I have always wondered what "FEROX" meant. It sounds cool, almost as if all the other cannibal movies were plain and ordinary, but this one was FEROX. Ferox is actually a Latin word meaning fierce. This movie is pretty fierce but unfortunately pales in comparison to Cannibal Holocaust, the standard by which all cannibal films should be judged. This is a fun B Movie with some graphic scenes throughout which shouldn’t shock or scare any seasoned gore-hound. With this said, there are still a handful of original and entertaining kills.

Mike is a violent hustler looking to score emeralds and cocaine in Paraguay, or Portugal, some even say in Colombia but the story ends up threading through the Amazon Jungle. I actually believe it’s the jungles in Paraguay. Regardless, they are in jungles and soon to find cannibals, that’s what matters. Gloria (an anthropologist) and her brother Rudy, joined by Gloria’s promiscuous friend Pat, set out to the jungle to disprove that cannibals exist. This is one of the better, and when I say better I mean most ridiculous reasons to set out to the jungle to be eaten alive by cannibals. On a lighter note I counted half a dozen animal cruelty scenes (including the notorious turtle killing), so those of you that are offended, be warned. The jungle is a cruel place.

The trio meets two supposed cannibal victims that have escaped. The aforementioned Mike and his pal Joe. Mike makes up a ridiculous story about cocaine, emeralds, and an unpredicted situation that has them as helpless victims in the hands of the vicious cannibals. Now for the most fucked up reason they decide to go back to the cannibal village. The place where Mike and Joe narrowly escaped with their lives (so they say). The place populated with sadistic flesh eaters. Once there they take refuge in one of the village huts. Joe faints and develops a fever. The cannibals sit outside their homes on the ground. I have heard of peaceful but this is retarded. Later they explained that those were the women, children and old people. The young, warrior cannibals hadn’t returned home from the hunt yet. Mike sleeps with Pat and some early eighties titties never looked so good in the hot, humid, sweaty jungle. In the morning Mike goes apeshit and strips and kills a native girl, encouraging Pat to join in on the fun. In the hut Joe tells the others the truth about Mike being a sadistic monster and how the prior story was all made up. In fact Mike and some others had exploited the otherwise peaceful natives to search for emeralds. When this didn’t work Mike became furious and the natives became vengeful cannibals.

One thing leads to another and the cannibals disembowel and eat Joe’s body. They place the others (Mike, Rudy, Pat, and Gloria) in cages but not before tying up Mike, cutting his filthy cock off and eating it uncooked. The cannibals go as far as cauterizing the wound so he won’t bleed out and be able to suffer more...ouch! Rudy and Mike manage to escape. Rudy falls into a lake (or river) inhabited by piranhas(!!) and gets killed. When the natives catch up to Mike they cut one of his hands off and drag him back. Now come the two coolest scenes. Pat is tied up and has her sun goldened boobies exposed for a while, just long enough to have hooks put through her tits and have her hoisted up. Mike’s head is put into some sort of device where his cranium is exposed. Then, just like clipping a premium cigar...snip! A blade removes the top part exposing his brain. The cannibals eat fresh brains for lunch. I loved this scene, you truly have to see it to enjoy it. Gloria then escapes or something and a police search plane finds her. The film ends with her receiving her PhD in New York.

So she goes through this long journey to learn that all the time it was us, civilized people, who marred the hearts and souls of the native villagers. Even so, making a person vengeful and turning them into a cannibal are two different things. I liked this film and would watch it again with friends. I recommend it. It certainly is one of the better cannibal films out there. There wasn’t enough gore here, I found, and not enough shock or intensity, except for the last two killings. But I can say that the characters were well defined and overall this thing was fun and enjoyable.

- Jorge Antonio Lopez