Cannibal! The Musical

This is an amiable little parody from director Trey Parker, best known as co-creator of the cult TV series South Park. Set in 1873, the film deals with Alfred Packer (Juan Schwartz, aka Trey Parker), who is accused of cannibalizing members of his six-man party on a trip West. There are comic songs, Japanese people pretending to be Indians, and a cyclops whose eye spurts pus. The film's highlight may be Alfred's saloon kung fu fight with a cocky fur trapper named Frenchy over his beloved horse Liane. Cannibal! is surprisingly light on gore for a Troma Team release (save for the prologue and finale), concentrating instead on goofy sight gags, sex jokes, and silly songs like Shpadoinkle and Hang the Bastard. The cinematography is attractive, evoking all those frontier musicals of yore, and the overall quality is good, if obviously low budget. This film also features a cameo by underground film maven Stan Brakhage as the father of one of the pioneers.~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide