CANNIBAL GIRLS (1973) review

Cannibal Girls (1973) (1st viewing) d. Reitman, Ivan

“They do EXACTLY what you think they do!” Before he acquired the golden touch with smart, snappy winners like Stripes, Meatballs and Ghostbusters, director Reitman toiled on this uneven horror comedy, featuring future SCTV stars Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin as a groovy guitarist and his whinging gal pal who spend a romantic getaway at a remote and mysterious bed & breakfast. Because it never quite commits to a specific course (and because much of the dialogue was reputedly improvised), the comic bits never really catch fire and the loosey goosey ramblings leave the chills out in the cold. On the plus side, the titular trio of crunchin’ munchin’ Bonnie Nelson, Randall Carpenter, and sexymama brunette Mira Pawluk keeps interests alive whenever they’re onscreen doing their disrobing n’ disemboweling thing, and there is a certain freakish attraction to seeing the American Pie franchise veteran sporting an impossibly lush white-guy ’fro and ’stache. (The unrecognizable Levy’s voice even seems dubbed at times.) In the end, this is more curiosity piece than forgotten gem, a glimpse at better things to come.