As no one has yet commented on this piece of trash I think it is my civic duty to warn people not to be tempted by the title into watching this. It is not a horror movie. There is no tension, no frights and very little gore, and that is badly done. I know Ulli Lommel has produced some of worst movies in history but this surpasses even those god awful efforts. Maybe Lommel's parents are to blame for encouraging him or maybe he's just some spoilt rich kid with more money than sense but either way, he should stop making films immediately. I believe the movie is taken from a book called "Diary of a Cannibal". I'm intrigued enough by the awfulness of the film to seek out this book and see if it is better. It must be.The entire movie is made up of flashbacks that are, more often than not, repeated over and over. The whole thing looks like it was shot through the bottom of a jam jar and the main actors do nothing of consequence throughout the whole turgid 80 minutes or so. If somebody offers "Cannibal" to you for free, don't take it. Just walk away because you will, most surely, regret the experience for the rest of your life.
18 Reviews
if it were a 12 year old's, I'd be impressed
Mjfj20 February 2008
I just HAVE to write a comment of what I'm experiencing right now. I am shocked by what I just saw, and not because of the contents, but by the way they were brought to the screen.
I remember the movie's story being on the news, as it is based on actual events. Unfortunately, there is hardly anything left of the true story, and it is turned into a vague 'romance' story.
The filming, editing, acting and effects in this movie are so terrible, that it is a horror movie in the fact that it is simply horrific. Don't let anybody tell you this movie is good, they are lying. It looks like a project of a starting film student, who is about to be kicked out for lack of talent.
The best example to the sadness of this attempt at film, is when the headless body is shown. In the place where the head would be is a black block that seems to be drawn on the image in Microsoft Paint! I'm going to go back to the video store tomorrow and not ask for my money back. I'm going to ask them to remove this DVD from their assortment. My 3 euro probably doubled the amount of money they paid for it to begin with.
I remember the movie's story being on the news, as it is based on actual events. Unfortunately, there is hardly anything left of the true story, and it is turned into a vague 'romance' story.
The filming, editing, acting and effects in this movie are so terrible, that it is a horror movie in the fact that it is simply horrific. Don't let anybody tell you this movie is good, they are lying. It looks like a project of a starting film student, who is about to be kicked out for lack of talent.
The best example to the sadness of this attempt at film, is when the headless body is shown. In the place where the head would be is a black block that seems to be drawn on the image in Microsoft Paint! I'm going to go back to the video store tomorrow and not ask for my money back. I'm going to ask them to remove this DVD from their assortment. My 3 euro probably doubled the amount of money they paid for it to begin with.
You're kidding, right?
nickforce812 June 2007
Not only is it a horrible movie, but it seems like the Director approves of the whole situation. It seemed like they made the Male cop out to be a jerk for saying they were sick, as opposed to it being for "love". Come on man, it's sick! You're not together forever, you're not "one". The guys dead, you just ate his heart and liver! The relationship is pretty much over when his severed head is sitting on the table. (thats not a spoiler, it tells you what happens on the back of the DVD) "Cannibalism is misunderstood". Are you kidding me? It's like ignorance claiming genius....ugh....The thing that makes me sick is that the movie appears to be trying to get you to sympathize with the twisted crap. I don't know man. The only movie I've seen worse than this is "Final Days", the movie based on the last days before Kurt Cobain's suicide. It's a close call though.
I'm sorry I even paid the $1 to rent this.
dumbdoorknob22 September 2007
I got this movie from the $1 section at my local video rental store. I'm sorry that I even spent that much on this movie. I actually turned the movie right off after about 20 minutes...and I've never done that with ANY other movie. It seriously looks like some man just took his home video camera and filmed two kids staring at each other in a van and then every once in a while threw in a clip of a shiny knife with blood. Oh my! I almost WANT people to watch this movie...just to seriously see how horrible it is. It's almost comical. But I wouldn't do it, that's about an hour and a half of your life you'll never get back.
Absolute and utter garbage
mrenzella1 May 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Wow.
