Here we have an oddity. A low-budget Italian late '70s exploitation flick that throws everything but the kitchen sink: gritty NYC cop flick (including wah-wah guitars and bongoes, '70s cop show music); a jungle cult obviously intended to cash in on interest in Jim Jones and the Guyana Peoples' Temple; more boobs than even I want to see, which is really saying something; and graphic cannibalism. It feels like an attempt to merge every '70s exploitation flick, most prominently the notorious (and also Italian; the Italian filmmakers had a way about them) cannibal flick "Cannibal Holocaust", which is interesting, as this seems like an attempt to cash in on that specifically, but was actually filmed before that was released.
The overally production is so cheezy that it very nearly succeeds at that rarely achieved "so bad it's good" context. It's the '70s, so there's lots of unabashed nudity, and of course as a cannibalism exploitation flick, lots of attempted gore, which is low budget enough not to be terribly gory, although you have to give them credit for, eh, a little effort.
Anyway, it's not quite something I'd say should be a cult favorite, it just doesn't quite go far enough in any of the directions it tries to go in, although it certainly brushes right up against that. But, it's, uh, something, for sure.
NB The release title in Italy was "Mangiati Vivi!" I think I'm going to start using Vivi Mangiati as an alias.
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