Anthropophagous, The Ultimate Grim Reaper

And we have another new, restored blu-ray release from 88 Films, this time it's Joe D'Amato's most successful horror flick, spelled here as Anthropophagous. I also have this on DVD, where it's spelled Antropophagous, but the most common spelling seems to meet those two in the middle with Anthropophagous. However the heck you're supposed to spell it, the word apparently means cannibal, which is certainly fitting for this nutty film.

Update 8/6/15 -  8/26/17: And we're back, with an all new Remastered Special Edition blu-ray release of Anthropophagus from 88 Films.  Wait a minute, didn't we just say 88 Films had come out with a blu-ray restoration in 2015?  Yup, but they felt they could do better, so as the final entry in their second indiegogo campaign (which also included the sequel to Anthropophagous, Absurd) we have a new version in 2017 with a fresh 2k scan, "extensive colour correction," new special features and some other improvements.

Update 8/21/19: And we're back again, this time with a US blu-ray from Severin.  It has a different 2k scan, alternate color timing and all new special features.

Update 7/17/24: The pendulum swings back to 88 Films as they take us from 2k to 4k, and on a proper UHD disc, triple layer even.  HDR, new special features... could this be the ultimate, definitive edition?

But this isn't your typical Italian "cannibal film" about a native jungle tribe... This is actually set in a very interesting little Greek island town. A couple of young tourists, including Tisa Farrow, sail over for a short vacation, only to find the entire town abandoned. Eventually they do find one or two inhabitants, or more accurately survivors, who seem to have gone a bit funny since of their locals, George Eastman, has turned into a completely insane and even somewhat monstrous killer. The film can be a bit flat and plodding, with a lot of these bland vacationers wandering around empty locations, but Eastman's character has a perfect, memorably horrible look. And when the film finally does come around to its shock sequences, they're rather effective and a couple are particularly over the top, giving this film a nice touch of infamy. It's one of those movies where people who've seen it probably won't remember it too well, but they'll be like, "was this the film where ____ happened?" And oh yes, it's that movie. Those few moments are certainly etched into the memories of everyone who's seen it and they're really what everybody who's interested in this release are here for. And at least there's some interesting scenery during all that time in between.

Shriek Show's 2006 2-disc DVD is the disc most Anthropophagous fans probably started with, but that's not the one I went with back in the day. I used to have an old German DVD from Astro that was taken from a VHS source, but when I upgraded from that, instead of picking up Shriek Show's cropped 1.78:1 DVD, I imported the Italian DVD from Beat Records. It's a two disc set with some extras, which I'll get into, and kept the film more open at 1.66:1. It's debatable which of the two DVDs is better, but the real question these days is how the newer HD editions look.  Because, at this point, we've had four BD generations in short succession: 88 Films' initial 2015 blu, their 2017 crowd-sourced remaster, Severin's 2018 US edition, and now 88's 2024 BD/ UHD combo-pack, each with all new transfers and features.

1) 2005 Beat Records DVD; 2) 2015 88 Films BD; 3) 2017 88 Films BD;
4) 2018 Severin BD; 5) 2024 88 Films BD; 6) 2024 88 Films UHD.

So 88 and Severin have both kept the more open, 1.66:1 ratio, leaving all six discs slightly pillar-boxed. We do see the framing slightly shifting on each version, though, with tiny and differing slivers of extra picture on each transfer.  But none of it is substantial enough to really label one as better than another.  The colors are kind of flat plus a bit brown on the DVD and green, on the 2015 blu. 88's 2017 color correction really paid off, definitely taking the film forward to a higher quality image with nice shadows and natural, more vivid colors.  I'd say Severin made another improvement in that department, but after 2017,  the differences are more subjective.  To my eye, Severin's seems more natural and more aesthetically pleasing, but you could definitely pick different favorites shot to shot.  In the two sets of shots highlighted here, I think 88's 2017 disc looks like it has too much of a purplish hue, and that Severin pulls a lot more dynamism out of the second shot.  But we're really getting into the realm of guessing what the filmmakers' intentions were.  Is that second shot supposed to be a darker, creepier shot?  Yeah, we can make out faces better in Severin's pass, but 88's makes it look more like a scary, nighttime shot.  And at this stage in the film, it's a stormy night where the power's gone out and people are wandering around in fear as the killer could be lurking around each corner.  So I'd say Severin's screenshot looks better in a vacuum of context, but 88's is telling the story better.  But I still don't think the boat shot should be so purple.  Now, the 2024 kind of pulls the best of all the above.  It's darker, with creepier nighttime segments.  And that boat isn't so purple anymore.

