Cannibal! The Musical

Rating:
Summary: Hang the bastard, hang him high...
Review: People will either love or hate this movie. If you don't like lowbrow humor with occasional blood, steer clear. If you love "bad on purpose" films, and whether you love or loathe musicals, this one is for you.

Trey Parker has taken a true and disgusting story of cannibalism in Colorado in the 1870's... and set it to music! Many potential viewers will shy away from such an odd concept, dismissing it out of hand without seeing the film. This is a shame, as they will be missing one of the best "worst" films ever.

"Cannibal!" has all the good and bad qualities of a musical, wrapped up together in a wonderfully silly, messy package. If you aren't careful, the songs are catchy enough to stay in your head for days. (Just try getting the "Trappers' Song" out of your mind once you've heard it!) The characters tend to start singing for no apparent reason, and most of the songs have a cheerful musical feel... despite their somewhat morbid or offbeat lyrics! In one scene, a recently-dead character even threatens to sing while his companions contemplate whether or not to eat him! There is choreography, in this case executed in a painfully amateurish (yet charming) manner... the "tap dance" in "Let's Build a Snowman" is not to be missed!

The acting and production has a "gee-whiz" feel, and it is very apparent that this movie was lots of fun to make. The costumes and effects, including the fake beards, fake blood/organs and fake frostbite, are hilarious. So is the fake gore in the opening sequence... simply wonderful stuff! The color on the DVD is atrocious, looking like the treatment from a 1950's color western. Through all this, it becomes apparent that Parker has an obvious love of films and of film history, as this movie satirizes many conventions of American musicals made 40-50 years ago.

While I enjoyed Parker's role as the lead character Alferd Packer, I think Matt Stone and Dian Bachar also turn in fine performances in this film. For those of you who have seen "Baseketball" and loved Bachar's role in that movie, he also shines in "Cannibal!". He has a lesser role here, but his talents are used to great advantage. Stone's role here (as a near-total doofus), is delightfully over-the-top at times...

Trey Parker seems to show a certain amount of comic genius in most things he does. This movie is no exception. There is a lot more to Parker than "South Park", and if you love his smart-ass sense of the absurd, you will love "Cannibal! The Musical"!

Rating:
Summary: Shpadoinkle Movie!
Review: I will admit up front that my opinion of this movie may be jaded by the fact that I am a Coloradoan, the very territory where Alferd Packer forged his infamous reputation in the high country above Lake City; but this is one of the most treasured DVDs in my entire collection.

Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Dian Bachar and a team of truly strange individuals put this film together with marvelous original tunes written by Trey Parker. It is both a comedic and musical treat that always produces gales of laughter when I play it for folks who have never seen it before.

The writers have fairly faithfully presented the story of Alferd Packer as he claimed things happened when he took 5 miners into the mountains and became snowbound during a powerful winter storm. Packer returned as the sole survivor. Further investigation of the remains of his companions indicated they had been gnawed on... By a human!

Parker and Stone collaborated on producing this film without much of a budget, while still attending film school at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Many of the locations used in the film were around Boulder. Notable exceptions were the actual court house in Lake City where Packer was tried for cannibalism.

The final scene, which has a wonderful song: "Hang the Bastard", was shot in Buckskin Joe, a restored ghost town created by fetching buildings from ghost towns around Colorado and relocating them to a location just south of Canon City. Nearly 100 folks took part in the final number, many of whom were university students willing to work for a song, if you'll pardon the pun.

This movie is like South Park, but with more bite. It is truly a movie one can sink their teeth into, and satisfy their hunger for campy comedy and hysterical songs scattered throughout the film.

I give this film only 5 stars, because that's all they allow! I'd actually rank it a 10, and regard it as great as Dr. Strangelove, but different.

I do not really care much for Troma films, but this is one outstanding exception that I recommend most heartily!

Rating:
Summary: Cannibal extras!
Review: You don't have to be a fan of South Park to enjoy Cannibal! The Musical. First watch the movie. Then watch the movie again with the "drunken commentary" on. Then go to your computer and go to the official website www.cannibalthemuscial.net to complete the experience. If you need more (you will, grasshopper) go to www.craptv.com to see more deleted scenes not on the DVD, go to www.crapmag.com to read interviews with various staff involved with the movie,then go to www.orgazmodvd.com for Trey Parker's other independent movie Orgazmo.