In short: Do not subject yourself to this. Ever.
In long: This is, in my humble opinion, one of the worst and most misleading "movies" I've ever seen. The box, and even the artwork on the disc itself, suggest a very different viewing experience than what you are about to get. This movie is AWFUL, and by that, I mean first-year experimental film student awful. How this P.O.S got funded in the first place, let alone distribution through Lionsgate, is beyond me. Oh wait, it has an enticing title, and box art that is reminiscent of recent horror fare in the vein of 'The Hills Have Eyes', so people who like horror flicks get duped into renting it. I knew renting it was a risk, as most direct-to-DVD horror flicks are frankly, garbage, but I was in the mood for some cheap slasher-style fun, what I got was 84-minutes of poorly shot, cheaply edited, flashbacks. This movie has about 6 scenes that are recycled over and over and over. There is little to no dialog, and whenever there is any, it is horribly Mic-ed, it sounds in places like it was actually in-camera audio, with no location audio used at all. There are headache inducing montages in which 2 or 3 shots are overlaid on top of each other, the acting is Z-grade level, the gore is laughably pathetic, and the whole concept was wasted. There is the bones of an interesting movie in the concept here, but with no character development, no real reason given for the events that transpire, beyond horribly pretentious and annoying bible quotes that appear randomly throughout, and no action to speak of, this just really angered and frustrated me. I actively beg you NOT to watch this movie. No one in their right mind will get any kind of enjoyment from this. Ulli Lommer, find another career, you obviously don't understand the first thing about making a movie.
Mike Renzella
In short: Do not subject yourself to this. Ever.
In long: This is, in my humble opinion, one of the worst and most misleading "movies" I've ever seen. The box, and even the artwork on the disc itself, suggest a very different viewing experience than what you are about to get. This movie is AWFUL, and by that, I mean first-year experimental film student awful. How this P.O.S got funded in the first place, let alone distribution through Lionsgate, is beyond me. Oh wait, it has an enticing title, and box art that is reminiscent of recent horror fare in the vein of 'The Hills Have Eyes', so people who like horror flicks get duped into renting it. I knew renting it was a risk, as most direct-to-DVD horror flicks are frankly, garbage, but I was in the mood for some cheap slasher-style fun, what I got was 84-minutes of poorly shot, cheaply edited, flashbacks. This movie has about 6 scenes that are recycled over and over and over. There is little to no dialog, and whenever there is any, it is horribly Mic-ed, it sounds in places like it was actually in-camera audio, with no location audio used at all. There are headache inducing montages in which 2 or 3 shots are overlaid on top of each other, the acting is Z-grade level, the gore is laughably pathetic, and the whole concept was wasted. There is the bones of an interesting movie in the concept here, but with no character development, no real reason given for the events that transpire, beyond horribly pretentious and annoying bible quotes that appear randomly throughout, and no action to speak of, this just really angered and frustrated me. I actively beg you NOT to watch this movie. No one in their right mind will get any kind of enjoyment from this. Ulli Lommer, find another career, you obviously don't understand the first thing about making a movie.
Mike Renzella
Starwipe
happymf11 February 2008
The only interesting part of this movie was the true story which inspired it, however, even that is lost in a never ending parade of cuts, fades and pointless scenes. There are certain unspoken rules about the appropriate number of scenes, the repeated use of single scenes and timing that Ulli Lommel (Director) either doesn't understand or chooses (unfortunately) not to obey. The characters are whisper thin, and the story almost absent. Top this off with ultra low budget digital film quality, poor acting and a hollow cliché of a soundtrack. Unless you really just enjoy bad films, there is no reason whatsoever for me to recommend this to you. This movie, like Lollels other work, is a waste of time, money and space.
A "Women's" Cannibalism Picture
FilmFatale4 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
You know "women's" pictures of old - tragic love stories, soft focus camera work, weepy scores. Well, the tradition is alive and well in this boring tale from Ulli Lommel. Based on a true story of a man who ate another man because he met on the internet (was it consensual? was it murder?), "Diary of a Cannibal" trades the details to modern California love. It tries to combine horror and romance, but it just falls flat on both counts.