And there's still not a wealth of additional detail in any of these transfers. After all, this is a fairly low budget 16mm film.  It might strike viewers as a little underwhelming, jumping to 2 then 4k. But getting in close, we see maybe not new information, but even the 2015 blu isn't nearly so splotchy and messy as the grungy DVD. It's definitely a crisper, cleaner image.  However the 2015 grain looks weird, somehow smoothed down yet digital.  This is not the case on the subsequent 2017 blu, which has much more natural and distinct film grain.  I feel like maybe the people doing the 2015 master were worried about how grainy the film is and tried to fidget with the settings to tone it down.  Then Severin's blu actually takes a tiny step backward in that department.  Look at the face of the woman on the boat, for example.  It's not as bad as the 2015 or the DVD, but it really looks softer and like grain is missing.  And the enhanced contrast almost seems a little too much, especially now that we can compare it to the 2024 disc, which really shows off how the film is supposed to look.  Grain is thorough, edges look truly natural.  Even the 2024 BD outshines the other discs, but the UHD comes off as truly impressive when you take the time to zoom in and study it.  When you don't?  What you probably notice more is the creepier night shots.  But either way, it's all improvement.

2015 blu left; 2017 blu right.

All four BDs and the UHD have both the original mono English audio and the Italian mono audio with optional English subs. Unlike Zombie Holocaust, that's not so new - both Shriek Show and Beat Records' DVDs already had both options. But it's still the best way to present the film. I should note that the opening scene with the German tourists is not subtitled or dubbed into English on 88's 2015 blu. Beat's DVD subtitles the second half of the scene, after they sit down on the rocks, but not the first half as they walk down the beach. But thankfully, the 2017, 2018 and 2024 releases subtitle the whole thing. Yay! In fact, as you can see in the differences between the two shots above, 88 has gone through and re-translated all the English subtitles for this new version to be more accurate. And, they've also thrown in dubtitles to match the English audio, for anyone who wants to read along to the English dub.  And Severin?  They've got the same pair of re-translated subs and dubtitles as 88's 2017 blu, both of which, yes, have continued onto 88's new 2024 release.  The only little thing that would've been nice, that none of the previous releases have done yet, is a third subtitle track of just the opening German dialogue, so you can watch the English language version with no subs besides that part.  But considering the incredible amount of attention this niche, low budget horror flick as received already, it's hard to gripe.

Now, labels have always had a hard time coming up with extras for Anthropophagous. Shriek Show just had an interview with Eastman and a general featurette on D'Amato's career, and that's pretty much the best anyone's until very recently. The DVD I've got comes close to tying them, however. It has its own Eastman interview, which is pretty fun; and a 12 minute D'Amato featurette, including a brief on-set interview where he's working on a film called The Monk. And since Beat Records is also a record label, there's a feature called "Best Of," which is a collection of music tracks from D'Amato soundtracks. Those are the main things, though there's also a useless photo gallery which just consists of stills from the film, but framed in a small, distorted "TV screen" image making the whole endeavor completely pointless, a text-only filmography and trivia, and the trailer. Oh, and it has a nice double insert with some cool poster images.

42nd St. Memories

And 88? Well, I think this is another one of the reasons they've gotten flack for the 2015 disc. There are practically no extras directly pertaining to the film at hand. There is, however, one big extra, which is pretty cool... it's just not related to Anthropophagous. It's called 42nd Street: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Notorious Block. They don't even mention Anthropophagous as one of the countless films that potentially played on 42nd St. It's also not a topic I was particularly keen on, but it is a feature length film that interviews a heck of a lot of interesting people, including: William Lustig, Joe Dante, Lloyd Kaufman, Roy Frumkes, Frank Henenlotter. Lynn Lowry, Larry Cohen and a bunch more. I would've preferred to hear these guys talk about their films than the street, but it's still worth the watch. Besides that, there's just a couple trailers (including a bonus trailer for Zombie Holocaust, which is unskippable at start-up), an alternate set of opening credits in Italian, four neat little postcards with different poster art, some cool reversible art, and a sweet slipcover.

old left; new right.

