Rich gal Sheila Morris (lovely blonde Janet Agren) hires scruffy guide Mark Butler (nicely played with rugged conviction by Robert Kerrman) to find her sister Diana (busty brunette Paola Senatore) who has gone missing in the treacherous jungle of New Guinea. The pair run afoul of not only a deadly tribe of savage cannibals, but also a freaky Jim Jones-type religious cult led by the deranged Jonas (a smooth portrayal by Ivan Rassimov). Writer/director Umberto Lenzi keeps the enjoyably lurid story moving along at a brisk pace, maintains a harsh and unapologetic take-no-prisoners sleazy tone throughout, and delivers a pleasing generous amount of both tasty gratuitous female nudity -- statuesque stunner Agren gets stripped naked and painted gold -- and in-your-face nasty gore that includes a castration, decapitation, evisceration, and the expected graphic gut munching. Comely Me Me Lai lends sturdy support as helpful native girl Mowara while token big name Mel Ferror pops up in a few scenes as knowledgeable professor Carter. Federico Zanni's handsome cinematography provides several breathtaking shots of the lush tropical scenery. The funky-throbbing score by Roberto Donati and Fiamma Maglione hits the get-down groovy spot. Good low-grade fun.

Eaten Alive! (1980) *** (out of 4)Sheila Morris (Janet Agren) is looking for her missing sister and hires Mark (Robert Kerman) to lead her into the jungle where the police believe the sister is. It turns out that the sister is there in the jungle but is with a religious nut (Ivan Raassimov) who is forming a cult.Umberto Lenzi previously kickstarted the Italian cannibal genre with MAN FROM DEEP RIVER and then Ruggero Deodato took it to the more extreme with both JUNGLE HOLOCAUST and CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. Many people consider EATEN ALIVE! to be the most disgusting film that the genre ever delivered and in many ways they are probably correct. It's certainly not as well made as some of the other films I mentioned but there's no question that Lenzi clearly wanted to top Deodato in terms of trash and sleaze.The most controversial thing about these Italian cannibal movies is the fact that they featured a lot of animals being killed for real. If that sort of thing bothers you then you're really going to hate this movie as I think there are more animal deaths here than in any of the other films from the genre. There are some ugly killings here so one needs to be warned. With that said, this type of "violence" was expected in films like this and in the end it really adds to the sleaze factor.I've always enjoyed these cannibal movies because to me they are basically action and adventure films. They are cheap "B" movies just like the old Tarzan films were and that's part of the charm. The jungle locations just seems very taboo and you often think that the filmmakers were crazy for filming out there. The settings are perfect and there's certainly a lot of sleaze in the real violence as well as all of the nudity and the graphic fake violence, which does offer up what the title says: people are eaten alive! Kerman and Agren are both good enough to keep you entertained in what's going on. You've got Rassimov turning in a good performance and it's fun seeing Paola Senatore, Me Me Lai and Mel Ferrer in smaller roles. EATEN ALIVE! certainly isn't a masterpiece but it is a good trash picture that offers up what you'd expect in a film like this.

Eaten Alive is a little film that opens in New York city and the arctic where tribe men shoot snake venom at a few people,then a woman enters the police precinct who's trying to find her sister that has disappeared after 6 months Sheila is from Alabama,but her accent sucks,she is teamed up with an adventurer who seems to just want her money and seems to say it a lot throughout the film.They venture through the amazon only to find a community with people and they find the sister,they're confronted by a mad man who has probably seen one too many Jim Jones preaches.He will bring them to a better place,it could be heaven but no,Mark and Sheila find out later its actually a suicide cult.Why do I call Eaten Alive a "little film"? Ill tell you but when I watched it,I was floored through all the run ins with the cannibals,Robert Kerman has a different role than his professor in Cannibal Holocaust.He's a bit annoying,once we meet him at an arm wrestling match that looked like Russian roulette we know hes one tough guy.Plus the strong misogyny just makes you cringe and it looked like I saw it somewhere,oh the scenes of animals killing each other.But the whole film revolves on those scenes,its like were actually watching a images of nature with parts of a film But after watching this film I realized that most of the films scenes are taken from other cannibal films,even the demise of 2 of the characters,well..most of the film is.That's why I call this a little film,when I did found out that scenes were borrowed I felt like throwing the disc across the room,this isn't a film just a simple montage of sorts .

Contains nudity/rape, blood both original and ripped off, a scene of body painting. A cult that has its HQ in the middle of a jungle infested by evil cannibals receives some unwanted visitors in the form a young woman (and company) who are looking for her lost sister. - - - Made after "Man From Deep River" and before "Cannibal Ferox," this is Lenzi's weakest cannibal movie, but it's also the least offensive. Much of the gore and animal killings were taken from other movies, but the plot that has been interjected between them is nearly jaw dropping in its ridiculousness. All the fun that comes from this one is because the movie is so concerned with being absolutely retarded that it becomes humorous. Most importantly, it keeps attention through the run time and threw in just enough sleaze to sate my thirst(without overdoing it like the genre is known). Mediocre, but I think that's being rather kind.* * out of 4