Film Review - Tales From The Cannibal Side
Starring Stephanie Beaton, Deb Paar, Trish Mayer, Big Guy | Directed by Michael W. Johnson | Video Outlaw DVD FF Not Rated 107min 1998
Review By Joker
Tales From The Cannibal Side is a collection of three short films, each one about Cannibals and their prey.
“WEEKEND IN THE CITY” is about Karen, a young woman who takes a train ride to meet Linda and Bill, a soft-spoken couple. The three of them go home, and Karen strips for the couple to show her body of. You see, she is to be eaten by the couple the next day. Bill takes her to the garage to show her where she is to be killed. He then makes love to her as Linda makes a chicken dinner. After dinner Karen tells them about her fantasies of being eat alive. This turns all of them on, and they shave Karen’s privates and then proceed to have a threesome. The next morning Linda and Karen make stuffing. The next shot is later in the day as Bill leaves the garage with a pan full of meat. The couple then eats what was once Karen.
“TRICK OR TREAT” follows Stacy a lone Goth girl who loves horror and Halloween. She is invited to a party that is promised to scare her, and she accepts the offer. Stacy goes home, takes a shower and then proceeds to watch a horror film and play with herself. The next morning she finds an invite to the party and a pastry that she shoves down. Then it’s finally Halloween. Stacy shows up for this wicked party that turns out to be her stripping down, getting hosed down, then gutted to be eaten.
“MEAT’S MEAT (And Man’s Gotta Eat) starts off with a brother and sister team hunting down a woman to kill. After making sure she is dead, they drag the body off. Matt is a businessman who runs a meat company. He is harassed to sell his business by the murdering brother and sister team. Matt does not back down and runs them off by gunpoint. Matt then finds out his wife is cheating on him with Jeff, his one time business partner! In a car Beth tries to break it off with Jeff only to be attacked and forced into sex acts. Beth is then left in a parking lot and attacked by Matt who snaps her neck. Matt then goes on a date with the murdering sister who turns on him and bites his penis off! At the killers’ house, Pa cuts up the female from the start and makes stew from her body. After dinner, the brother goes to his room where he kills a tied up female victim by stabbing her to death. Then we cut to a couple that make love and are murdered by Pa in their hotel room. The male’s throat is cut while the female is drowned in the tub. Then the brother kills a random truck driver. In the morning, a group of goofballs get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere. Two go for help and are attacked in the woods. The others in the truck go looking for their friends, who are already dead. They shoot and kill the crazed mother of the group. When the gun runs out of bullets, the family stalks their prey and in the end kills them and eats them.
Wow what a weird film! The shorts themselves are shot on what looks like VHS and have poor video quality and even worse sound. At times you can’t even make out what the actors are saying. The acting is okay for this style of film with actress Deb Paar being the stand out. Also Scream Queen Stephanie Beaton is in two of the shorts. She plays Karen in “Weekend in the City” and Beth in “Meat’s Meat”. The gore is very amateurish and is pretty typical for this kind of low budget horror film. The film does have lots of nudity, which will please most horror fans.
The DVD has one extra, and that’s a commentary. Not even trailers made the extras! This is as barebones as they come. Its one step above pop and plays. The cover art is okay with a blonde cannibal woman on the front that is an eye catcher.
Overall the film is pretty forgettable and should be only viewed by fans of shot on video horror. I will not say the film is bad; it’s just nothing special or new. I will say I would love to see some more of VHS-shot movies come out by Video Outlaw in the future. I say at best worth a rent.