So what does the Special Edition add to the proceedings?  Well, first and foremost is a brand new interview with George Eastman.  And I have to admit, after Beyond the Darkness and Absurd sharing the same George Eastman (and Michelle Soavi) interview across both discs, I was worried we'd be getting the same thing a third time.  But happily, no, this is an all new interview... or partially new, anyway.  The interview for Absurd was just under 15 minutes long, and this new one is over half an hour long, of two different interviews (he's shot from different angles and wearing different shirts, so it's obvious) intercut together.  One of those two is new, and the other is the old one, and the editing jumps back and forth between the two.  So basically, we get an all new one inter-spliced with with older content, though the older interview is the only one where he talks about Anthropophagous (as opposed to D'Amato, Laura Gemser and other films), so you can see why they incorporated it.

the deleted scene

Next up is an interview with film historian Alessio di Rocco.  A drier, academic look at Anthropophagous?  No, this is actually a very short (three minutes) set-up of the subsequent extra they have on here, a "never before seen deleted scene."  So Alessi sets up why it was shot and why it's not in the final film, and then the scene itself is quick but pretty cool.  It's not in the same quality as the rest of the film (see the shot above), but also in 1.66, Italian with optional English subtitles.  Then you get the alternate Italian opening and closing credits and a collection of trailers showcasing this film's multiple titles.  This 2017 version also has reversible artwork and a very nice, felt-like slipcover.

But in 2018, Anthropophagus finally got what I'd consider a worthy special edition.  Yeah, the 2017 remaster was called a "Special Edition," and it was a fair way to distinguish it from the 2015 BD, but I'm not sure it really has enough extras to justify that title.  Severin's does.  First of all, yes, there's another new interview with George Eastman, because you've got to have that.  And this might be the best of all of them, because it's focused and charming.  But now, finally, we've got proper interviews with other cast and crew members about this film.  We talk to actors Saverio Vallone and Zora Kerova, editor Bruno Micheli and effects artist Pietro Tenoglio. We also get three trailers and reversible artwork.  What's more, you could've ordered their "maneater" bundle, which included a slipcover, t-shirt, two pins and a Grim Reaper plush doll with "pull out entrails!"

The only disappointment is they didn't include the deleted scene.  I mean, the alternate credits and the Shriek Show piece on D'Amato would've been nice, too.  But the deleted scene feels particularly conspicuous in its absence.

the even newer one

Now, in 2024, 88 Films is back with most of their 2017 extras (42nd Street Memories is still gone; but that's no big deal since it had nothing to do with Anthropophagous anyway), none of Severin's, and some all new stuff.  Now, let's break that down.  When I say "most" of their 2017 extras, yeah, it's almost all here.  The deleted scene, the expert introduction, the trailers and alternate credits are all back.  But you'll notice the Eastman interview is shorter this time around.  That's because, well, remember how I showed it was two different interviews cut together?  Well, now we just get the one: specifically, the older one where he talks about this film.  But don't be disappointed, because they've brought him back for an all new, 2024 interview.  They've really improved on the situation.  They've also done their own interview with Zora Kerova, which takes all the sting of them not having access to Severin's.  Another fun inclusion is an interview with the director of the recent Anthropophagous II.  There's also a pretty good visual essay by Eugenio Ercolani to give put this film in its historical context, though also having him do an audio commentary (along with fellow historian Nanni Cobretti) stretches what he has to say pretty thin.  I'd recommend the essay and skipping the commentary unless you're really thirsting to soak up every tidbit you can about this film.

If you order the "website exclusive edition" direct from 88 films, you also got a slipbox, double-sided poster and a 40-page booklet.  But even if you score this elsewhere, you still get an attractive slipcover and reversible art.

It's a bit crazy how this scrappy little weirdo of a film keeps getting remastered and reissued over and over again in recent years, especially since Severin is sure to keep ping-ponging this title with their own 4k release soon enough.  It could be a little rough on collectors triple-, quadruple-, quintuple-dipping each step of the way.  But it's good news for serious fans, because it keeps improving, and getting more supplementary features each time.  88's new UHD is the reigning definitive edition for sure, though if you appreciate extras, you'll still want to hang onto your Severin blu for their exclusives (and obviously, treasure that plushie).  But you won't want to miss out on this upgrade either way.