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Carina Palmer, Carsten Frank, Tobias Sickert, Victor Brandl

An internet advertisement placed by a cannibalistic madman brings yields a willingvictim all too happy to serve up his own flesh in this dramatic account of the crimethat shocked the world.

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56% liked it

831 ratings

R, 1 hr. 30 min.

Directed by: Marian Dora

Release Date: October 28, 2008

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DVD Release Date: December 5, 2006

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Flixster Reviews (90)

  • Stinger839
    October 30, 2008
    Stinger839
    Another version of the Armin Meiwes story, except this one IS the ground-breaking film I expected from this story.

    The mix of sound and image is positively hypnotizing, and the little dialogue there is has been expertly placed. Once we do get dialogue, this is the high caliber o... read moref it:
    "I'm your flesh."

    This is the film Grimm Love aka Rohtenburg wanted to be (see my review of it for more info). Where Grimm Love failed with minimalistic dialogue and scenes that attempt to convey unspoken layers of emotion, this film exceeds expectations. The connection between the two actors is nearly tangible, and I'm glad that there is a version of this story wherein the director is not afraid of male nudity and gore, especially for the crucial biting scene. The castration and cooking scene are even more explicit, enough to satisfy my sick curiosity about this story. And my question of "did he cut off just the dick or the balls as well?" is answered. I was disappointed that there was no dialogue about the penis being overcooked, but both characters suggest it by their dislike of the taste and inability to chew the meat. The bathtub scene is strikingly simultaneously tender and disturbing and a brilliant cinematic achievement. The butchering scene is the pinnacle of disturbing cinema.

    The settings are unbelievably realistic and the room where the main event occurs is a perfect amplification of the anxiety, despair, and desire between the two characters.

    This is the definitive extreme film with male homosexuality. This is on par with "Trouble Every Day" when it comes to the sublimely troubling mixture of sensuality and cannibalism. Never before has a film been so grotesquely beautiful.

    "Hot Gay Sex" commentary: yet another selection where the steamy sex happens alongside a MUCH more severe taboo, this time of cannibalism

    "So Fucked Up" highlight (this film has quite a few): vivid penile bleeding after the unsuccessful biting, the fluids flowing into the jar immediately following the castration by knife, carrying the leaking and defecating nearly-dead body through the house, the butchering scene with the cannibal sensually worshiping the internal organs, the "morning after" breakfast
  • DrBenway
    June 3, 2008
    DrBenway
    This movie was almost hard for me to watch and that's saying something since I feel I can watch anything. I've never seen gay porn before so watching this movie kinda reassured me that I'll probably not go that route, but again, I'll watch anything.

    Based on the true story of... read more the crime that shocked the world, two men meet through the internet and wilfully play the roles of cannibal and victim. This is one of the ugliest films I've ever watched in my movie viewing years. This movie is not for the faint of heart. Cannibal wins "Banned Film" title in Germany...think about that.
  • danieljparsons
    February 20, 2009
    danieljparsons
    Natural performances, horribly realistic gore and makeup effects (including an extremely close-up and detailed partial amputation of penis by knife) and creepy music score do not make this a successful film. Based on a true event, the film doesn't seem to be saying anything about... read more the human condition, least of all offer any psychological insights or even dramatic narrative. Things just gradually progress and escalate. The film ends peculiarly and abruptly, and without any contextualisation the whole piece feels largely pointless. There's talent both behind and in front of the camera but nothing is achieved beyond an advancement in graphic realism. The flawed drama-documentary The Man Who Ate His Lover is a much better insight and is far more chilling than this exercise in brutality.
  • nubz14
    March 21, 2012
    nubz14
    I haven't the slightest idea how to rate Marian Dora's "Cannibal." I'll get that out of the way right off the bat - I do not have a rating for this picture. It simply defies any sort of rating scale or rating ideas, much like John Waters' early films. I wouldn't even be able to t... read moreell you what I would give it if I had to. All I could tell you is...

    This is a sick, repulsive experience. It is perhaps the most gut-wrenchingly grotesque experience I've ever had with a film (or any other form of media, for that matter). I've seen crime scene photos that were less effective in turning my poor, chocolate-filled stomach. Zero stars, right? Well...

    I couldn't seem to pull myself away from it. The film grabbed me from moment one and honestly I never once allowed myself to shut it off or take a break. Yes, I admit that I did look away a couple of times (I was gagging and just couldn't take it), but that didn't stop me from turning right back around and watching the horrors in wide-eyed amazement. The gore effects in this film are impeccably well-done. I was shocked and horrified, thinking I should perhaps research the film further for information on whether or not they were allowed to use real cadavers, or if perhaps a man really was castrated, beheaded, eviscerated and eaten for the filmmaker's artistic (?) purpose(s). Highly unlikely, yes, but if you see the film, I think the question will enter your mind as well.