As a horror film, it's too slow and not gory enough, plus it gives all the money shots too early. We know what's going to happen and see the same shots over and over again. The way the story is structured, the girl isn't driven to madness or secretly already mad. She just does what she does and seems bored with the whole deal.
As a romance, it's too gory and disturbing, plus the romance part really isn't shown well. They meet and they're both relieved the other is cute and walk around on the shore and BLAMMO! that means love. There's just no resonance to it.
A silly subplot/twist also fails, as does the irritating "flashback" way the story is told. The performances are also pretty terrible, with the exception of Jillian Swanson who does a nice job as Noelle. And dig the epilogue with the faux Mulder and Scully who are interrogating her! Romance and horror can work - just look at "Dellamorte Dellamore" or even "Return of the Living Dead 3." Just don't look at "Diary of a Cannibal."
As a horror film, it's too slow and not gory enough, plus it gives all the money shots too early. We know what's going to happen and see the same shots over and over again. The way the story is structured, the girl isn't driven to madness or secretly already mad. She just does what she does and seems bored with the whole deal.
As a romance, it's too gory and disturbing, plus the romance part really isn't shown well. They meet and they're both relieved the other is cute and walk around on the shore and BLAMMO! that means love. There's just no resonance to it.
A silly subplot/twist also fails, as does the irritating "flashback" way the story is told. The performances are also pretty terrible, with the exception of Jillian Swanson who does a nice job as Noelle. And dig the epilogue with the faux Mulder and Scully who are interrogating her! Romance and horror can work - just look at "Dellamorte Dellamore" or even "Return of the Living Dead 3." Just don't look at "Diary of a Cannibal."
Completely pointless and not scary
eyesongackt13 January 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I honestly watched this movie from beginning to end, I had the worst headache of my life and even watching Ulli Lommel movies couldn't make me feel worse. I can honestly say the only plus to this movie was that there was hardly no dialog, because the acting wasn't even worthy of being called acting.
The story and characters are extremely unrealistic, this movie was inspired by the man advertising on internet to eat somebody and getting a response. Lommel tries to apply this on a seemingly normal 16 year old girl. The guy writes an advertisement on the internet "I want a girlfriend who is ready to do the ultimate sacrifice" and she responds. No dialog is spoken, so it's hard to say what they see in each other, but he seems like a nice guy. Out of the blue one day he says "I want you to eat my heart" and tries to justify it, she, I guess, says she dosen't like it and dosen't want to see him anymore (or they should not see each other for a while), but somehow he convinces her to kill him and eat his heart, why is never explained, neither is why he believes in this act.
Lommel's explanation, I guess, is after the girl has killed the guy she puts the heart, liver and something more on a grill and walks around, her "father" has dialog... he died from *some* disease and has written her letters. One of the letters is "when you meet the perfect guy you should do anything to make him happy." Honestly, that is not how you reason to eat anybody. But honestly, this is a Lommel movie, he obviously lacks socials skills and don't even know what people say to each other - hence the lack of dialog.
Was this movie scary? No. The actual killing isn't very graphic, you see her stab into nothingness and they show a wound. That's about it. Was there suspense? No. Did this movie make any sense? No. Was this a waste of time? yes.
Honestly, you learn nothing about cannibalism, the characters are unrealistic and the movie is mind-numbing boring.
The story and characters are extremely unrealistic, this movie was inspired by the man advertising on internet to eat somebody and getting a response. Lommel tries to apply this on a seemingly normal 16 year old girl. The guy writes an advertisement on the internet "I want a girlfriend who is ready to do the ultimate sacrifice" and she responds. No dialog is spoken, so it's hard to say what they see in each other, but he seems like a nice guy. Out of the blue one day he says "I want you to eat my heart" and tries to justify it, she, I guess, says she dosen't like it and dosen't want to see him anymore (or they should not see each other for a while), but somehow he convinces her to kill him and eat his heart, why is never explained, neither is why he believes in this act.
