Review by Peter Syslo
MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY (1981 Italy) is a DVD release from Cheezy Flicks (www.cheezyflicks.com). This is a company that specializes in releases of B-movies, drive-in movies, and obscure films, in general. Their DVDs are actually packaged like a drive-in experience, complete with “intermission” commercials and “coming-soon” trailers. A film like MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY is perfect for this type of packaging and promotion; but, do heed the disclaimer because this is a film that pulls no punches and may be highly disturbing for the average movie go-er.
MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY (aka CANNIBAL FEROX) is written and directed by Umberto Lenzi. The film stars Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Lorraine De Selle, Danilo Mattei, and Zora Kerova. The film also features original music by Roberto Donati.
The picture is about three people who travel to the Amazon Jungle. One of the three, Gloria (DeSelle), is an anthropology student who wishes to investigate the existence of cannibalism. While the group is there, they come across two men who are wounded and who are trying to escape from something or someone. The two guys tell a tale of natives capturing and wounding them, for no apparent reason. However, the truth is that the two guys are drug dealers from NYC who got into some trouble with the Mafia. They came to the Amazon to “lay low” and build up some cash, but one thing led to another and they captured and imprisoned a tribe of natives, in order to steal the natives’ bounty of naturally occurring emeralds. One of the men, Mike (Radice), got all coked-up one day and started torturing and killing some of the natives. The natives revolted and attacked coke-head Mike and his friend Joe. So, the three friends (Gloria, Rudy, and Pat) are automatically caught in the middle of things and they unfortunately meet the wrath of the vengeful and blood-thirsty natives.
MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY was a trip, I sure will admit that. The whole thing is basically about shock value... but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Now, I have never seen CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and from what I understand, MTDS is very similar to it. For me, the worst thing about MTDS was that there were real animal killings, committed on film. I don’t care what anybody says, killing animals for the sake of making a film is wrong and it shouldn’t have happened. Thankfully, though, they did not dwell on these scenes – they were just brief shots which were enough to shock. That, right there, is my main criticism of the film and I wanted to get that out of the way before I spoke further about the movie.
Despite the animal killings, the rest of the film arouses a morbid curiosity - you want to see what happens to the New Yorkers and the natives. You go into it knowing that it is a banned and violent film. Strangely though, it compels you to want to see the torture and violence (of the humans), in almost a side-show fashion. Actually, it reminds me of the FACES OF DEATH videos where the thought of the depictions was a little unsettling, but those depictions made you curious enough to want to see the film. What I liked most about MTDS was the fact that it was raw, exploitative, dirty, unapologetic, and definitely not politically-correct. Truthfully, the film sickened me a little, with its in-your-face approach, it bizarre and hauntingly memorable musical score, and the hyper-realistic gore. As far as horror films go these days, your not going to see anything like these exploitative films from the late 1970s/early 1980s. Seriously, when was the last time that a modern horror film shocked, scared you a little, or made you a little sick to your stomach? Say what you will, 28 years later, MTDS has that power to do all of that.
Now, let me move on to the human torture and gore, because that is basically why you are watching the film. The underlying story of the trio and the drug dealers from NYC set up that fish-out-of-water component which works well with the brutal nature of the Amazon jungle and the natives. There is an interesting philosophical point to the film as well: who is more barbaric, the natives or the civilized man? Or, are the two equal in brutality but differ in their methods? It's an underlying thought which stays with you after the film. The point is that Mike and his coked-out violence opened up the gateway to even greater violence. The viewer is exposed to: decomposing corpses; natives gutting a man and feasting on his organs; a piranha attack; a detailed castration; hooks through breasts; and - my personal favorite – natives scalping one of the characters and eating the exposed brains. For the time period, these effects do look incredible and they create a sensory bombardment. Yes, definitely heed the warning and don’t show this to your girlfriend/wife unless you have briefed her on things (or if you are mad at her and want her to leave the room – I have several films in my collection that are useful for that). But, in all honestly, the human gore is not really anything extremely horrible, that I haven’t seen in the SAW films, etc. The effectiveness and shock come from the way that it is done (castration, pierced breasts, cannibalism etc.) and the reality aspect of it.
Gnawing through the flesh: MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY is a shocking film which simply means to be visceral. It certainly accomplishes that but it is not so unbearable that you don’t want to finish watching it. Again, I hated the animal killing - and that is the main negative point – but, I am not going to trash the whole film because of that. The film promotes that morbid curiosity where you are waiting for the human torture scenes; but at the same time, you feel like a disgusting human being for thinking that way. Yes, it is one of those films where you want to take a shower afterwards. Other than the content, the acting was decent and appropriate. Radice gave the best performance as coke-head, sadistic Mike and DeSelle played a nice contrast as the booksmart Gloria. The cinematography was superb; the shots really made you feel like you were immersed in the Amazon jungle – also, the contrast with the grittiness of NYC is nice and provides some relief for the jungle madness. The side story of the Mafia in NYC looking for Mike and Mike’s girlfriend traveling to the Amazon to look for him was a little unnecessary, but it does provide a little melodrama and relief from the sensory assault. Lastly, the music is simply great – there is the dark, brooding jungle theme and the 1970s porn-ish NYC theme. The music is like a character itself and it is the perfect compliment to the film. In retrospect, MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY was an experience and it is part of the darker, exploitative side a horror history. If you are looking for shock and you want a movie that is going to bother you a little, then this may be for you. I give it an 8/10.