Severin's "companion" Video Nasty release to Bloody Moon (same director, both banned in the UK, ect.), Devil Hunter is another Jess Franco Amazon cannibal fest; filled with full frontal nudity, blood that looks like gritty nail polish, and special effects that would make any Play Dough sculptor proud!
FILM- After checking into her hotel, actress and sex symbol Laura Crawford is sold out by one of her friends and kidnapped. Like any logical kidnappers, these double digit IQ perverts take Laura to the Amazon; where they proceed to have their way with her. Wait, hasn't this whole Amazon deal been done before? Her kidnappers expect the agency Laura works for will rescue her and pay a hefty ransom; well, they're right. Only they didn't count on the agency sending in a battle hardened Vietnam vet (played by Fulci regular Al Cliver) to make sure everything goes down as planned. During the exchange, the fan hits the shit (as to be expected), and Laura ends up fleeing into the jungle. While her veteran escort tries to find her before the kidnappers do, she eventually winds up with a native tribe who worship the titular Devil. Will Laura be rescued by the Euro-hero? Caught by the depraved kidnappers? Or eaten alive by the cannibalistic Devil God? Oh, did I forget to mention the "Devil" is just a nude black man who looks like he spent too much time in a decompression chamber? Yeah... I did, didn't I...
First off, this film is bad. No sugar coating it, no sweet talk; this film is really, really bad. The tribe in Cannibal Terror (would it surprise you to know they both star Robert Foster?) was played by all white males. The Jess Franco approach? White males AND a few "authentic" looking actors. The result sticks out like a sore thumb, and is so, so hideous. Now let's talk about the cannibal Devil God. His eyes look like female parts after the killer from The Sister of Ursula got a hold of them. I'm pretty sure I could make the prosthetics from ping pong balls and epoxy. Just gob them up and add blood. Masterpiece finished. And yet again to another subject- The blood. I'll just spare you the agony; it's orange. And the kicker is it appears to be gritty. Looks like someone spilled some dirt in the fake blood. Oh well who cares, slather it on anyways! It seems like I'm bashing this film hard, but I'm not; I promise. It is actually pretty fun, epically when the nudity and gore start. The gore is limited, the blood is awful looking; BUT, it's chocked full of nudity. The actress are very attractive for the most part, and almost every one gets naked. One very "interesting" scene is when the rescue squad enters the boat of a nude female tourist; who's not concerned that gun toting gruffy men are getting an eye full at all. The nudity isn't limited to the ladies this time around. The wall eyed cannibal God also joins in on the streaking, making the scene where Laura's rescue hero must wrestle the nude Devil quite uncomfortable to say the least. Who knew this was Bruno 30 years ahead of it's time? Devil Hunter, for me at least, was improved by a second viewing. The movie didn't seem better at all, but it was much funner. Again I can't recommend this to anyone who doesn't appreciate horrible movies (But it's essential for anyone collecting Video Nasties), but even those who do might not enjoy this. It's not the worst of it's kind, not the worst Franco film, but it's very close. 5/10.
PICTURE/ AUDIO- The picture is really weird on this one. Grain is there, but nothing too bad. Colors look nice, and flesh tones are good. We get a first person perspective of the Devil at times, and the effect look muggy. The weird thing is that some random scenes, without the POV effect, still look muggy. It's not the transfer, it's the film. That is what I mean by it looking weird. While this is not Severin's problem, it is noticeable and decently annoying. This is the best Devil Hunter has looked, and the best it will ever look. While the film has some weird visual distortions, the transfer it's self is really nice. 7/10.
The audio is the same as the picture, nice transfer, weird effects. I'm talking about the dubbing on this one. It's atrocious. Such highlights include a rape scene that sounds as meek as a goldfish. The dubbing adds to the goofy fun factor, and the transfer makes every monotone scream sound good. There's also the French track with subs, which sounds excellent. 7/10.
EXTRAS- Severin has included a 30 minute featurette, Sexo Caniabl, which features Franco discussing everything from the cannibal boom to the lead actress's body. It's loads of fun to watch, and makes every byte on this DVD a complete package of fun! 6/10.
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