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Forgotten Masterpiece: Cannibal (Piranha) Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death

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Mark Kermode | 11:00 UK time, Friday, 17 April 2009

Before he became Religulous, Bill Maher offered up a satire to match the wars of Lillliput and Blefuscu.

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  • 1. At 3:52pm on 17 Apr 2009, duncanmccurdie wrote:

    It is a great movie. I stumbled upon it as a Shannon Tweed fan. I was surprised by her almost acting ability. It is great fun.

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  • 2. At 5:19pm on 17 Apr 2009, SERLING wrote:


    Mark,
    Could you try not to refer to over here as "England". You are blogging for the British Broadcasting Corporation, after all. There's more to these isles than England.

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  • 3. At 8:20pm on 17 Apr 2009, leoocunha wrote:

    Dear Dr,

    Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to watch this so-called masterpiece.

    Anyway, I believe the correct spelling is Piranha, as the Carnivore fish from Amazonia.

    Cheers

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  • 4. At 8:50pm on 17 Apr 2009, streetrw wrote:

    I had this movie on an ex-rental VHS for a while. But I think it should be noted, for the sake of needlessly pernickity accuracy, that in the UK the title on the actual on-screen title card was just PIRANHA WOMEN. It was PIRANHA WOMEN IN THE ..... on the video box itself. According to the BBFC site, it was reissued 10 years later with the title CANNIBAL WOMEN IN THE ..... but I haven't seen it since the first release.

    And I did rather like it; I thought it was amusing and enjoyable. Not good enough for me to keep hold of it though....

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  • 5. At 10:04pm on 17 Apr 2009, antimode wrote:

    SERLING: The 'British Isles' includes the whole of Ireland (who might not all want to be included by any utterances originating in Hampshire) but not the Channel Islands. So would it have been OK if Mark had said "Britain" even though Great Britain doesn't include Northern Ireland? And perhaps it should be the UKBC, not the BBC (which is, after all, a Swiss-based electrical engineering company).

    I didn't see Bill Maher's earlier film but I did see "Religulous". It doesn't seem to know if it wants to be just funny or also a serious piece. In interviewing his subjects he avoids confrontation but appears to be mocking the clueless subjects in front of the camera but "behind their backs". In the end it just isn't very interesting or funny. By focusing on the more bizarre religious expressions, rather than the mainstream as Hitchens and Dawkins have done, he seems to be copping out from exposing his true views, or asking any serious questions.

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  • 6. At 01:35am on 18 Apr 2009, ultramagic wrote:

    Good comment about the BBC there. I'm from Scotland, and whilst often you have to 'rise above' "England" comments, it does get annoying. It's annoying enough when foreign people bundle all of the UK into 'England'.

    That said, my comment is about Cannibal Women. I can't find it anywhere...any help? I often download films (shhh), but this looks like the type of film I'd like to purchase.

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  • 7. At 05:52am on 18 Apr 2009, vanveen14 wrote:

    Really, Mark, do we really all secretly like Pretty Woman? Sucking and shopping, huh, that's what we all really enjoy down deep if we think about it, and anything else would just be pretending.

    Anyway, I thoroughly liked Religiolous and disagree with commetator number 5. Though Mr. Maher (pronounced mar) did several bits of mugging I thought he was outlandishly confrontational. And I didn't think the film did focus on just freaks but a wide assortment. The film should be understood not as a documentary but as personal essay on film, and I thought he had an excellent point, rather like the Mark Twain stuff that used to be forbidden.

    I know I can't watch that Piranha movie, becausee Mr. Maher's eighties hairdo would just be icky for words. Even if you deep fried that one, he'd still give you acid reflux.

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  • 8. At 10:46am on 18 Apr 2009, SERLING wrote:

    Hey Antimode,
    I think "Britain" covers more of the constituent parts of the UK than "England". Your point about the Channel Islands and Northern Ireland are geographical and political. They are, of course, quite right. But surely the point remains: Mark broadcasts to more than England, his fans and followers come from beyond the borders of England, and as they fund the BRITISH Broadcasting Corporation, it's only right that this is reflected. I'm also pretty certain that film distribution deals, and the current certification process, treats Britain as one market/entity.

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  • 9. At 10:47am on 18 Apr 2009, SERLING wrote:

    PS: That should have read "treat" in the final sentence. Apologies.

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  • 10. At 5:22pm on 18 Apr 2009, righteousGerryC wrote:

    One small point. Bill Maher no longer has a show called Politically Incorrect, due to the fact that he made a rude comment about a certain part of Hillary Clinton's anatomy.

    But, he does have a new show on HBO called Real Time, and its fantastic,

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  • 11. At 01:18am on 19 Apr 2009, Neilwilco wrote:

    Hi Mark,

    Is there a source on the web where you can access your past programme Chaplin, Celebrity and Modernism? I'm a big Chaplin follower and everything I've read on the broadcast said it was excellent.
    Cheers!

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  • 12. At 12:23pm on 19 Apr 2009, Ram-Jam wrote:

    Hey, Doctor. Just a question for your next Blog Talk segment:

    Now that we're well and truly into 2009, is Bride Wars still in your Bottom Ten of the year?

    I'm happy to remind you of that on a quarterly basis. Honestly, though, I'm not expecting you to leave, but it was still pretty interesting to hear that comment from you.

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  • 13. At 7:54pm on 19 Apr 2009, angelFootballWizard wrote:


    Hi Dr Mark,

    Isn't 'Cannibal/Pirhana Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death, just an enhanced and subtle remake of 'Carry On Up The Jungle'?

    But with more tit's!

    And I mean that in every possible use of the word.

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  • 14. At 06:49am on 20 Apr 2009, antimode wrote:

    If, as you have been telling us for what seems like ages, that it is Scarlett JO-hansson, not YO-hansson, then it must also be be Bill MARR not MAYER. No need to call the whole thing off, just the discussion, :-)

    righteousGerryC, Politically Incorrect was cancelled by ABC because Bill Maher agreed with one of his guests who said that the pilots that flew the planes into the twin towers were not cowards. Because this comment was made just days after 9/11 it was very unpopular and caused a lot of sponsors to pull out so the show was discontinued.
    Which isn't to say that he didn't say anything nasty about Mrs. Clinton. I think he said worse things about the Pope for which he was forced to "apologize".
    Free audio versions of the Real Time show are available as a podcast

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  • 15. At 00:10am on 21 Apr 2009, bill_dukenfield wrote:

    If you're fortunate enough to have the Sky Movies package at home "Cannibal/Pirhana Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death" turns up quite frequently on one of those film channels that come alonng after TCM and Film4 in the EPG (possibly "Movies For Men")

    Well worth looking out for and I would certainly second Mark's very positive review.

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  • 16. At 5:07pm on 24 Apr 2009, MrPHanlon wrote:

    Just finished watching this journey into the light heart of darkness, truly trashtastic.

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  • 17. At 2:29pm on 25 Apr 2009, _Fowler_The_Prowler_ wrote:

    Religulous = Good doc

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