After Thank You for Smoking, Juno and the upcoming Up in the Air, Jason Reitman has proven himself to be one of today's best young filmmakers. His father Ivan wasn't bad for a while either, with Meatballs, both Ghostbusters flicks and Stripes among his hits.
Thanks to those successes, junior didn't need to break into the business with a chunky slice of cinematic gouda like 1973's Cannibal Girls. Ivan Reitman did, dragging along SCTV stars Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin for this horror comedy. (Levy's the guy in the trailer wearing the Jew-fro and smoking a cigar before getting smoked.) "Tongue-in-cheek" is the least of what these shapely taboo breakers shove in their mouths when they're hungry.
Reitman also employs one of the signature ballyhoo stunts of the drive-in era, that the trailer makes triply sure viewers know about: a bell clanging whenever "scenes of an especially gruesome or erotic nature" are about to flash on screen. "Those in the audience of a squeamish or prudish disposition" could use that sound that sound as a signal to close their eyes or turn away.
But, really, if you paid to see a movie titled Cannibal Girls, would you miss the best parts?
Enjoy!
Steve Persall is the movie critic for the St. Petersburg Times. He was conceived behind a drive-in movie theater his father operated and raised in projection booths and concession stands. He doesn't care how you did it up north.
this is one of the best Fromages yet! I had no idea this was Reitman. '73 seems late to employ such stunts as the ringing bell, but I suppose my memory is a bit dim on that front. I was only 6, but I remember seeing all sorts of ads for things in the newspaper and on TV that I probably shouldn't have...I still remember an ad, though I don't know now what movie, where a woman is riding in a cab and we see a reflection of the driver in the rearview mirror and its a skeleton! The Devil's Rain pops into my head as something I remember and some kung fu type thing called "Chinese Herculese" which I wanted to go see, but my parents, of course, gently and politely told me no. It was R rated after all, and who in their right mind would take a 6 year old to an R rated movie? Oh, right, the same folks who brought their 4 year old to a screening of Hellraiser 2 on Christmas Eve (true dat....actually witnessed that myself...of course...what was I doing there?)
Posted by: Douglas Arthur | November 09, 2009 at 10:00 AM
You & Di are the SP TIMES FUN COUPLE !!!!
You should get the paper to sponsor the weekend -- then you could review it for them. THIS IS HUGE!!!!! I'M SOOO EXCITED ABOUT THIS !!!!! All the Colbert & Belushi stuff was SOLD OUT IMMEDIATELY yesterday.
See ya there!
Posted by: Cat | November 06, 2009 at 10:19 AM
That would be a great goof, Cat. I'm sure they'd love it. Di and I went to Second City for a show a few years ago and it was like walking into chuckles church, all those photos of Belushi, Arkin, Nichols, etc. Have a great time, and we're jealous.
Posted by: Steve Persall | November 06, 2009 at 09:43 AM
Have a look~see:
http://secondcity.com/news.php?id=1186
Posted by: Cat | November 06, 2009 at 09:09 AM
I had no idea Eugene & Andrea were in movies like this before SCTV. I love both of them. I'll try to rent this.
I remember they were pretty funny in that >>> CLUB PARADISE movie.
The whole gang will be at a BIG SCTV Cast Reunion shoe Friday, 12/11 in CHIL as part of the SECOND CITY 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION. I just got tix for that yesterday. If I get a chance to talk to them, I'll bring up THIS movie.... or I'll ``shout it out`` from the audience. See what they do with that ??? Should be GRRRREAT!
Posted by: Cat | November 06, 2009 at 08:46 AM