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The Cannibal Man

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The Cannibal Man
The Cannibal Man
Directed byEloy de la Iglesia
Written byEloy de la Iglesia
Antonio Fos
Produced byJosé Truchado
StarringVicente Parra
Emma Cohen
Eusebio Poncela
CinematographyRaúl Artigot
Music byFernando García Morcillo
Distributed byAnchor Bay Entertainment (USA; DVD, 2003)
Blue Underground (USA; DVD, 2007)
Release date
  • 1972 (1972)
Running time
98 min.
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish

The Cannibal Man (Spanish La Semana del asesino, literally "Week of the Killer") is a 1972 horror film, directed by Eloy de la Iglesia and written by de la Iglesia and Antonio Fos. Despite the international title, the film contains no scenes of cannibalism. The film is also known as The Apartment On The 13th Floor.

The film was featured on the British Director of Public Prosecutions' list of "Video Nasties".

Plot

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After accidentally killing a taxicab driver, Marcos (Vicente Parra), a young man who works as a butcher, wants to cover up his crime. Marcos's girlfriend Paula (Emma Cohen), the only witness, wishes to go to the police, so he strangles her. Marcos finds himself killing others, including members of his family, as they become suspicious of his actions, butchering his victims' remains at his workplace in order to dispose of the bodies.

Background

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TV Guide opined that "this bloody, politically inflected drama is not at all what the exploitative English-language title suggests. [...] Though the US title suggests a zombie gut-cruncher and the marketing campaign was designed to make Eloy de la Iglesia's film look like a Last House on the Left (1972) knock-off, The Cannibal Man is both a study of an apparently ordinary person spiraling into madness and a slyly satirical evocation of life in Spain under the oppressive Franco regime."[1]

Cast

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Critical reception

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PopMatters called the film "a refreshing forgotten gem".[2] DVD Verdict called it "an extremely well-made Euro thriller with welcome social commentary and subtext. Suspenseful, disturbing and graphically violent, the film succeeds in its depictions of both physical and psychological horror."[3]

References

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  1. ^ "The Cannibal Man Review". TV Guide. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  2. ^ Bill Gibron (28 October 2007). "Cannibal Man". PopMatters. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  3. ^ Becker, Tom (24 October 2007). "DVD Verdict Review – Cannibal Man". DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
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