Lommel's explanation, I guess, is after the girl has killed the guy she puts the heart, liver and something more on a grill and walks around, her "father" has dialog... he died from *some* disease and has written her letters. One of the letters is "when you meet the perfect guy you should do anything to make him happy." Honestly, that is not how you reason to eat anybody. But honestly, this is a Lommel movie, he obviously lacks socials skills and don't even know what people say to each other - hence the lack of dialog.
Was this movie scary? No. The actual killing isn't very graphic, you see her stab into nothingness and they show a wound. That's about it. Was there suspense? No. Did this movie make any sense? No. Was this a waste of time? yes.
Honestly, you learn nothing about cannibalism, the characters are unrealistic and the movie is mind-numbing boring.
A poor attempt on what could have been a decent film.
miss-murder-xx11 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Where to begin. Firstly I would like to point out that the "spoiler alert" will spoil nothing as it was already spoiled when it was made.
SUMMARY Overall this movie is defiantly NOT WORTH IT! I would NEVER watch it again. I would NEVER recommend it to anyone either. DO NOT be fooled by the tittle or cover.
PLOT This movie is not entirely bad. I think the last comment wrote on this said it was based on a book. I'm not too sure about that but I do like the idea of the film. It was a good storyline. Although it seemed to me like the film would have only run for about 40 minutes but they decided that instead of adding more on they have just drag everything out. There was little dialog through the film and when there was you almost wish there wasn't. The whole film was almost like a bunch of kids had done it. You can't really blame the actors when the actual script is that bad.
CAMERA QUALITY As soon as the movie starts you can tell it was not properly done. The filming quality was very poor. The movie dragged on and on. Considering it only runs for 80 minutes it feels a lot longer then that.
GORE When I picked up the DVD the title and the cover was rather catchy. I love gory movies and I am interested in cannibalism. I was extremely disappointed to find that the movie merely touches cannibalism and the gore was Extremely fake! The "blood" has literally stuck to her face. It was way too thick and didn't even drip. The body parts were also very fake. My boyfriend works on films, particularly war movies so its not like I have no clue what I am on about. I've seen a lot of blood work they have done and it is so much better then this. Where to begin.
SUMMARY Overall this movie is defiantly NOT WORTH IT! I would NEVER watch it again. I would NEVER recommend it to anyone either. DO NOT be fooled by the tittle or cover.
PLOT This movie is not entirely bad. I think the last comment wrote on this said it was based on a book. I'm not too sure about that but I do like the idea of the film. It was a good storyline. Although it seemed to me like the film would have only run for about 40 minutes but they decided that instead of adding more on they have just drag everything out. There was little dialog through the film and when there was you almost wish there wasn't. The whole film was almost like a bunch of kids had done it. You can't really blame the actors when the actual script is that bad.
CAMERA QUALITY As soon as the movie starts you can tell it was not properly done. The filming quality was very poor. The movie dragged on and on. Considering it only runs for 80 minutes it feels a lot longer then that.
GORE When I picked up the DVD the title and the cover was rather catchy. I love gory movies and I am interested in cannibalism. I was extremely disappointed to find that the movie merely touches cannibalism and the gore was Extremely fake! The "blood" has literally stuck to her face. It was way too thick and didn't even drip. The body parts were also very fake. My boyfriend works on films, particularly war movies so its not like I have no clue what I am on about. I've seen a lot of blood work they have done and it is so much better then this. Where to begin.
Ulli-ful
movieman_kev17 October 2014
Oh Ulli, why do I still act like a cinematic masochist by continuing to watch your unwatchable 'based on a true story' (albiet EXTREMELY loosely) waste of celluloid. Perhaps I've answered my own question. I AM a masochist, either that or the last true blooded optimist. Perhaps this one will be better. Maybe i won't long for the sweet embrace of death to keep me from viewing until the movie's end. Alas no. No such luck. i had to suffer through this spectacularly awful movie. Atrociously acted, shot worse than a student film. Unentertaining even in it's insipidness. DO NOT watch. DO NOT even let the idea enter your head.