    I must also mention that there is a great deal of frontal male nudity in the film, certain portions exhibiting erections, what must've been some very painful, bloody fellatio (okay, so it's not fellatio - it's just a consensual attempt at castration with one's teeth) and graphic sex. We are also treated to urination from a man's castration stump, excrement from his dying bum - honestly, about 45 minutes of the most disturbing, graphic and shocking scenes I've seen in my 25 years.

    One aspect of this particular auteur's approach which I did not appreciate in the slightest was the tendency of his camera to linger, whether it be on the two actors' genitalia or the graphic slaughter which follows the grueling castration scene. Yes, this is meant to be effective, and it is, but it makes no sense that the director offers zero insight into these disturbed minds. He just wants to show us what happened without taking a stand or showing us what he thought might have been going on in their heads. It's honestly just an up-front, in your face smearing of grotesqueries on display - the sort of thing you can hardly bare to read about, let alone witness.

    Why is this not a zero? Well, the film is based on fact. Look up information on Armin Meiwes, the Rotenburg Cannibal. This is his story. While I wish they had delved a bit more into these poor, unfortunate souls' psyches, it was an experience I'll never forget. Do I recommend you see it? No, not really. Did I enjoy the experience of watching it? No, not really. Will I ever forget any bit of it? No, not really. In fact, not at all.

    Grade: N/A
  • inkedbuggy
    December 15, 2010
    inkedbuggy
    very disturbing and graphic..it really didn't disappoint me because I knew what i was getting myself into before watching this flick
  • akimoro
    August 1, 2010
    akimoro
    Cannibal is the story of a man who wants to eat someone. He puts offers out there, has a couple interviews, and finally finds his "Flesh." This movie is very weird and made me uncomfortable in several scenes.

    I wasn't repulsed by the extended, and very realistic, gore scenes. W... read morehat made me uneasy was that the two main characters, The Man and The Flesh, have a lot of gay sex. There is more wiener in this movie than in an Oscar Meyer documentary. This guy takes playing with your food to a whole new level. I would never make out with a PB & J...ok, maybe I would, but I wouldn't have sex with it.

    The Man's voice is very annoying as well. Fortunately, he only says about ten lines in the whole film. It has a weird soundtrack. You can hear things happening in the scenes, like bottles clinking, but you hardly ever hear anyone talk.

    This movie was shot with a digital camera and they used some pretty cool effects. My only problem with the visuals was that they shot the dismemberment scene really dark. It was gruesome, but hard to see what was happening.

    Cannibal was more realistic than anything I have seen in a long time. If you can't handle watching a man having gay sex with his meal, then chopping said meal into many pieces, don't rent this flick. If you don't mind seeing a ton of wiener and various other meats, check it out, it is an experience.
  • RicC
    August 13, 2009
    RicC
    It has an atmosphere to it that evokes creepiness and disgust. The gore is plenty real and it puts a smile on my face. Sort of. Deals with cannibalism quite honestly and the actors for the parts were fitting.
  • magilus
    November 9, 2008
    magilus
    I appreciate it when a move depicts how hard it is to kill someone as apposed to
    a million glamorized falling bodies. And that everything was consensual had my brain thinking in a sick philosophical spew. Real intense, sick, twisted and gross, but don't let anyone catch you watc... read morehing this, they might not want to know you anymore.
  • eskaton666
    November 1, 2008
    eskaton666
    Haunting, perverse, yet strikingly artistic portrait of two men in love. Needless to say, this film takes role playing to a depraved level, yet there is a weird sort of beauty to the relationship these two share. Not for, well, just about anyone, this is one film that truly cha... read morellenges the viewer to stay watching. While I found it sort of intriguing, ultimately it's a pointless reconstruction of the dissection and consumption of a human being, based on the true account of Armin Meiwes and Bernd Brandes. Of note, the atmospheric soundtrack. Excellent stuff, with contributions by J.G. "Foetus" Thirlwell, that truly creates the oppressively claustrophobic feel of the film. Recommended to those wanting to challenge every of their sensibilities.
  • theSwitchbladeSister
    September 1, 2008
    theSwitchbladeSister
    Peculiar, student-film type flick that depicts cannibalism in gritty realism and never stops to laugh about it. The end result it slightly boring, but fascinating, moviemaking.

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