBER OF HORRORS and TERROR IS A MAN, in which a bell is supposed to go off so you can close your eyes during the gory parts; unfortunately, my print omits that detail. All in all, it’s a disappointment.