Diary of a Cannibal, or: Please Don't Watch This
panzerpop28 December 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This was a very... odd film, to say the least. It appeared to have been shot entirely with a potato, or some other run-of-the-mill household device. I couldn't get over the garbled background noise (music?). The constant flipping between the past, present, and memories of 'the incident' was extremely annoying -- not that I had been drawn in by anything in particular during any point in time throughout the movie. I was more or less waiting for something redeeming to happen to the story, but it hadn't really existed from the beginning. In my opinion, the movie was far too long. And for some reason, it bugged me that someone would leave a heart, liver, and kidneys unattended on a grill so many times for such random amounts of time.
An Eccentric Masterpiece!
orkoserapis_x122 November 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I'm sick and tired of reading bad comments about Ulli Lommel's films.
I am a devoted fan of Ulli Lommel's movies and have seen many of them, this one "Diary Of A Cannibal" is one of his best so far. I was very impressed with it.
Diary Of A Cannibal is certainly unconventional. It is part romance, part drama, and part horror, and the premise is interesting and original. The film examines the issue of cannibalism. There are not very many films that you finish watching and ponder afterwards, but I found myself lying awake thinking about this one after seeing it last night. It left me with a definite impression; both disturbed and curious.
In the movie two people, a young man and a young woman, who are intensely in love, decide that the ultimate way to consummate their love for each other is by an act of cannibalism whereby the woman kills her lover and eats his heart, and he submits willingly to the act, and this is portrayed as the ultimate act of love. This obviously conflicts severely with social and legal norms in American society, and the girl is convicted and sentenced to prison for murder, as you would expect. The film mainly examines the ethics and the psychology of the act (not the gore), and interestingly, it seems to portray the act of cannibalism sympathetically, not at all objectively. I don't believe that this is wrong, maybe the film makers are just expressing their opinion, in any case it makes for interesting viewing and it was a bold film to make.
The acting was good throughout. I sensed in the performances of the actors, particularly in that of Jilian Swanson (a very beautiful girl), real passion and feeling, and I really believed in and sympathized with her character and the inner conflict she felt because she played it so real, and with subtle conviction. The performances were subtle and morose which perfectly fitted the macabre and ponderous subject matter, and were entirely believable. The music was excellent, well suited, and well employed: very haunting and beautiful. The camera work is the typical realistic documentary style employed on many of Lommel's films, which I quite like because it brings immediacy and realism to the film, but clearly it irks many people who obviously prefer to remain more detached from the subject matter so it can be viewed purely as mindless entertainment. The only factor which costs this film stars in my opinion is the screenplay which could have been better. True, the dialog is minimal, the story is told mostly with images, but sometimes the script was a bit thin, and possibly could it have used some better script writing in parts.
I think that the reason many people trash this movie, and Lommels films generally, is because they are too attuned to more conventional films and just want quick satisfaction without having to do too much thinking (blood, gore, violence, etc): this is typical of mainstream audiences, and obviously Lommel does not make films for mainstream audiences.
I enjoyed this film and it left me with something to think about. I recommend it to anyone interested in cannibalism or anything related to it, or anyone looking for something a bit different.
I am a devoted fan of Ulli Lommel's movies and have seen many of them, this one "Diary Of A Cannibal" is one of his best so far. I was very impressed with it.
Diary Of A Cannibal is certainly unconventional. It is part romance, part drama, and part horror, and the premise is interesting and original. The film examines the issue of cannibalism. There are not very many films that you finish watching and ponder afterwards, but I found myself lying awake thinking about this one after seeing it last night. It left me with a definite impression; both disturbed and curious.
