Franco Prosperi was involved in the controversial mondo documentary genre way back in the 1960s when..who gives a fuck? I am not a fucking Arrow booklet. I am just a guy who watches shite to stay sane. This is one that I put off for years due to bad reviews and bad copies available. Finally got a nice subtitled remastered copy and got a pleasant surprise.
Animals in a zoo drink drug infected water and go ape shit through a German city. They escape and kill humans that get in their way. Elephants bum rush through walls and gates and strangle victims with their noses and stomp poor cunts to death. The scenes of the elephants might be my favourite as they are beautiful and fascinating creatures. The big bastards end up on an airport runway and cause a power cut.
Polar bears, tigers and even a cheetah do some damage in the process too and some nasty killing. The cheetah scenes are really impressive and not what I expected. Instead of the usual animal attack and obvious Alis Cave rug being used as a prop, the cheetah chases a hysterical woman in a car and causes crash after crash. The whole sequence is filmed very well too. Impressive.
Perhaps the most revolting scenes are the rats who all come up from the sewer and kill a young couple in a car. Also, there is a scene where a poor cat is covered in rats which is clearly real. The rats are burned alive ala “Cannibal Apocalypse”.
This is an Italian exploitation film from the 1980s and it has some baggage, I am afraid. There is some questionable animal use and obvious cruelty. Animals definitely died on this film. Luckily times have changed.
A very entertaining film and a unique one with a surprise and shocking ending that Prospreri manages to pull off…thanks to the animals.