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 1996 R / Comedy Horror Directed by: Starring: |
- All Singing! All Dancing! All Flesh Eating!
Summary Capsule
- Um, it's a musical about, well, a cannibal.
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Clare's Rating: Ah, Troma Studios. Where would we be without your gentle caress to soothe our gross out, stupid, no budget needs?
Clare's Review: Cannibal: The Musical is a student film. Student films, as a general rule, NEVER get bought by production companies and widely released on video, but this little gem happens to be the brain child of a couple of ding dong college students who became the highly paid, wildly popular ding dong creators of South Park (Trey Parker and Matt Stone). Apparently, if you make more than a million dollars, every yahoo in show biz will line up at your door to try and buy whatever crap you may have lying around.
The songs are good, there are a couple of well done scenes and funny lines. Cannibal is worth looking for, if for no other reason then, to laugh at the horrific fake beards the characters parade around in. Plus it's pretty entertaining to see how young, earnest and goofy both Trey and Matt were as wet behind the ears college kids who hadn't yet hatched their plan to take over the world (or at least Comedy Central) one poorly drawn misfit 4th grader at a time.
The movie itself is half decent, mildly entertaining and, for a fricking student film, pretty damn good. The DVD version however is hilarious and really cool. See my notes below for details.
Justin's Rating: Shpedoinkle, indeed!
Justin's Review: In my opinion, there is no social issue of more important relevance than cannibalism. True, we have rampant theft, murder and Democrats running The West Wing, but who *hasn't* had a family member or friend used as a before-dinner appetizer? Or come home to find your spouse missing a key arm or leg that would otherwise be used to wash the dishes? Yes, cannibalism: the scrooge of the masses. Yet, granted that we've all visited Taco Bell in our lifetimes, we too are cannibals. Will there not be a film to champion our cause, to speak on our behalf, to show some really gruesome and fake scenes of people eating other people?
Cannibal! The Musical comes from the minds and acting (mis)talents of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with Dian Bachar (best known as Squeak from BASEketball). I forgive a lot of crass crap from the South Park creators, because they do come through with comedic genius and quite a few catchy songs. Shpedoinkle Day and The Trapper Song are destined to become classics in musical history... well, at least I'll be singing them tomorrow at work. And this of course being a twisted comedy, there's a lot of strange stuff going on during the songs, so we're not being bored waiting for the plot to advance. Hey, we're already in a comedy about a famous cannibal, why not liven things up with a dance chorus to boot?
Nothing comes perfect with Cannibal; some of the sound is really faint, and there are a couple stretches where nothing funny or song-related happened. But man, when they reach an "Indian" village consisting of zany Japanese guys, the trip is all worth it. I have no idea what kind of sick person you'd have to be to like this film, but if South Park is a guilty pleasure of yours and you happen to like songs about snowman building that results in homicide, well, Cannibal! The Musical is pretty much the only film for you.
 "That's all independent films are: gay cowboys eating pudding" (South Park)
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- The tribe of Japanese "Indians" that Packer and his group encounter on their journey is referred to as the Nihongin tribe. "Nihongin" is Japanese for "Japanese."
- When Humphrey "translates" what the "Indian" says to the group as "Welcome to the land of blue light," his gesturing is actually sign language for "Jesus Christ is dead." (Mutant Clare, who also happens to have a non-mutant degree in American Sign Language interpreting says - indeed, this tidbit dug up from the IMDb is true).
- At the end of the credits: Due to the graphic nature of this film, it should not have been watched by small children.
- The main chorus riff to the song Shpedoinkle Day is used at the end of each South Park episode (where the plane flies by).
- Moira Kelly was originally slated to play the part of Polly Pry. She bailed after her agent heard about them promoting the film at Sundance, a fact she was apparently not privy to. She is listed in the credits as "The Dropout - M.K."
- The script was originally modeled after Homer's "Odyssey," with the Japanese Indians representing the Sirens, the wounded confederate soldier representing the Cyclops and the search for Lianne representing the odyssey itself.
- In the scene where Noon pulls a shoelace out of his mouth, an alien "visitor" head was strategically placed over his left shoulder.
- During "Lets Build a Snowman," when Swan is tap-dancing in the snow, the snowman's head was replaced with a visitor head in the wide shot.
- There is a visitor somewhere in the crowd scene at the end.
- Trey ended up singing Frenchy's part in "The Trapper Song," although Robert certainly gave it the old college try.
- The "purple flower" shot during the "The Trapper Song" was achieved with color-correction in post-production. The leaves were actually green.
- The same person played both the skunk-headed trapper Loutzenheiser and the Cyclops.
Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?
Nope.
Unnecessary Background [some sources: Wikipedia]
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Alferd Packer is popularly known as one of only two Americans ever imprisoned for cannibalism, alongside Albert Fish. First tried for murder, Packer was eventually sentenced to jail for 40 years after being convicted of manslaughter. In November, 1873, Packer was with a party of 21 who left Provo, Utah, bound for the Colorado gold country in Breckenridge. On January 21 of 1874, he met with Chief Ouray (known as the White Man's Friend) near Montrose, Colorado. At an unknown date, the party got hopelessly lost, ran out of provisions, and became snowbound in the Rocky Mountains. Packer allegedly went scouting and came back to discover one of his party roasting human meat. According to Packer, the man rushed him with a hatchet; Packer shot and killed him. He is widely rumored to have become a vegetarian before his death of reputed "Senility - trouble & worry" at the age of 64. He was buried in Littleton, Colorado and was formally pardoned of his crimes on March 5, 1981.
Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]
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Cannibal was released by Troma in 1996 but it was actually filmed in 1993 while Trey Parker was attending college. Trey got kicked out of school because he was spending his time making the movie and didn't go to class.
