From the Canadian branch of exploitation filmmaking comes this quirky stab (and chop, and bite) appetizer, an early production by Ivan Reitman. Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin are the cute couple that wander into the wrong snowbound hamlet, too innocent and trusting to recognize a horror setup when they see it. The future maker of Ghostbusters cooks up a modest little item that steers more toward droll comedy than gory shocks. It’s beautifully remastered; the extras include an even earlier Reitman short subject that won a theatrical release.

Cannibal Girls
Blu-ray
Canadian International Pictures
1973 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 83 min. / Street Date April 29, 2025 / Available from Vinegar Syndrome / 41.98
Starring: Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Ronald Ulrich, Alan Gordon, Allan Price, Earl Pomerantz, Bob McHeady, May Jarvis, Gino Marrocco, Rick Maguire, Randall Carpenter, Bonnie Neilson, Mira Pawluk.
Cinematography: Robert Saad
Randall Carpenter: Costume Coordinator
Special Effects: Michael Lotosky, Richard Whyte
Film Editor: Daniel Goldberg
Original Music: Doug Riley
Screenplay by Robert Sandler original story by Sandler, Daniel Goldberg, Ivan Reitman
Produced by Daniel Goldberg
Directed by Ivan Reitman

The secret has slipped out that CineSavant is partial to low-budget filmmakers that prevail against all odds. We regularly worship at the altar of Roger Corman, but we also like to learn about wildcat filmmakers from the years when almost any screenable show might get a nationwide release. Be it a Texas radio entrepreneur or a movie star’s brother, we want to know how they did it and what parts of the filmmaking puzzle they solved.

In film school at UCLA, there were two elusive horror pictures that we somehow missed and that never seemed to play. It took a few years to finally see Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck’s  Messiah of Evil, which turned out to be an accomplished little gem. We often confused that show with another MIA mystery picture from the same year, that was even harder to catch up with. Ten years before breaking through with the massive hit and enduring franchise  Ghostbusters, producer-director Ivan Reitman threw together a desperate little horror shocker filmed in an Ontario winter. Designed to be the quickest of quickies, Cannibal Girls seems to have been made from the sheer will and stamina of Reitman and his co-producer Daniel Goldberg. Reitman knew some Second City talent and arranged for deferred services from the lab, etc., based on prior relationships. It was reasoned that the actual story didn’t matter much, as a horror picture with the right elements would sell. Considering the way the film was made, we’re surprised that it is so coherently directed. Unlike the Katz and Huyck picture, Cannibal Girls is a lightweight item that emphasizes the humor in creepy situations.

Clifford and Gloria (Eugene Levy & Andrea Martin) become lost while trying to find a romantic rural getaway spot. Their car is breaking down as they finally reach a small town in the snow. The motel owner Mrs. Wainwright (May Jarvis) is friendly, but other people act rather strangely, including the Sheriff (Bob McHeady). Our lovers are ‘make the best of things’ types, especially the patiently sweet Gloria; they pay no attention to Mrs. Wainwright’s stories about past cannibal murders in the vicinity. They’re finally directed to the only ‘restaurant’ in town, at the farmhouse of the unctuous Reverend Alex St. John (Ronald Ulrich). He greets them in top hat and tuxedo, gives them a tour of the house and directs them to a table. There is only one entree on the menu and they are the only patrons … and serving them are three attractive young women, just like the ‘cannibal women’ of local lore …

Cannibal Girls couldn’t be simpler; the subject matter is really the relationship between these two young Canadians looking for an amorous getaway. Clifford says he’s a rock guitarist. He looks like Phineas of the  Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers from the underground comics, but he behaves more like a regulation comedy nebbish. Martin’s Gloria is pleasant, trusting and complacent. Seeing her standing in the snow, dithering while trying to understand a road map, wins us over. Almost alone in an unfamiliar village, Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin are almost the whole show. What awful fate is in store for the pleasant Clifford and the adorable Gloria?

Low budget movies often pad & stall to stretch thin material. When a picture comes up short, the producer tells the editor to ‘be creative,’ and use ALL of the second-unit shots of cars driving around, etc.. Reitman instead lingers on extended conversations that bond us with his leading players. The slack is taken up with sidebar events, teasing the gruesome activities of the ‘cannibal girls.’  A chilly prologue shows an unrelated couple seeking privacy on a beach; we can guess what will happen to them. A truck passes through town with a big sign advertising fresh meat, and a conversation in a butcher shop suggests a ‘Sweeney Todd’ connection. Before we know who they are, we follow the activities of the Reverend’s three female companions. Each picks up a young male, and lures them to the farmhouse for sex. The men even meet in the foyer, to swap stories of their good luck … which of course is running out quick.

