Cannibal! The Musical (1996)

Let's get the inevitable out of the way: the movie looks absolutely horrible. There's a reason most of Trey Parker's work has been in animation. Then again, it's Troma, so we can be a little forgiving. It's not so much the budget as general incompetence in the film-making that's a bit annoying here, but it's still a Trey Parker cannibal Western musical comedy from Troma based loosely on the true story of Alfred Packer.Yes, it's as silly and ludicrous as it sounds, and although it's not quite up there with the best Troma has to offer ("Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead", "The Toxic Avenger", "Tromeo and Juliet", and a less well-liked favorite of mine, "Troma's War"), it's still absolutely demented and crazy throughout, the songs are still good, and the movie has a lot of fun with Western conventions.This is really Trey Parker's movie through and through, it's his excellent performance as Packer which carries the movie, and it's his songs that immediately made me forget about all the jokes which fell flat in the preceding scene. This movie is far from perfect, and I think I laughed a bit harder at "Orgazmo", but this is still one of Troma's more worthwhile movies, and interesting as an example of the work of a very young pre-"South Park" Trey Parker.7/10

Alferd Packer leads a group of miners to Colorado from Utah, in search of gold. But they don't find gold: they find a cyclops, snowstorms, Indians, trappers and complete starvation. With a little singing and dancing, we are treated to an alternate version of this historical event. Although Parker and Stone have made many great movies ("South Park", "Orgazmo" and "Baseketball") this has always remained my favorite. The jokes might not be as clever or edgy, but there's a special charm in this movie that blends humor, horror (the opening scene is amazing for an independent film) and music. You'll find yourself singing these songs again and again.The jokes are varied and will appeal to different people. The songs are funny and most will like that, others will appreciate the Indians being played by Japanese students (the "we have tepees" line is gold)... and maybe you'll be one of those who like the subtle jokes, like the alien head snowman or the car keys jingling. (If you're a "South Park" fan, you're probably going to like the cheap, dirty jokes best, like the fudge line.)I have to give Trey Parker a lot of credit here. For a first-time writer, he really pulls this together. The script is solid, the songs are some of the best he's done (although not the most elaborate or involved) and his acting is formidable. Thank science that Troma had the common sense to pick this film up when others wouldn't (a mistake I'd like to think those other studios are regretting now).If you haven't seen this, you're really missing something. I rank it right up there with "Kung Pow" as far as comedies that are sadly overlooked. This might not be the film for everyone, but I have yet to find someone who didn't enjoy it, so I think it's safe to say you will, too.

I watched this with friends one night when we were having a B movie marathon. Little did we know how much this would take us by surprise.The opening scene is somewhat scary but corny, and the corniness and wit of the jokes just expands from there. For musical fans, this is a sing along movie if I've ever seen one. I'm not really into musicals, but the songs are so funny and nonsensical that it makes the movie all the more entertaining as an experience.The characters don't really develop, but who cares? Trey Parker's Alferd Packer is hilarious and impeccably timed with his cheerful, naive humor. The adventure they go on through what looks like rural Colorado finds plenty of laughs on the way, with brilliantly nuanced jokes that show a level of sociological understanding that's missing from a low brow comedy. This is not one of those.Watch it, and don't be shocked if it's the funniest independent film you've ever seen.

"Cannibal! The Musical" is inspired by the true story of Alferd Packer (although his real name was allegedly "Alfred" and "Alferd" came about because he didn't know how to spell his own name correctly). Packer was one of only two men - along with Albert Fish - to ever be convicted of cannibalism in America. (Apparently serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer had enough going against him already that he wasn't tried for cannibalism on top of mass murder).Packer led a group of five men into Colorado in search of gold. They got lost and were stranded in desolate conditions, and eventually Packer killed his men and ate them. (Although according to Wikipedia recent evidence indicates he never killed them, and in 1981 he was apparently acquitted of crimes long after his death. I guess they figured eating people who are already dead in order to survive doesn't qualify as full-out cannibalism. I'm not really sure about the specifics on how that works.) Trey Parker and Matt Stone made this movie before "South Park." I believe it was actually filmed in 1994 and first screened at the Alferd Packer College (yes, there's a college named after him) which is presumably located in Colorado. It's become a cult film over the years and the title was changed to "Cannibal: The Musical" after Troma producers convinced Trey that not enough people outside of the state were aware of who Alferd Packer actually was. (I certainly wasn't - I thought it was a fictional character before looking up the film on Wikipedia.) First things first - I have so far been largely unimpressed by Trey and Matt's live-action ventures. I've become a huge "South Park" fan within the past year or so, but I bought "Orgazmo" on DVD and thought it was a very juvenile and average comedy, and although I have not seen "BASEketball" yet, even Trey and Matt have acknowledged that it is not a good film, so I don't feel like I'm entirely missing out."Cannibal" is a huge cult film and I had heard a lot of good things about it from various people on the Internet, in particular one Troma video fan. Well, this is my first Troma video (if it qualifies as one) and maybe that's part of the reason I couldn't get into it.Parts of it are very funny, but for the most part it really isn't very humorous at all. It actually develops something of a story and isn't as loud or obvious as some of Parker's other material. "South Park" is very satirical and witty but it's much more obvious than the comedy here, which is tamer and not quite as edgy. Some of the songs are quite funny but a number of them are inferior versions of songs that would appear in the "South Park" movie and "Team America: World Police." Songs from that film like "The End of an Act" (the one that bashes Ben Affleck and Michael Bay) are much cleverer and musically catchy than anything found here.The cast is generally weak and Trey is visibly awkward throughout - presumably since it was his first real movie. It's very low-budget (filmed for $125,000 - compared to the eventual $1 million they received per episode of "That's My Bush!" in 2001), and part of the reason the film isn't as engrossing at times is due to its budget: it looks like a student movie made by some friends who made up a lot of gags as they went along...and for the most part that's probably a rather accurate summary.I know the film has a cult following and an impressive rating on this site, but I think if you're not a die-hard Trey Parker fan or a follower of the Troma film series, it'll leave you a bit underwhelmed, especially if you're familiar with the boys' recent work on "South Park" and "Team America." It has its strong points but they are far and few between, and for the most part it's a very amateurish production that isn't up to par with their later stuff.An interesting note of curiosity for fans of "South Park," but I couldn't really warm up to it.