In the movie two people, a young man and a young woman, who are intensely in love, decide that the ultimate way to consummate their love for each other is by an act of cannibalism whereby the woman kills her lover and eats his heart, and he submits willingly to the act, and this is portrayed as the ultimate act of love. This obviously conflicts severely with social and legal norms in American society, and the girl is convicted and sentenced to prison for murder, as you would expect. The film mainly examines the ethics and the psychology of the act (not the gore), and interestingly, it seems to portray the act of cannibalism sympathetically, not at all objectively. I don't believe that this is wrong, maybe the film makers are just expressing their opinion, in any case it makes for interesting viewing and it was a bold film to make.
The acting was good throughout. I sensed in the performances of the actors, particularly in that of Jilian Swanson (a very beautiful girl), real passion and feeling, and I really believed in and sympathized with her character and the inner conflict she felt because she played it so real, and with subtle conviction. The performances were subtle and morose which perfectly fitted the macabre and ponderous subject matter, and were entirely believable. The music was excellent, well suited, and well employed: very haunting and beautiful. The camera work is the typical realistic documentary style employed on many of Lommel's films, which I quite like because it brings immediacy and realism to the film, but clearly it irks many people who obviously prefer to remain more detached from the subject matter so it can be viewed purely as mindless entertainment. The only factor which costs this film stars in my opinion is the screenplay which could have been better. True, the dialog is minimal, the story is told mostly with images, but sometimes the script was a bit thin, and possibly could it have used some better script writing in parts.
I think that the reason many people trash this movie, and Lommels films generally, is because they are too attuned to more conventional films and just want quick satisfaction without having to do too much thinking (blood, gore, violence, etc): this is typical of mainstream audiences, and obviously Lommel does not make films for mainstream audiences.
I enjoyed this film and it left me with something to think about. I recommend it to anyone interested in cannibalism or anything related to it, or anyone looking for something a bit different.
Hollywood House of Horror: Cannibal
Captain_Couth28 February 2009
Diary of a Cannibal (2006) is one of Ulli Lommel's Hollywood House of Horror's many "horror" films based upon a true story. A young man posts a bulletin on the internet looking for the companionship of a young lady. He gets a response and meets a beautiful girl. Soon they become friends and lovers. But the young man wants her new lady to prove to him who much they love each other. Will the young lady follow his macabre wish? How far will these two go to prove their love for each other?
An art film style this time from Lommel and his acolytes. Cannibal is different from his other releases but it's not as funny or entertaining. Different but it suffers from low production values and at times it reminds me of a play. Maybe that was the intent.
Released on DVD as Diary of a Cannibal for some reason.
An art film style this time from Lommel and his acolytes. Cannibal is different from his other releases but it's not as funny or entertaining. Different but it suffers from low production values and at times it reminds me of a play. Maybe that was the intent.
Released on DVD as Diary of a Cannibal for some reason.
Juliet pigging out on Romeo's heart - take that Shakespeare!
DigitalRevenantX718 June 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Story Synopsis: Dying in hospital of injuries suffered in a prison bashing, a young woman convicted of cannibalism is forcibly interrogated by a pair of detectives. She reveals to them how she met her boyfriend (who was secretly suicidal) on the Internet, the pair taking a cross-country trip where they arrive at a storage facility. There he tells her to kill him & eat his organs as an act of love.
Film Analysis: Diary of a Cannibal is another of the cheap genre films made by Ulli Lommel. Lommel is a former German New Wave legend who had made the art-house hit Tenderness of the Wolves, based on the true story of a German gay serial killer, before abandoning that career after moving to the USA. Since then he has made several cheap films, mostly about serial killers (although there was one exception - a brainless film about a robot helicopter with mind control powers!).
Diary of a Cannibal was one of the films Lommel made as part of his "Hollywood House of Horror" filmmaking group, one of a staggering number of serial-killer themed films (17 in less than half a decade!) made in such a short time. Like most of them, Lommel takes a true story & turns it into an abstract film. I say abstract because Lommel is not a filmmaker who makes straightforward films. Instead he repeats the same scenario over & over again with little variation, using all sorts of tricks to demonstrate his visual style.
This is the fourth film Lommel film I have reviewed so far. The quality of his films has been see-sawing between bad & mediocre. This is one of his better ones, although still not good enough to be viewed more than once. Lommel, for a change, manages to take a fairly simple story & tell it in a (relatively) cohesive fashion. The subject matter is pretty grim - a young woman kills her lover & eats his flesh on his orders as the ultimate act of love - but it strangely makes you wonder how far someone will go for love. Lommel milks the concept for all the impact he can get. The ending, with the girl dying after telling her story, leaving the two detectives walking away arguing about whether she was right in doing so, will get under your skin.
The acting is passable - Lommel gets some of his regular cast doing their thing with a modest efficiency. Jillian Swanson makes a strangely sympathetic heroine despite the deeds she performs in the film.
Film Analysis: Diary of a Cannibal is another of the cheap genre films made by Ulli Lommel. Lommel is a former German New Wave legend who had made the art-house hit Tenderness of the Wolves, based on the true story of a German gay serial killer, before abandoning that career after moving to the USA. Since then he has made several cheap films, mostly about serial killers (although there was one exception - a brainless film about a robot helicopter with mind control powers!).
Diary of a Cannibal was one of the films Lommel made as part of his "Hollywood House of Horror" filmmaking group, one of a staggering number of serial-killer themed films (17 in less than half a decade!) made in such a short time. Like most of them, Lommel takes a true story & turns it into an abstract film. I say abstract because Lommel is not a filmmaker who makes straightforward films. Instead he repeats the same scenario over & over again with little variation, using all sorts of tricks to demonstrate his visual style.
This is the fourth film Lommel film I have reviewed so far. The quality of his films has been see-sawing between bad & mediocre. This is one of his better ones, although still not good enough to be viewed more than once. Lommel, for a change, manages to take a fairly simple story & tell it in a (relatively) cohesive fashion. The subject matter is pretty grim - a young woman kills her lover & eats his flesh on his orders as the ultimate act of love - but it strangely makes you wonder how far someone will go for love. Lommel milks the concept for all the impact he can get. The ending, with the girl dying after telling her story, leaving the two detectives walking away arguing about whether she was right in doing so, will get under your skin.
The acting is passable - Lommel gets some of his regular cast doing their thing with a modest efficiency. Jillian Swanson makes a strangely sympathetic heroine despite the deeds she performs in the film.
Where's the horror?
jamesabartles28 April 2007
I rented this movie looking for a typical gore-fest a la Romero. Was I in for a disappointment. It turned out the be the worst 82 minutes I've spent in a long time. Something could have been done with the story, reputedly based on actual events, but it was not. The set and location shots must have cast the production company hundreds of dollars. The were endless flashbacks that conveyed nothing and were put in solely to add some time to the film. It's a shame that there isn't some sort of "Gong Show" system that would have nipped this one in the bud before it contaminated the viewing public. I don't recall having seen an Ulli Lommel film before but at least I am now forewarned to stay away. Please, if anyone recommends this movie to you, I would suggest that they immediately seek professional help and counseling.
Not much of a diary of a Cannibal
jordondave-2808517 August 2023
(2006) Diary Of A Cannibal
HORROR
Art direction, cinematography, produced, and directed by Ulli Lommel directing a straight to rental, shown on via cam-corder style showcasing events about how a normal teenage girl end up eating her boyfriend, full of pointless passages from the Bible etc... linking to cannibalism. Supposed to be based on an actual incident somewhere in Virginia, Tennessee similar to "The Brown Bunny" which consist of pointless scenes of affection with one another and it wasn't until more than an hour later that viewers finally realize that it was the boyfriends request for her to do this. What do we know from this understandably is absolutely nothing.
Art direction, cinematography, produced, and directed by Ulli Lommel directing a straight to rental, shown on via cam-corder style showcasing events about how a normal teenage girl end up eating her boyfriend, full of pointless passages from the Bible etc... linking to cannibalism. Supposed to be based on an actual incident somewhere in Virginia, Tennessee similar to "The Brown Bunny" which consist of pointless scenes of affection with one another and it wasn't until more than an hour later that viewers finally realize that it was the boyfriends request for her to do this. What do we know from this understandably is absolutely nothing.
