When the name Ivan Reitman is mentioned, most cinephiles will bring to mind 80’s comedy films such as Meatballs, Stripes, or Ghostbusters, all of which star the great  Bill Murray with the latter two featuring Harold Ramis. In the early seventies though, for his third feature, Reitman would direct another comedy great Eugene Levy as Clifford, a travelling guitar player who runs into trouble along with his girlfriend, Gloria (Andrea Martin – another Canadian comic alumni). 

It’s evident that Reitman has a dark comic vein, especially notable in Cannibal Girls, which uses a low-budget to tell a grindhouse story about a couple who unwittingly stay at a house run by a woman with an appetite for human flesh. 

This feature is integral to the style and approach to Reitman’s filmography that would pave the way to iconic cinema hits. It would provide the building blocks for the film director to recognise the need for the talent to shine on screen, when their natural comic ability resonates. None more so than with Levy here, who along with his co-stars was provided the opportunity to improvise their dialogue throughout.

As the film ebbs and flows through the outer rims of morbid humour, it struggles to lift itself in places, snagged under the weight of what is essentially a simple premise. It plays some typical traits in a dream sequence and and a few twists that also includes an untrustworthy narrator in the mix. Despite some of these flaws, it is fun to see Levy with some freedom to ad-lib and for Reitman to hone his craft, for movie lovers to delve into.

• Saul Muerte