The Young Cannibals

Cannibal murderers may not be found very often, but they do still exist out there. It is impossible to understand, how a person can even have the idea of eating another human being. Since i don´t have much knowledge in this area, i am sure there are different reasons of why someone would go this far, from a psychological perspective. I remember one of the first cases i read about in my youth, and that was about the case of serial murderer, and cannibal eater Jeffrey Dahmer. He murdered 17 young men, had sex with the victims dead bodies, and ate some of them. Dahmer died on prison on November 28, 1994, while he was beaten to death by a fellow inmate, Christopher Scarver. I can´t say i feel sorry for Dahmer being murdered, considering all the men that he murdered. There is a really good film, based on the life of Jeffreh Dahmer, simply called Dahmer. Released in 2002, this film is directed David Jacobsen and actor Jeremy Renner ( who most of you know from the Avengers film as Hawkeye ) plays Jeffrey Dahmer in this film. Dahmer is a really disturbing portrait of how mentally disturbed he was, and how he managed to trick so many victims. Actor Jeremy Renner really gave a powerful performance as Dahmer, and i have to say that this is one of my favourite films in his career. Another film came to my mind, that also includes cannibalism that is worth buying on DVD or Blu Ray. The 1977 cult classic film The Hills Have Eyes, directed by Wes Craven is one of the films that really brought up cannibalism in a very brutal way. The story of a family who are stranded in the Nevada desert, are attacked by cannibal savages. The Hills Have Eyes is one of the best films of director Wes Craven, even if i am a big fan of many of his films. I would say that this is probably one of the most cult horror classics from the 70´s. There is a really good Blu Ray release of this film on Arrow Video with special features worth checking out. Earlier this autumn i noticed a poster of a new film called The Young Cannibals, and i was fascinated instantly. I needed to see for myself, so i had to pick it up on DVD. Could this be a surprisngly good throwback to the cannibal films of the past, or is The Young Cannibals just another forgettable release ?

Nat ( Megan Purvis ) is a patient at a psychic hospital, and is not allowed outside. Ethan ( Benjamin Sarpong-Broni ) has a plan though, to get her out of this place. They manage to escape, so they can celebrate her birthday with friends out in a forest area, where their hiking friends are waiting. But the good times are about to change, when they find out that some kind of cannibal monster is found in this forest area, looking for fresh victims.

The beginning of The Young Cannibals is actually one of the highlights of this film. It has been a while since you get a great start in a film, since most films takes a while until they find the right tone. And if only this film could have kept that tone in the rest of the film, i think this could have been a real delight for horror fans. However, this does not mean that The Young Cannibals is a bad horror film. I will get into some other positive details as well. The monster look pretty nasty, with the big teeth, and clearly loves human flesh. It is almost like they are having their own barbecue party, with raw meat only of course. Even if you don´t get to see a lot of brutal scenes, i do like the idea of this beast walking around for fresh food. Another detail i enjoy is that in some scenes, only a certain amount of people can see the beast, it´s almost like a few chosen ones have the ablility to see them, while some can´t see them anywhere as they are being attacked. A good idea indeed, adds something different to the story. The characters in this film are very divided from an acting perspective. While some works ok, you don´t really get connected with some of the other characters. The characters i especially enjoy are Ethan ( played by actor Benjamin Sarpong-Broni ) and Nat ( played by actress Megan Purvis ). One of the details that makes the character Nat especially interesting, is that she is a mental patient who have escaped her psychic hospital. The horror scenes later in the film bring some fun, but we need to talk about something that missing in this film. I would have liked some more brutal scenes, when it comes to the killing. Directors Kris Carr and Sam Fowler have made a directorial debut film that leaves a hopeful taste of a bright future. The Young Cannibals is the perfect film to show during the Brexit discussions in Great Britain, and hopefully this film will inspire people on how you solve problems the right way. A fun B horror monster movie with a throwback to the glory VHS Days of the 80´s and 90´s as well, how can anyone say no to that?

Rating: DDD