"Cannibal! The Musical" is inspired by the true story of Alferd Packer (although his real name was allegedly "Alfred" and "Alferd" came about because he didn't know how to spell his own name correctly). Packer was one of only two men - along with Albert Fish - to ever be convicted of cannibalism in America. (Apparently serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer had enough going against him already that he wasn't tried for cannibalism on top of mass murder).
Packer led a group of five men into Colorado in search of gold. They got lost and were stranded in desolate conditions, and eventually Packer killed his men and ate them. (Although according to Wikipedia recent evidence indicates he never killed them, and in 1981 he was apparently acquitted of crimes long after his death. I guess they figured eating people who are already dead in order to survive doesn't qualify as full-out cannibalism. I'm not really sure about the specifics on how that works.) Trey Parker and Matt Stone made this movie before "South Park." I believe it was actually filmed in 1994 and first screened at the Alferd Packer College (yes, there's a college named after him) which is presumably located in Colorado. It's become a cult film over the years and the title was changed to "Cannibal: The Musical" after Troma producers convinced Trey that not enough people outside of the state were aware of who Alferd Packer actually was. (I certainly wasn't - I thought it was a fictional character before looking up the film on Wikipedia.) First things first - I have so far been largely unimpressed by Trey and Matt's live-action ventures. I've become a huge "South Park" fan within the past year or so, but I bought "Orgazmo" on DVD and thought it was a very juvenile and average comedy, and although I have not seen "BASEketball" yet, even Trey and Matt have acknowledged that it is not a good film, so I don't feel like I'm entirely missing out.
"Cannibal" is a huge cult film and I had heard a lot of good things about it from various people on the Internet, in particular one Troma video fan. Well, this is my first Troma video (if it qualifies as one) and maybe that's part of the reason I couldn't get into it.
Parts of it are very funny, but for the most part it really isn't very humorous at all. It actually develops something of a story and isn't as loud or obvious as some of Parker's other material. "South Park" is very satirical and witty but it's much more obvious than the comedy here, which is tamer and not quite as edgy. Some of the songs are quite funny but a number of them are inferior versions of songs that would appear in the "South Park" movie and "Team America: World Police." Songs from that film like "The End of an Act" (the one that bashes Ben Affleck and Michael Bay) are much cleverer and musically catchy than anything found here.
The cast is generally weak and Trey is visibly awkward throughout - presumably since it was his first real movie. It's very low-budget (filmed for $125,000 - compared to the eventual $1 million they received per episode of "That's My Bush!" in 2001), and part of the reason the film isn't as engrossing at times is due to its budget: it looks like a student movie made by some friends who made up a lot of gags as they went along...and for the most part that's probably a rather accurate summary.
I know the film has a cult following and an impressive rating on this site, but I think if you're not a die-hard Trey Parker fan or a follower of the Troma film series, it'll leave you a bit underwhelmed, especially if you're familiar with the boys' recent work on "South Park" and "Team America." It has its strong points but they are far and few between, and for the most part it's a very amateurish production that isn't up to par with their later stuff.
An interesting note of curiosity for fans of "South Park," but I couldn't really warm up to it.
Packer led a group of five men into Colorado in search of gold. They got lost and were stranded in desolate conditions, and eventually Packer killed his men and ate them. (Although according to Wikipedia recent evidence indicates he never killed them, and in 1981 he was apparently acquitted of crimes long after his death. I guess they figured eating people who are already dead in order to survive doesn't qualify as full-out cannibalism. I'm not really sure about the specifics on how that works.) Trey Parker and Matt Stone made this movie before "South Park." I believe it was actually filmed in 1994 and first screened at the Alferd Packer College (yes, there's a college named after him) which is presumably located in Colorado. It's become a cult film over the years and the title was changed to "Cannibal: The Musical" after Troma producers convinced Trey that not enough people outside of the state were aware of who Alferd Packer actually was. (I certainly wasn't - I thought it was a fictional character before looking up the film on Wikipedia.) First things first - I have so far been largely unimpressed by Trey and Matt's live-action ventures. I've become a huge "South Park" fan within the past year or so, but I bought "Orgazmo" on DVD and thought it was a very juvenile and average comedy, and although I have not seen "BASEketball" yet, even Trey and Matt have acknowledged that it is not a good film, so I don't feel like I'm entirely missing out.
"Cannibal" is a huge cult film and I had heard a lot of good things about it from various people on the Internet, in particular one Troma video fan. Well, this is my first Troma video (if it qualifies as one) and maybe that's part of the reason I couldn't get into it.
Parts of it are very funny, but for the most part it really isn't very humorous at all. It actually develops something of a story and isn't as loud or obvious as some of Parker's other material. "South Park" is very satirical and witty but it's much more obvious than the comedy here, which is tamer and not quite as edgy. Some of the songs are quite funny but a number of them are inferior versions of songs that would appear in the "South Park" movie and "Team America: World Police." Songs from that film like "The End of an Act" (the one that bashes Ben Affleck and Michael Bay) are much cleverer and musically catchy than anything found here.
The cast is generally weak and Trey is visibly awkward throughout - presumably since it was his first real movie. It's very low-budget (filmed for $125,000 - compared to the eventual $1 million they received per episode of "That's My Bush!" in 2001), and part of the reason the film isn't as engrossing at times is due to its budget: it looks like a student movie made by some friends who made up a lot of gags as they went along...and for the most part that's probably a rather accurate summary.
I know the film has a cult following and an impressive rating on this site, but I think if you're not a die-hard Trey Parker fan or a follower of the Troma film series, it'll leave you a bit underwhelmed, especially if you're familiar with the boys' recent work on "South Park" and "Team America." It has its strong points but they are far and few between, and for the most part it's a very amateurish production that isn't up to par with their later stuff.
An interesting note of curiosity for fans of "South Park," but I couldn't really warm up to it.