Vincent Dawn 2000

The Italian cannibal film has been in a lair for quite some time now. To resurrect the genre would demand abilities few directors have. In the shadow of Ruggero Deodato’s planned sequel to his classic Cannibal Holocaust, who would be a better candidate to wake up the genre than Bruno Mattei?
Well, that’s what he did. Bruno Mattei is at it again, still using his artistic nicknames (Vincent Dawn/Martin Miller), who took the following years of 2000 by storm when he released what would become the two next icons of the Italian cannibal film: Cannibal World and Land of Death. Although the films hasn’t gotten widely released, or gained any sort of critically praise, I know that at least 1% - 2% of the ones that seen the films, have taken it to their hearts, and not without reason.

The films has been blamed for imitating and copying Cannibal Holocaust, scene for scene. Obviously, we all know Bruno has not done that, as he is a director with integrity. Sure, some scenes might share a slight resemblance, but all of us who’s familiar with Vincent Dawn’s films, knows that the maestro surely would not imitate others.

Cannibal World and Land of Death (a title later ripped off by George Romero) is the pure cinematic renewment of a falling genre, still breathing fresh air to the fulfilment of two original scripts. Bruno has cleverly decided to hide any sort of inspiration from other films of the genre, and chosen to go on his own path to discover the unexplored areas and mysticism the genre. The characters, again not having any similarity to Cannibal Holocaust, are presented as incomprehensive, yet somewhat spiritual while seeking their vengeance against the flesh-eating cannibals, searching through their emotional depths.

The films themselves are exceptionally dramatic in terms of character development. In Land of Death, we follow a group of commando soldiers search for a lost girl in the jungle, being shockingly witnessed to cannibals and their tribe rituals. Bruno’s clever script, good actors and camerawork give room for the creation of fear disguised on the outside of the macho characters, while being stripped of the tough guy image on the inside. The cannibals, although presented as skinny midgets in size, shows strength and intelligence beyond belief. They are hopping, dancing, killing, slaying and talking in some strange sort of code language. As with Tolkien and Lord of the Rings, Mattei also created his very own language for the cannibals.
In Cannibal World, we follow a group of documentary filmmakers in their search of the truth behind the myth of cannibalism. Filled with even more shocking violence than Land of Death, Cannibal World is an exploration into the minds of a group from the western part of the world, seeking their golden fortune in exploiting, raping and killing their fellow savages. Cannibal World was a film that grew deeply inside me. I will never forget the way Bruno presented the western civilisation, as it scared the living daylights out of me. Cannibal World is a revolutionary addition to the cannibal film, as it has the qualities and the hard-working craftsmanship abilities needed to create the purest visions there is. A masterpiece in it’s own right, Cannibal World has succeeded in its intentions: to handle the art of telling one of the best thought through and most important stories of the century.

The important question to ask yourself while watching these two films, is how to interpitate them. The wise use of DV-camera adds strongly to the films realism, and I was shocked at times as I actually believed I was seeing the real thing. I tried to close my eyes, but still remaining with the feeling of those ghastly cannibals slowly walking towards me with their thin spears just waiting to get their teeth into my slick white flesh. I remember constantly waking up at night all sweaty as well as wet further below, all out of pure fear considering what the characters went through. So what does Bruno want to express with his frightening overdose of realism?

Cannibal World and Land of Death has it all: Commandos, TV-reporters, high esteemed business men, cannibals, a huge pile of blood – gore and violence, shocking and dramatic realism, but most importantly: they have Bruno’s special touch which makes these two films a must for a whole new generation of filmmakers.

Bruno Mattei: Visionary

If you have seen a lot of Italian films – not only horror films, but other genre films as well, you’ll notice that the directors are split three ways: the good, the bad and the worst. Bruno Mattei is, unfortunately, one director that’s been placed in the latter category by many. I sat down and watched my first Bruno-film a year and a half ago, Hell of the Living Dead, and I could not understand what everybody was talking about. This man, this tiny little Italian, was a competent cinematic genius. An artist with perfectionism as his one and only limit. A man, who discovered new, unexplored areas of cinema itself.

Bruno went through his career visiting a lot of genres. Action, horror, exploitation, spaghetti western and so on, and he always handled the genres with top-notch solid direction with well thought through scripts. His scripts, exceptionally well written by Claudio Fragasso, featured some amazing dialogue. One example of this, is in the hi-tech jungle action film, Robowar; “Why do they have nicknames? You should know what the group is called; BAM. BAM? Big Ass Motherfuckers.” How on earth did this film not get a US-release?

While exploring his artistic genius, Bruno was throughout his career incorrectly blamed for copying other people’s work. Sure, he used stock footage in films like Hell of the Living Dead, Cruel Jaws and even a scene in Double Target, but that only adds to his originality by exploring the field of stock-footage. Sure, he picked up small pieces of inspiration here and there, but when the results were shown, it was the result of a unique pioneer.
Whether it was blood soaking terror or action spectacular, Bruno always kept his style of terror and suspense – easily compared to Hitchcock. His nerve-wracking stories of zombies, humanoid robots, naughty cowboys, realistic stock-footage, or sexual preferences were terrifyingly frightening. Bruno Mattei is a true maestro, and needs to be acknowledged for this.