The Mountain of the Cannibal God
Encyclopedia
The Mountain of the Cannibal God (Italian
title: La montagna del dio cannibale) is an Italian
cult movie starring Ursula Andress
and Stacy Keach
with English
dialogue that was filmed in Sri Lanka
. The film was also widely released as Slave of the Cannibal God and released in the UK as Prisoner of the Cannibal God. The film was banned in the UK until 2001
for its graphic violence and considered a "video nasty
".
) is trying to find her missing anthropologist husband Henry in the jungles of New Guinea
. She and her brother Arthur enlist the services of Professor Edward Foster (Stacy Keach
), who thinks her husband might have headed for the mountain Ra Ra Me, which is located just off the coast on the island of Roka.
The locals believe that the mountain is cursed, and the authorities won't allow expeditions there. So they surreptitiously head on into the jungle to see if that's where he went. They eventually make it to the island, and after a few run-ins against some unfriendly anaconda
s, alligator
s and tarantula
s, they meet another jungle explorer named Manolo (Claudio Cassinelli) who's been staying at a nearby mission camp, and agrees to join them in their expedition.
Matters become complicated when it then turns out that each of them has their own private reasons for coming to the island, and finding Susan's husband wasn't part of any of them. Susan and Arthur have secretly been looking for uranium
deposits, and then Foster reveals that he has only come there because he had been on the island a few years previously and was taken captive by a tribe of primitive cannibals; he has only returned to see if they still exist, and wipe them out. However, Foster later dies when climbing up a waterfall.
Upon arriving at the mountain, Arthur is killed and Manolo and Susan are immediately captured by cannibals and taken to their camp. There they find the primitives worshipping the remains of Susan's husband as they can hear his Geiger counter
ticking, and believe it to be his heart still working. Susan is subsequently spared, while the cannibals feast on human and reptile flesh. She is stripped naked, tied up, and smeared with an orange cream by two native girls for what is supposed to be a session of honey torture
, but she is instead turned into a goddess. Manolo is tied up and tortured, while the others are turned into the dish-of-the-day. Manolo and Susan eventually escape after enduring the ordeal.
admits he only tacked these on at the distributors insistence.
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
title: La montagna del dio cannibale) is an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
cult movie starring Ursula Andress
Ursula Andress
Ursula Andress is a Swiss actress and a sex symbol of the 1960s. She is known for her roles as Bond girl Honey Ryder in Dr...
and Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...
with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
dialogue that was filmed in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. The film was also widely released as Slave of the Cannibal God and released in the UK as Prisoner of the Cannibal God. The film was banned in the UK until 2001
2001 in film
The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
for its graphic violence and considered a "video nasty
Video nasty
"Video nasty" was a colloquial term coined in the United Kingdom by 1982 which originally applied to a number of films distributed on video cassette that were criticized for their violent content by the press, commentators such as Mary Whitehouse and various religious organizations.While violence...
".
Plot
Susan Stevenson (Ursula AndressUrsula Andress
Ursula Andress is a Swiss actress and a sex symbol of the 1960s. She is known for her roles as Bond girl Honey Ryder in Dr...
) is trying to find her missing anthropologist husband Henry in the jungles of New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. She and her brother Arthur enlist the services of Professor Edward Foster (Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...
), who thinks her husband might have headed for the mountain Ra Ra Me, which is located just off the coast on the island of Roka.
The locals believe that the mountain is cursed, and the authorities won't allow expeditions there. So they surreptitiously head on into the jungle to see if that's where he went. They eventually make it to the island, and after a few run-ins against some unfriendly anaconda
Anaconda
An anaconda is a large, non-venomous snake found in tropical South America. Although the name actually applies to a group of snakes, it is often used to refer only to one species in particular, the common or green anaconda, Eunectes murinus, which is one of the largest snakes in the world.Anaconda...
s, alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
s and tarantula
Tarantula
Tarantulas comprise a group of often hairy and often very large arachnids belonging to the family Theraphosidae, of which approximately 900 species have been identified. Some members of the same Suborder may also be called "tarantulas" in the common parlance. This article will restrict itself to...
s, they meet another jungle explorer named Manolo (Claudio Cassinelli) who's been staying at a nearby mission camp, and agrees to join them in their expedition.
Matters become complicated when it then turns out that each of them has their own private reasons for coming to the island, and finding Susan's husband wasn't part of any of them. Susan and Arthur have secretly been looking for uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
deposits, and then Foster reveals that he has only come there because he had been on the island a few years previously and was taken captive by a tribe of primitive cannibals; he has only returned to see if they still exist, and wipe them out. However, Foster later dies when climbing up a waterfall.
Upon arriving at the mountain, Arthur is killed and Manolo and Susan are immediately captured by cannibals and taken to their camp. There they find the primitives worshipping the remains of Susan's husband as they can hear his Geiger counter
Geiger counter
A Geiger counter, also called a Geiger–Müller counter, is a type of particle detector that measures ionizing radiation. They detect the emission of nuclear radiation: alpha particles, beta particles or gamma rays. A Geiger counter detects radiation by ionization produced in a low-pressure gas in a...
ticking, and believe it to be his heart still working. Susan is subsequently spared, while the cannibals feast on human and reptile flesh. She is stripped naked, tied up, and smeared with an orange cream by two native girls for what is supposed to be a session of honey torture
Scaphism
Scaphism, also known as the boats, was an ancient Persian method of execution designed to inflict torturous death. The name comes from the Greek word skaphe, meaning "scooped out"....
, but she is instead turned into a goddess. Manolo is tied up and tortured, while the others are turned into the dish-of-the-day. Manolo and Susan eventually escape after enduring the ordeal.
Violence
The uncut European print shows scene of gratuitous animal violence. This includes a monitor lizard being gutted, and a live monkey being devoured by a python. Director Sergio MartinoSergio Martino
Sergio Martino is an Italian film director and producer, notable for his contributions to the giallo genre.Martino is the brother of producer Luciano Martino. They collaborated frequently in their respective professions...
admits he only tacked these on at the distributors insistence.