Rating:
Summary: Let's Build a Snowman... just plain funny.
Review: This is one of the most entertaining and hillarious movies I have ever seen. Very loosely based on the legen of Alfred Packer, the man who was accused of cannibalism. You have to see this movie. The music is catchy and really funny, with the exception of one song. Two great songs are the Trapper Song and Snowman Song. You can really see the beginning of South Park here, especially in Matt Stone's charachter.

Rating:
Summary: I ate the rest of the audience while laughing and singing
Review: What can you say about Cannibal but one of the greatest comedic musicals. The first time i had watched this movie i thought it sucked and then about an hour later it hit me. I started singing the great music form a great comedic musical and had to watch it again and then had my friends watching it. They got the same reaction. Just when i didn't think it could get better I listened to the comentary. Nothing like listening to Trey and Matt and some of the rest of the cast get drunk and talk about the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Cannibalism is fun
Review: I didn't know what to expect when I first rented this movie. I'm a huge fan of Trey Parker and i've seen pretty much everything else that he has done, but not this. Well anyway I saw this, loved it, bought it on DVD, watched it atleast 30 more times. I've watched it with the drunken commentary a few times also. This movie to me can never get tiring. The way some nerds feel about Star Trek, I feel about Cannibal The Musical. Trey always adds subliminal things into his work. And they are evident, with the constant alien sightings.

This is the incredible fact-based story of Alfred Packer (The first man convicted of Cannibalism). It is the story from Packer's point of view, but Trey added in some great stuff from his own life. Liane (also Cartman's mom on SP's name) is the horse, and the story of the horse running off was an interpretation of Trey's fiance Liane leaving him.

I could go on forever about his movie but, I won't. I'll let you view it for yourself. To view this movie and enjoy it, you must not take it too seriously. Look at it for what it is, a bunch of college kids trying to get their movie out there. But then view it again to look at how genius this film really is.

"You know what they say about sunrise..."

Rating:
Summary: A good introduction to Troma
Review: This is a very funny movie from the guys who gave you South Park. A musical for people who don't like musicals, is what you can call it. It's also a good introduction to Troma Pictures, if you don't want to go headlong into, say, Bloodsucking Freaks or any of the Toxic Avenger movies.

The songs are very good, and the gore is kept to a minimum, and if you've seen South Park, you know what to expect (or not).

Check this one out on DVD which contains a truckload of extras!

-MINESWEEP

Rating:
Summary: It's a shpadoinkle movie!
Review: Wow, I don't even know what to say about this movie. It's probably one of the best movies I've ever seen. I mean, there's nothing that it doesn't have. It has comedy, romance, gore, music, action, adventure, the creators of South Park, a horse named Leann, an antagonist, a protagonist, a great true story, spectacular acting, and everything else. I think the best thing about this movie is the soundtrack, which I have downloaded on my PC. This movie has great characters who you really get to know and love. The best characters are Swan and Humphrey. This is a great movie. Wait, nix that from the record. This is a shpadoinkle movie!

Rating:
Summary: Trey Parker is a genius!
Review: Cannibal is the most entertaining movie that I've seen in a long time. The movie has a good story line, moves quickly, has snappy songs, and lots of "Parker" humor. If you liked Baseketball you'll love Cannibal.
If you've only got one gift certificate buy Cannibal you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Movie Minus the Usual Hollywood Crap!
Review: This movie not only has a good plot, great music, and fun gore. It will inspire you to make a movie, too. The acting is fabulous and there are no shortcomings that aren't laughed at.

The dvd is awesome. The commentary track will have you rolling on the floor, "So, what I wanted to show here is the despairity--He manages Foley's, dude!"

Some say it's worth buying just for the commentary. That's easily true! I say it's worth buying just to hear one line said by the hilarious unknown Dian Bachar. Not to mention the Abe Lincoln line...

Bottom line: you have to watch this dvd. I dare you to watch it without enjoying it--can't be done!