Not to be confused with the Tobe Hooper
film "Death Trap", which was titled "Eaten Alive" for its US release, this film is actually another vile
cannibal offering from the infamous Umberto Lenzi, who also directed the brutal "Cannibal Ferox".
Euro-Horror regular Janet Agren plays Sheila Morris, whose sister Dianne has run off into the jungles of New Guinea to join some bizarre religious cult. Hiring former Vietnam-veteran Mark Butler (Robert Kerman) to try and track her down, they subsequently encounter unfriendly alligators and even more unfriendly cannibal tribes who eat their guides. Before they're rescued by some members from the religious cult they're searching for.
They are subsequently introduced to the cult's leader, the mad Jonas (Ivan Rassimov) who's favourite pass-times are drugging and brainwashing his followers, sexually assaulting the females in his sect and trying out different shades of eye shadow to see which one makes him look the most menacing.
Aided by a sympathetic cult member named Mowara (Me Me Lai), they grab Shelia's sister and try to escape. Only to come up against more of Jonas followers, who in turn come up against the local cannibal tribe again, (who rather resemble a Hawaiian, an Oriental and a sun-tanned American), who proceed to start cutting off various body parts off them and eating them.
As for Sheila and Mark, their fate depends on wether the authorities can locate and rescue them, before either the cannibal tribe, or more of Jonas followers, can catch up to them
The film is your typical early 80s cannibal exploitation fare, with natives displaying their usual lack of table manners by eating with their mouths open and there's also the usual slew of genuine animal mutilations, which range from a muskrat fighting a snake, to an alligator having a knife rammed through its skull and an iguana being skinned and gutted in graphic close-up (in the uncut version anyway).
It should be noted though that the UK release of this was very heavily censored by the BBFC. So much so, it couldn't qualify as being a cannibal film, as all the gore was completely cut out of it, along with the animal killings.
If you're into these films, I guess it qualifies as a curiosity piece, as it features a number of well known genre stars from other cannibal films, and sharper eyed viewers will also notice a number of scenes lifted from earlier Cannibal movies (guess he thought no one would notice), so you might want to check it out. But if you're not into these films, then I'd advise you steer well clear of this.
