What can I say? To have not only the good taste and the sheer fortitude of stomach to put together a work of this magnitude is evidence enough that you're holding a very special book in your hands. Slater, one of the chief writers and editors for the UK's exemplary Darkside Magazine has pulled off a truly macedonic feat here, and, with the help of a generous handful of other writers and genre luminaries, created a work that will go down as probably the most complete and exhaustive tome written on the subject at hand.
With extensive, and sometimes multiple, reviews and essays for each film, there is a wealth of information to be had. Of particular note are the sections on Fulci's Zombi (aka Zombie Flesh Eaters and Zombi 2) and Deodato's notorious and timeless family classic Cannibal Holocaust. Together, the coverage of these two films probably makes up at least twenty percent of the book, and rightly so. Slater and company realize the importance of these two films. Zombie and Cannibal Holocaust are quite emblematic of the Italian zombie and cannibal subgenres, respectively, and due respect is given them.
That's not to say that "Eaten Alive!" only covers the bog-standard, familiar classics...no...it serves as a treatise on the history of cannibals and zombies in Italian productions from the '50's to the present day, and includes damn near every zombie or cannibal film you could imagine. As is typical with books by anyone having to do with Darkside Magazine, "Eaten Alive" is exhaustively researched, illustrated with many never-before-seen lobby cards and other promotional art, and contains the collaboration of many genre stalwarts...my favorite contributions come from none other than whipping-boy Giovanni Lombardo Radice aka "John Morghen", who recalls with much wit and cynicsm his "rent paying" participation in such films as City of the Living Dead (aka The Gates of Hell) and Cannibal Ferox (aka Make Them Die Slowly). It's clear that, far from being outright embarrased by his work in those films, he looks back on them with a certain nostalgia, even though he makes it clear that he finds those films to be quite silly (which they are, classics though they may be). Stuff like this is indicative of the rest of the book, where the sense of humor and class with which Slater and company approach these beloved films are truly a breath of fresh air. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, are we really supposed to take films with titles like Erotic Nights of the Living Dead all that seriously?
"Eaten Alive" is truly a masterwork; an invaluable resource for gorehounds, exploitation junkies, and genre afficianados alike, and it's about time that someone had the ...ahem... guts to do the subject justice! Go out and buy multiple copies today!
What can I say? To have not only the good taste and the sheer fortitude of stomach to put together a work of this magnitude is evidence enough that you're holding a very special book in your hands. Slater, one of the chief writers and editors for the UK's exemplary Darkside Magazine has pulled off a truly macedonic feat here, and, with the help of a generous handful of other writers and genre luminaries, created a work that will go down as probably the most complete and exhaustive tome written on the subject at hand.