The scene where Swan sees snow for the first time was shot in two locations about 100 miles apart. The main scene was shot at the Colorado National Monument in Grand Junction. The actual snow was shot at The Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs several months later.
In 1883 officials found Alferd Packer (a prison escapee at the time) using the alias John Schwartze. Parker, who plays Packer, is listed as Juan Swartz in the credits. Alferd Packer is Colorado's only convicted cannibal. The short order grill in the UMC (Student Union) at the University of Colorado at Boulder, which Trey Parker and Matt Stone attended, is named after him. The University also has an annual festival, "Alferd Packer Days," with contests including a raw-meat-eating contest.
Original title of the movie is Alferd Parker: The Musical. Troma, in its infinite marketing wisdom, came up with the far more intriguing title used today.
Groovy Quotes
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[Reaching the Grand Canyon.]
Packer: Come on, we can just walk around it. It can't be that big.
Packer: The sky is blue and all the leaves are green. My heart's as full as a baked potato. I think I know precisely what I mean when I say it's a shpedoinkal day.
James Humphrey: Fudge, Packer?
Chorus singer: Cow bell solo!
Polly Pry: And then I thought about how lonely you must be, in this dark, nasty cell all cooped up.
Packer: Hey, you really think so? This is the nicest place I've lived in a really long time.
Bell: Anyone who can't get along with the others has to sit twenty feet away by themselves for an hour.
Swan: That's a good idea. It gives you a chance to cool down when things get steamed up.
Bell: Exactly.
Miller: You've gotta be kidding me.
Packer: Hey, do you guys think it's true that she's a trapper horse?
Bell: Ohhh, a horse is a horse.
Humphrey: Of course.
Packer: Of course.
Humphrey: Oh gosh, I never thought I'd be sleeping next to a naked man on this trip.
Noon: Just do what I'm doing. Just pretend like you're laying next to a nice soft woman.
Miller: What?!
Noon: I'm just imagining old Mr. Miller here is a nice tall blond.
Bell: Could you tell me what tribe this is?
Chief: We are...Indians.
Bell: Yes I see that, but what Indians?
Chief: You don't think we are Indians?
Bell: No, no, no, I just uh...
Chief: We have teepees!
Bell: Right! I see, but...
Chief: Look at all these teepees we have. Because...we are...Indians
Packer: Yeah, they have teepees.
[The trappers get interrupted while singing a song.]
Humphrey: Oh, Stop!
Noon: That's sick.
Frenchy: I agree. Nutter, you were singing in the wrong key!
Nutter: No I wasn't. It was Loutzenheiser. I was singing in Eb minor.
Frenchy: The song's in F# major!
Bell: I think they're the same thing. I mean, Eb is the relative minor of F#.
Frenchy: No, it isn't. The relative minor is 3 half-tones down from the major, not up!
Noon: No, it's 3 down. Like A is the relative minor of C major.
Loutzenheiser: But isn't A# in C major?
Bell: Wait, are you singing mixolydian scales, or something?
Frenchy: A# is tonic to C major. It's the 6!
Humphrey: No it isn't!
Swan: Well, it'd be like a raised 13th if anything.
Frenchy: Oh well. You guys are just a bunch of loser diggers anyhow!
Humphrey: Oh see. You know we're right!
Noon: I may look tough and mean-spirited but I'm really a sensitive artist.
Tomomi: That's very interesting.
Noon: I paint, and I sculpt with my hands.
Tomomi: That's very interesting too.
Noon: You have no idea what I'm saying, do you?
Tomomi: That's very interesting.
[The miners are starving and on the brink of death.]
Bell: The Lord works in mysterious ways.
Miller: You realize how stupid that sounds right now, don't you?
Bell: Yes I do.
[Miller is cutting a piece of meat from his dead companion.]
Humphrey: Wait, you're cutting into his butt!
Miller: Well what kind of piece do you want?
Humphrey: Well not butt!
DVD Review
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Ok, so the movie itself is what it is. I liked it, but it's no Bigger, Longer and Uncut. The poor production value and bad acting add to the movie's charm but also make sections of it nearly unwatchable. However, the DVD version has a whole bunch of cool extras most noteworthy of which is the "(inebriated) director's commentary" section. Basically it's Trey, Matt and a bunch of other folks who worked on the movie sitting around talking about the flick while getting progressively drunker, louder and more hilarious. This feature is not only gut buster funny, it proves scientifically that Parker and Stone appear to be normal guys who just happen to have hit the mother load. I laughed so hard I cried at least ½ a dozen times. Also, I was surprised to find out how much they tried to be as historically accurate as possible in telling the story (Japanese Indians and horses named Lee Ann aside). Sections of the film were shot where the actual events took place and a lot of the details in the movie (Packer's doll house fixation) are for real. Most poignantly (and really, how poignant can a cannibal movie be) we find out that Parker a) has had his heart broken rather severely b) had just been dumped when the commentary was being done and c) really likes to get drunk and go to tittie bars. Makes me tear up just thinking about it. Also look for Matt and Trey's hermaphrodite public service announcement with Lemmy from Motorhead, behind the scenes footage and a little section shot on shaky hand held video of Matt, Trey etc. talking, rather seriously, about the making of the movie. It'd probably help to watch the movie all the way through before you watch it with the commentary, but hey, I'm not your mom, so I can't tell you what to do. Now go wash your hands, we're about to sit down for dinner.
Soundtrack Review
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Well folks, it IS a musical. Some of the songs are really funny, some are
actually pretty moving and some are just down right crap.
If you liked this movie, try these:
This review page was last updated on 11.1.05
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