Home › Films › Slave of the Cannibal God
VIDEO NASTY ARCHIVE ENTRY

Slave of the Cannibal God

Original / alternate title: La montagna del dio cannibale; Prisoner of the Cannibal God; Mountain of the Cannibal God; Slave of the Cannibal God
1978   |   Italy   |   Cannibal adventure / exploitation horror

A woman travels into the New Guinea jungle searching for her missing husband and joins an expedition that stumbles into tribal territory, ritual violence and a cannibal cult. Sergio Martino mixes jungle adventure, exploitation spectacle and gruesome shocks in one of the most famous pre-holocaust cannibal-cycle titles.

Film details

Original / alt titleLa montagna del dio cannibale; Prisoner of the Cannibal God; Mountain of the Cannibal God; Slave of the Cannibal God
Year1978
DirectorSergio Martino
CountryItaly
RuntimeApprox. 102 min
Main castUrsula Andress, Stacy Keach, Claudio Cassinelli, Antonio Marsina

UK status

DPP 72 — DROPPED / ACQUITTED

On the DPP 72 under the alternate title “Prisoner of the Cannibal God.” It was dropped rather than becoming one of the final 39 successful prosecutions.

Current UK position:
Passed 18 with cuts to real animal-cruelty footage.

Why it caused controversy

Its cannibal-adventure violence and unsimulated animal cruelty created the lasting censorship issue; modern UK releases still remove real cruelty footage.

UK censorship / Video Nasties history

A quick status check first, followed by the film’s censorship timeline. A DPP prosecution was an obscenity case against a particular video publication — it was not automatically the same thing as a permanent nationwide “ban”.

DPP listYes — DPP 72
Prosecuted?Dropped / acquitted / not successfully prosecuted
Seized?DPP-listed title; the list was used operationally in police raids, but this archive does not claim every individual cassette was seized
Banned / cut / rejected?Passed 18 with cuts to real animal-cruelty footage.
Later BBFC certificatePassed 18 with cuts to real animal-cruelty footage.
Now uncut / restored?Passed 18 with cuts to real animal-cruelty footage.

Detailed censorship timeline & facts

1978Released internationally under multiple titles including Prisoner of the Cannibal God and Slave of the Cannibal God.
Early 1980sCirculated in the UK video market as part of the cannibal-film controversy.
1983–1984Appeared on the DPP 72 list under “Prisoner of the Cannibal God.”
DroppedThe case did not remain among the final 39 successful prosecutions.
Modern cult statusStill discussed as one of the better-produced cannibal-adventure films, though controversy remains over animal cruelty footage.

FACTS & TRIVIA

  • The film is also widely known as Mountain of the Cannibal God.
  • Ursula Andress gives the film unusual star value compared with many exploitation titles of the era.
  • Director Sergio Martino worked across giallo, horror, sci-fi and exploitation cinema.
  • The film belongs to the Italian cannibal-adventure wave that helped shape later nastier entries.
  • Its UK nasty-era identity is tied to the DPP title “Prisoner of the Cannibal God.”
  • Modern releases often note or alter the animal-cruelty material.

Distributor / VHS label

Video release

Archive cover shown is the user-supplied scan. UK distributor / VHS-label attribution varies by edition and is not asserted here without a verified sleeve imprint.

Trailer

Open a search for the original theatrical / VHS-era trailer. This keeps the archive linking to publicly available trailer sources rather than hosting copyrighted film footage.

▶ FIND ORIGINAL TRAILER

Research sources

Archive note: the DPP list changed during 1983–84. This site distinguishes the 39 successfully prosecuted titles from the 33 acquitted / dropped titles, and separately labels related censorship-era films.

Related films