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George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead", released in 1968, brought the cannibal into the mainstream horror genre. The "Dead" franchise, set around a crashed satellite that released radiation to bring the recently departed back to life, with a hunger for human flesh, has sent chills down the spines of even the most ardent horror fans. With the subsequent releases along the same story line, "Dawn of the Dead (1978), "Day of the Dead (1985), and "Land of the Dead (2005), the cult following grew, and other producers and directors latched onto the coattails of the dreary, flesh-ripping, mindless beast bandwagon, to produce such classics as, "The Return of the Living Dead"(1985), "Zombie Holocaust"(1980), and "Zombie Nation"(2004). The zombie has always instilled fear on the living, especially when the intended victim's entrails are being eaten right in front of his eyes. They move slowly, they are hard to kill, and there always seems to be thousands of them chasing a single victim for the sole purpose of a free meal.

Aside from the cannibalistic walking dead, there have been a few "living" beings who have had the tastes for human-a-la-carte. "Cannibal Holocaust"(1980) is a true classic, and due to it's docu-style filming and brutality, has been banned in many countries. 1974's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", based loosely on the exploits of the real life Ed Gein, had Leatherface and co. making Texas style chili with their victims. "Cannibal Campout"(1988), made for direct to video release, is one of the cheesiest and most fun cannibal movies ever created(look for the guy walking around in the gas mask). The "Silence of the Lambs(1991)" series had Hannibal Lector(Anthony Hopkins) as an ingenious and devious flesh eater, and was a box office success.

Cannibals, though scary, are fun. Whether they be the walking dead, the psychopath next door, or a tribe in the middle of the Amazon, deep down inside, every living human wants somehow to be eaten by one.

Learn more about this author, Jeff Woodward.
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