Overview
Antropophagus (also known as Anthropophagus: The Beast, The Savage Island, and The Grim Reaper) is a 1980 Italian horror film directed by Joe D'Amato and co-written by D'Amato and George Eastman, who stars as a cannibal. The film also features Tisa Farrow, Zora Kerova, Saverio Vallone, Serena Grandi, Margaret Mazzantini and Mark Bodin.
Antropophagus has been described as having "a noted place in the annals of the escalation of gore". The film has gained cult status - if only "amongst fringe horror video audiences". It has been argued that the reason for its cult status lies in its theme of cannibalism, hence "consumption of humans", which lends itself to cult reception. The scene in which the titular man eater strangles a pregnant woman, tears out the fetus from her womb and bites into it, made it become one of the infamous "video nasties" that were prosecuted in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s, and the "controversy greatly aided its cult reputation" as well.
Plot
A pair of Germans visiting a remote Greek island go to the beach and are slaughtered by someone who emerges from the ocean. Five travelers are preparing to tour the islands and are joined by Julie, who asks for a ride to an island some of her friends live on. The only one who objects to this detour to the island (which Julie explains has only a few permanent residents and only sees tourists a few months out of the year) is Carol, whose tarot cards, the Tarocco Piemontese, convince her something bad will happen if they go. The group sails to the island anyway. While disembarking, the pregnant Maggie hurts her ankle, so she stays behind on the boat with its owner. A man attacks the ship, ripping the sailor's head off and abducting Maggie.
The others explore the island's town, discovering it in disarray, and abandoned except for an elusive woman in black, who writes "Go Away" on a dusty window. A rotting corpse that appears to have been cannibalized is uncovered in a house, prompting everyone to rush back to the boat, which is adrift. With no other options, the group goes to the house owned by Julie's friends, where they find the family's blind daughter, Henriette. After wounding Daniel in a panic, Henriette is calmed down and rants about there being a madman who smells of blood prowling the island.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).