Papaya: Love Goddess of the Cannibals
I was in the mood for a little Joe D'Amato, so threw this on. First up, it's surprisingly tame and light on the sleaze. And the title's a bit misleading as there's very little cannibalism in it. Instead it's another bit of Caribbean set eurotrash in which sultry beauty, Papaya (Melissa Chimenti) seduces, then kills off, those involved in the building of a nuclear power plant - the penis munching opening scene promising more than the rest of the film delivers. Meanwhile, journalist Sara (Sirpa Lane - seen in Walerian Borowczyk's La Bête) and her male friend, Vincent (Maurice Poli), try to get to the bottom of the voodoo shenanigans, while also ending up in various states of undress.
So little horror and soft core sex scenes galore, but while the exploitation is kept to a minimum, I quite enjoyed this. The voodoo scenes are a heady highlight and there's the faintest whiff of Who Can Kill a Child? as they wander the deserted sun drenched streets - not least a scene in which our lead is pursued by silent gangs of children. I think most of all I was seduced by its exotic locations, as it made for pleasant respite from this freezing cold weather that doesn't seem to let up.
Time to dig out the Black Emanuelle box methinks.
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