Anthropophagus (1980; Joe Bob's Last Drive-In)

 So I was watching The Last Drive-In live and this was the second film, following along on the Shudder sub of Reddit and to say this didn't go over well with the folks on the Live Discussion board is an understatement. This isn't much different from the mid aughts when IMDb horror message board fans used to complain it was deadingly dull and irredeemably slow. I think one Reddit user said after "The End", Thank god.. Another user said they woke up after a nice nap to Eastman pulling out the fetus from pregnant Grandi while her husband has a large steak knife buried in his chest, saying, What the fuck did I just watch?! Some were saying they would prefer some good Italian horror, like from Fulci. So Joe D'Amato didn't win over many newbies on that live discussion.

I LOVE the Italian locations representing a Greek island village (desolate because Eastman cannibalistically tore through it, devouring folks who lived on the island!) visited by Farrow and others on vacay by boat and the gore is certainly potent and shocking. There is the secret room of decaying corpses Farrow finds, the Tarot card reading Kerova drops dead of a slit throat, and poor Mazzantini gets her hair pulled by Eastman, dragging her through a hole in a roof, nearly scalping her as he gets a good chunk out of her throat. Bodin is also a throat victim...Eastman just takes a nasty bite. Nothing to me tops grappling his own guts in his hands after a pickaxe to the torso, still so hungry he can't help but get a good mouthful!

The film has a lot of our guests surveying the island village for anyone alive, really only locating one local who puts a rope around her neck, leaping from the stairs, with instant snap and blood from the mouth. I dig the film, personally. I think it is very idyllic, atmospheric, and, yes, disgusting. That's D'Amato...he directs at his own leisure, falls for his locations, and will belt you with grossout behavior.

This second Joe Bob feature has Honey, a former mail girl from his past, returning as a surprise. At 58, she looks fantastic. I have 30 year old friends who don't look at good as she does. And she is just a natural on screen. Joe Bob really proves to be such an invested host and personality. Honey was a lot of fun.