Not to be confused with the 1976 crocodile film of the same name, 1980’s Eaten Alive! is an Italian exploitation film featuring gore, cannibalism, nudity, and a religious cult. It’s most often compared to the classic cannibal flick Cannibal Holocaust. Eaten Alive! is actually far better than Cannibal Holocaust.
While Cannibal Holocaust may have paved roads as a “found footage” style movie, it’s not near as compelling as this film. Eaten Alive! has a better plot, better production, better acting, and better nudity. It’s better all the way around. And if you like Cannibal Holocaust for its shock value, Eaten Alive! has that too. It has real life animals being killed, women being raped, and a dude’s cock being cut off. What more could you ask for?
IMDB synopsis: A young woman teams up with a mercenary to find her missing sister in the jungles of New Guinea where they find that a deranged leader of a religious cult has located his commune in an area inhabited by cannibals.
Did I mention the lead actress, Janet Agren, is stunning? Agren made her rounds through the Italian exploitation and horror flicks of the 70s and 80s, and I’m interested to see more of her work. Despite decent acting from the rest of the cast, she stole the show in Eaten Alive!
PC3’s Horror and Exploitation Movie Scale of Awesomeness!
Gore - 7
Special Effects - 5
Nudity/Sexuality - 9
Wow Factor - 6
Acting - 5
Fear Factor - 2
Story/Plot/Originality - 3
Cinematography/Atmosphere - 4
Sound/Music - 4
Fun Factor - 6
Eaten Alive! comes in with a total PHEMSA score of 51. High marks for gore and nudity. A staple of cannibal exploitation.
If you’re not too squeamish, Eaten Alive! is well worth your time. You can get it on Blu-ray or DVD on Amazon or watch it with commercials on Tubi.
And if you’re looking for exploitation in literary form, check out Cerberus Exploitation by myself, Chris Miller, and M. Ennenbach. You can find it on Amazon. Move fast, because this one might not be available much longer!