Cannibal! The Musical (1993)

Review by Adam C. Thomas



Cannibal! The Musical is one of the early offerings from Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who you may know from a little show known as South Park. This movie reeks of the style of humor we've come to expect from these guys, but it never gets past the "mild chuckle" level of humor.

Cannibal! tells the tale of Alferd Packer, who shows up at a mining site, just as a group of the miners decide to head east, towards the Rockies to look for more gold. They form a group, and leave immediately for Colorado. The movie chronicles the journey of the men, as told by Alferd from his jail cell. You see, he has been locked up for being *wait for it* a cannibal. He talks to a reporter in town, Ms. Polly Pry, and tells her his entire story. The men journey across the Grand Canyon, through snow capped mountains, and into raging rivers.

One thing in particular that struck me as funny, which is something this movie rarely did, was the decision to cast Asians as Native Americans. The "chief" was probably the funniest part of the whole movie. The songs really just felt kind of out of place, and forced. I understand that this was a musical, but it really didn't need to be. It probably would have been just as funny (which is to say, not very funny at all), without the inclusion of the songs, which served only to up the cheesiness of this film.

This movie was another notch in my long-standing quest to find a Troma release that I actually enjoy. I have yet to be impressed by any of the Troma films I have watched, and will continue my search until I find one. Parker and Stone seemed to be honing their craft with this one, considering South Park, and the beacon of off-kilter humor it has become in today's stagnant television programming. I will not rest until I find a Troma movie I can get behind, but this one was not it.

Cannibal! The Musical was directed by Trey Parker. I give this one a 3/10.