Deep River Savages | 1972 | Italy | Umberto Lenzi

Kickstarting the entire cannibal genre, Lenzi’s film follows a journalist called Bradley as he explores the jungles of Thailand, on the run from potential persecution for a self-defence killing in a bar. Going too far into the wilderness, he is captured by a savage tribe who apart from putting him through trials and tribulations, they have to fend off savage cannibal attacks. While it featured much less gut munching, it would introduce many of the features that would become solidified by the cannibal boom of the eighties. The DPP of course was not impressed by the various displays of animal cruelty, hauling it in with the other riff-raff.