aka Anthropophagous 2 / Horrible / Absurd / Monster Hunter
The George Eastman Show
George Eastman portrays a Greek man called Mikos (no, not Nikos), who is being chased by a priest early in the film. While running away, he manages to spear himself on the spiked edges of a fence. At the hospital, Mikos is saved by a miraculous operation. After a little while, he decides he don’t want any more of that shit and decides to split. He presents his new drill to the nurse and says he is ready to change his ways. Meanwhile, the priest reveals to the police that Mikos has suffered from a genetic experiment which has changed his personality and made his cells and tissue heal alarmingly fast. His only weak point is his brain. At the same time, Mikos decides it’s time to hit the town.
Although marked as a sequel to Joe D’Amato’s classic Anthropophagous, the two films have no connection in story line / plot, but more or less feature the same theme where the royal quality of Eastman’s intensity gets to shine. The film follows the slasher genre characteristics where Eastman’s portrayal shares a stronger resemblance to the typical slasher heroes of the 80’s.
During this period in D’Amato’s career, he had just put his Emmanuelle epics of the 70’s behind and had to adapt to the new types of films that emerged from the American film industry. At this point, the American film production raised its financial worth to such an extent that it became difficult for Italian films to compete. The easiest way to attempt to replicate the American films, was through genres requiring little money. In actuality, this mostly meant cheap horror flicks.
D’Amato already had some experience in gore drenched films, directing Anthropophagous and Buio omega a year and two before this one. The concept was easy to understand and the execution is what you could expect from this type of film. It follows the slasheresque build up with George Eastman walking around and destroying everyone within sight. Emphasis is put on creating memorable murder scenes. Three scenes in particular come to mind:
- The nurse receiving a drill through the head
- A woman’s head being cooked in an oven
- A butcher’s head being sawed
There is little doubt that these scenes are the main attraction and most memorable for fans and viewers. This is where D’Amato’s camera skills are put to use, and he makes sure to portray the violence as distinctly as possible. Little is left to the imagination, and that’s the way it should be. The FX quality is generally good, but apparent in some scenes. Surprisingly there is no nudity in the film, despite D’Amato’s reputation. The closest thing to nudity is a small clothed clip from his masterpiece, Porno Holocaust, being lifted into a scene where two kids are watching a supposed soap opera on the TV! The rest of the film is dominated by cheap interior shots, very little use of exterior locations and… interesting dubbing. A funny amount of attention is given to a super bowl match between the Steelers and the Rams, even though the characters don’t seem to have much interest in it. Actor and director Michele Soavi makes a little appearance, though I’d wish more was made of the scene. The film has a tendency to drag on a bit at times, because it’s not enough material to make it interesting throughout. However, any boring bit is well worth the wait whenever King George appears on screen.
The whole film is indeed a George Eastman experience. He doesn’t have a single line of dialogue, yet delivers on so many levels. How can one not be impressed by the intensity of his stare and presence? By the share ferocity of his character? He does not need makeup, fancy costumes or a knife. He’s a power force of his own. He is George Eastman and only needs to be George Eastman.
When George Eastman walks, the earth shakes
When George Eastman stares, everything freezes
When George Eastman kills, he is not guilty
When George Eastman flexes his muscle, the earth loses gravity
When George Eastman stares, everything freezes
When George Eastman kills, he is not guilty
When George Eastman flexes his muscle, the earth loses gravity
