Never have the words 'purely for profit' taken on truer meaning than when describing Joe D'Amato's (real name Aristide Massaccesi) 1980 horror effort Anthropophagus (aka The Beast aka The Grim Reaper aka etc. etc.). Now...to be fair, the name Joe D'Amato is synonymous with bad films that have been created specifically for profit. So it's difficult to lay blame here. Horror, porno, horror mixed with porno, you name it; Joe has dipped his greasy little hands in it. But before Anthropophagus, the words 'purely for profit' have never seemed so damn obvious.

Amazingly enough, Anthropophagus has managed to reach legendary status amongst cult enthusiasts and fair weather horror fans alike for two scenes (yes, count 'em...two VERY brief scenes) of bloodlust. I can't think of another 80+ minute film that has attained such notoriety for a few frames of supposed gruesomeness, save for the John Waters dog poo digesting, chicken fucking extravaganza...Pink Flamingos (of which the latter is the only one of the two that really deserves such status).

"Wow, Lawrence really doesn't like D'Amato!" you must be saying to yourself. Ahhhh, quite the contrary. There is no other director who directs simply for the sake of profit that I like more than D'Amato. His countless Emmanuelle rips et al make me really happy, and that's just for starters. D'Amato makes some of the best (strictly for profit and no artistic value whatsoever) sleazy, sex and horror flicks I've ever seen. I could prepare for you a list, but it would be a mile long. And I know that we all have better things to do. That being said, with Anthropophagus, I'm not quite sure what D'Amato was aiming at (the slasher market?), but whatever it was, I don't think his sights were lined correctly.

The story of "The Beast" begins with a foreign couple on a beach (and it looks to be quite chilly out...trust me). The young girl goes for a dip and her fella catches rays while enjoying the tunes on his pre 5G iPod. She's attacked in the water, he's smacked in the head with a meat cleaver and no one is quite sure why. Moving along and a young lady manages to glom a boat ride with some fellow tourists. Who or why they are is not really important here. Sure, they have names like Julie (Tisa Farrow) Carol (Zora Kerova of Cannibal Ferox fame) and Maggie (Serena Grandi who later went on to star in questionable classics such as Lamberto Bava's Delirium.). But in the end, they're all so goddamn dispensable and in no way integral to whatever amount of a story there may be. Anyway, in true slasher style (I guess), our group gets held up in a spooky ol' mansion and begin to get knocked off one by one by an oatmeal faced bad guy played by the incomparable George Eastman. It's worth noting that the film was produced by both D'Amato and Eastman, so you can really get an idea as to where the dollar signs were coming from and going to in this vanity project.

The real problem with this film is that in its brief (barely 90-minute) running time, a whole lotta nothing happens. There aren't really even that many murders for it to be considered a full-on slasher flick. There is far too much down time between the opening murders and the time that Eastman finally makes his most welcomed appearance. Then there's the candle lit strolls that seem to encompass the final third of the film. I'm not lying here, absolutely nothing happens! To be fair, when the gore does hit, it's pretty nasty. And since there are really only a few stand out scenes, I don't want to give too much away. But know that they are pretty grotesque. I just wish the film had more to offer than these few fleeting moments of disgust. Even Beyond the Darkness and Emanuelle in America have interesting characters and soundtracks (if nothing else) and in turn fare as far better films in the long run and to be honest, they're not even that good!

While the film may be lacking, its presentation on DVD certainly is not. Shriek Show does a bang up job in bringing this one to DVD on US shores. While the film will most likely never look that spectacular, major points are given to MB for showing this film much love with this video presentation. The film has never looked this good and doesn't really have any right to for that matter. There is very little print damage. Lots of grain (the film was apparantly blown up from 16mm) and as sharp/bright colors as one could expect. Audio is another story with mono dialogue that sounds like it's coming from a tin can. Anthropophagus has never sounded that great, so I'd be willing to go with the fact that MB dealt with what they had to work with.

Extras include the second part of the Nocturna D'Amato documentary, UNCUT that premiered on the Shriek Show disc of Images in a Convent. Also of interest is a brief Q&A session with George Eastman and Zora Kerova from 2005. Eastman openly admits that there was no artistic integrity involved in the making of this film (like we needed to hear that) and Zora cringes as Eastman makes some womanizing remarks. It's good times all around. Other extras include trailers, stills and the title sequence from the US release. So what are we left with? A highly anticipated so-so film (which I'm sure you knew already) is given what can easily be considered its definitive release on North American DVD. Kudos to Media Blasters on a fine package overall. Shame on Eastman and D'Amato for being such whores.