Unlike the eerie Messiah of Evil there is no Big Horror Concept at work here. What tension there is, is of the simple ‘don’t go in that house’ variety. The Reverend is well-dressed, congenial but much-too-solicitous. By the time we find out what’s in store for the slightly dense Clifford and Gloria, we realize that the Reverend maintains his cannibal cult partly through hypnotism. Will Gloria and Clifford see the signals (think red flags, claxon warning bells) in front of their noses, or won’t they?  Gloria is such a sweetie, we don’t want anybody to scare her, let alone carve her up and serve her for supper.

The strangely low-key horror item Cannibal Girls has just enough blood to qualify for an R rating. There’s some nudity here and there, most effectively in a dream-like montage. But the Reverend and his trio of ‘doom damsels’ stay calm in their work. The ickiest material is watching the girls attack a meat stew like pigs at a trough. True, one cannibal girl grins in glee through teeth dripping with gore. In one scene a handcuffed and very unlucky victim is apparently eaten alive, but as soon as we get the point Reitman cuts away, to our unsuspecting couple. We credit the pre-stardom Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin for making it all work; Ivan Reitman keeps us guessing with the droll situations. ‘Everything normal here!’

The disc extras document how this odd movie came about. The insert booklet reprints a 1973 interview from Take One magazine, in which Ivan Reitman and Dan Goldberg explain the long process of making a movie they expected to finish in just a few weeks. Reitman and Goldberg began the picture on a slim margin of deferrals and investor promises. We find out that there was no screenplay per se: the cast made up their own dialogue through improvisation. This arrangement is acknowledged in the credits. Instead of throwing what they had together and calling it a movie, they kept shooting more scenes, overrunning their estimates of time and money. The 26-page account puts the producer through a gauntlet of rude surprises, investor demands and ‘altered’ deals that take away most of their ownership points. Reitman had to make sure that the lab never had all the reels of finished film in their posssession at any one time, so it can’t be confiscated. And the final print didn’t arrive at Cannes until an hour before the sales screening, which they couldn’t afford, of course. Reitman claims he’ll never make a movie again, but we can tell he’s caught the bug in a serious way.

It makes sense that American-International’s Sam Arkoff would pick up Cannibal Girls for release. It’s not so extreme that exhibitors will complain, but it can be sold with advertising that promises much more gore. The suggestive tag line read, “They do EXACTLY what you think they do!”  A.I.P. slapped on a ‘Warning Bell’ gimmick, to warn viewers that something gory is about to happen. The disc release includes a separate audio track with the added Warning Bell sound effects.

Canadian International Pictures’ Blu-ray of Cannibal Girls looks brand new in this complete restoration, with a bright picture, fresh colors and no visible damage. It’s in impeccable condition, probably looking far better than original A.I.P. release prints. The attractively dark imagery on the cover art feels rather misleading … the show is more like a Woody Allen movie, until the knives and axes start to fly.

The extras seemingly contain everything we ever wanted or needed to know about Cannibal Girls. The show is covered in a complete commentary, and a lengthy podcast episode. Several featurettes appear to come from an older disc. In addition to advertising materials, trailers, etc., is a rare Canadian short subject by Ivan Reitman, that we’re told was screened a great deal in Canadian theaters. It’s an extended comedy about student Orientation at Hamilton College, starring Dan Goldberg. It carries its own separate commentary.

The must-read item is the insert booklet with the interview with the filmmakers. It will convince you never to make a movie unless you’re holding all of the cards, artistic and economic. The dedication of the filmmakers is amazing; we only wonder if the experience made them money, or put them in debt.

Cannibal Girls, we’ve discovered, received a Blu-ray release from Shout Factory around 2010, but we weren’t able to compare. This is the first we’ve heard of the Canadian International Pictures disc label;  their website offers about 40 Canadian productions, including the much-seen teen drama with Peter Kastner, Nobody Waved Goodbye.

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Cannibal Girls
Blu-ray rates:
Movie: Good + / –
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent with Alternate A.I.P. ‘warning bell’ soundtrack
Supplements:
Audio commentary with Paul Corupe of Canuxploitation.com and film historian Jason Pichonsky
2 Guys and a Chainsaw episode on the film with Craig Higgins and Todd Kuhns
Reitman the Fright Man (2024, 20 min.) New interview with film historian Chris Alexander
The Horror Horn (2024, 5 min.) Alexander on A.I.P.’s’ ‘warning bell’ soundtrack
2010 featurettes:
Cannibal Guys (27 min.) – Archival interview with Reitman and producer Daniel Goldberg
Meat Eugene! (20 min.) – Archival interview with star Eugene Levy
More Meat (21 min.) outtakes from ‘Meat Eugene!’
French opening credits (1973, 3 min.)
Theatrical trailer, TV spots, Radio spots
A.I.P. pressbook, image gallery
Orientation (1968, 25 min.) Reitman short uncut on home video for the first time, with a commentary by Stephen Broomer
Insert booklet featuring an archival interview with Reitman and Goldberg, plus a comic strip by Rick Trembles.
Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? YES; Subtitles: English (feature only)
Packaging: One Blu-ray in Keep case
Reviewed: March 22, 2025
(7301cann)

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