You need to get in the mindset of the writer to understand it.
ewamccurdy16 September 2018
Ok, I'm going to start off by saying, the negativity towards this movie are written by social losers who don't know how to critique a movie nor even write a movie to prove betterness.
As the aspiring horror film writer/producer/director I am I must say this movie is absolutely phenomenal! As quoted as the title of this review, you need to get in the mindset of the writer to understand the film.
A young hot troubled young lady meets a charming man online and as expected they fall in love and he says the best way to prove her love to him is to gut and kill him, cook him and eat him. After convincing her she does it and is later caught by a civilian who reports it to the local police.
Yes, there are a lot of bounce around shots but like I said, I am an aspiring writer and my most educated answer is Ulli was writing the bounced shots as if he was recreating what was inside the girls head. She had dwelled a story about losing her father and with all the recycled footage was telling the story of the mindset she was in. Hence why she was telling the story to the police in a different set of the film.
So, as a dedicated horror movie fan I must say this movie is absolutely awesome. Even tho it isn't really "horror" persay. It is more crime, dark web style romance with a horror background. But either way it is still entertaining and worth a watch if you can actually put aside what's going on and understand where the writer came from when making this film.
As the aspiring horror film writer/producer/director I am I must say this movie is absolutely phenomenal! As quoted as the title of this review, you need to get in the mindset of the writer to understand the film.
A young hot troubled young lady meets a charming man online and as expected they fall in love and he says the best way to prove her love to him is to gut and kill him, cook him and eat him. After convincing her she does it and is later caught by a civilian who reports it to the local police.
Yes, there are a lot of bounce around shots but like I said, I am an aspiring writer and my most educated answer is Ulli was writing the bounced shots as if he was recreating what was inside the girls head. She had dwelled a story about losing her father and with all the recycled footage was telling the story of the mindset she was in. Hence why she was telling the story to the police in a different set of the film.
So, as a dedicated horror movie fan I must say this movie is absolutely awesome. Even tho it isn't really "horror" persay. It is more crime, dark web style romance with a horror background. But either way it is still entertaining and worth a watch if you can actually put aside what's going on and understand where the writer came from when making this film.
They Keep Getting Worse
Michael_Elliott26 February 2008
Diary of a Cannibal (2006)
1/2 (out of 4)
Ulli Lommel is back once again with yet another "based on true events" film. This time he tells the story of the German man who was sent to prison for killing another man and eating him. In this film, the story is changed around to a man and woman who meet on the internet and he wants her to eat him. The story of the German man was better told in the film Cannibal, which I viewed earlier in the year. That film was the sickest film I had ever seen and had me on the verge of throwing up but I can honestly say this film had me close to throwing up but for different reasons. Lommel shows once again that he's turned into the biggest hack master in the world delivering yet another horrible film. I'll give him some credit that he changed to story to a somewhat interesting one but he does nothing with it. Everything from the performances to the special effects are horrid so that doesn't leave much going for the film. It's really sad to see Lommel selling himself out with this incredibly horrid film but Lions Gate keeps buying them so I guess he'll keep making them.
1/2 (out of 4)
Ulli Lommel is back once again with yet another "based on true events" film. This time he tells the story of the German man who was sent to prison for killing another man and eating him. In this film, the story is changed around to a man and woman who meet on the internet and he wants her to eat him. The story of the German man was better told in the film Cannibal, which I viewed earlier in the year. That film was the sickest film I had ever seen and had me on the verge of throwing up but I can honestly say this film had me close to throwing up but for different reasons. Lommel shows once again that he's turned into the biggest hack master in the world delivering yet another horrible film. I'll give him some credit that he changed to story to a somewhat interesting one but he does nothing with it. Everything from the performances to the special effects are horrid so that doesn't leave much going for the film. It's really sad to see Lommel selling himself out with this incredibly horrid film but Lions Gate keeps buying them so I guess he'll keep making them.
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