Vietnam vet Norman Hopper (John Saxon) has suddenly begun to relive the nightmare of war in his dreams. He receives a phone call from an old army friend, Charlie Buckowski, that he rescued in Nam, Buckowski and another man Tom Thompson had been found in a Viet Cong prison with a craving for human flesh and both had since been in a mental hospital for psychological analysis. Hopper turns down the offer of meeting his old mate as he is struggling with demons of his own, he believes his wife may be an adulteress, he is also attracted to the very young girl next door and more importantly he is stressed at his increasing craving for raw meat and blood. Buckowski goes on a shooting rampage and kills a few people and is locked up again, but then escapes along with Thompson and he urges Hopper to help them escape the city. Saxon a fluent Italian speaker and a veteran of many Italian films, jumped at the chance of working with the great Margheriti and was immediately impressed by the directors rapport with actors and his talent behind the camera, Saxon was also attracted by the seemingly novel idea that war might be spread by a virus, he was shocked though when during filming he suddenly realised that the virus was a cannibalistic one and he refused to be in any of the scenes containing such acts. For those who like the adventure aspect of a jungle set Cannibal film, this might disappoint slightly, except for a few flashbacks this is entirely set in Atlanta and plays more like a Nam Vet action film with some gore on the side. Still though, the characters are interesting and time is given to their development, Saxon impresses as the troubled Hopper, which is hardly surprising, but he may have been helped somewhat by his depression at the time, due primarily to financial problems he had after the break-up of his marriage. His fellow actors including John Morghen recount that he was rather aloof and distant and not much fun during filming. Margheriti was renowned for his period set Gothic costume dramas and Cannibal Apocalypse was a big change of style for him, gone are all his trademark stylings and in come the more appropriate washed out colours and a steely grey look of the city. The gore is for the most part pretty tame by genre standards but its still effective. The faux disco score was tacky as hell and at times seemed inappropriate to the visuals, but this is still a fun film, and is recommend to fans of the genre

While on a mission to rescue two servicemen captured by the Viet Cong, "Captain Norman Hopper" (John Saxon) is bitten by one of these men when he attempts to pull him from the pit. Afterward both of the men are committed to a psychiatric hospital while Captain Hopper is allowed to return to civilian life. Unfortunately, it doesn't end there as one of the men named "Charlie Bukowski" (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) is temporarily released and not long afterward suddenly goes berserk which results in the deaths of at least two people. Then upon being returned to the psychiatric hospital he and the other serviceman by the name of "Tom Thompson" (Tony King) manage to escape along with a nurse named "Helen" (May Heatherly) who was bitten by one of them and shares the same craving for human flesh as they do. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this turned out to be a fairly decent type of "zombie film" even though it didn't necessarily fit the technical parameters for that particular sub-genre. The acting was decent and the plot moved along quite well. In any case, for what it's worth I liked the movie and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Rugged Vietnam veteran Norman Hopper (an excellent and convincing performance by the almighty John Saxon) gets reunited with his maladjusted war buddies Charlie Bukowski (ably played with fierce sweaty intensity by Giovanni Lombardo Radice) and Tom Thompson (a hysterically manic portrayal by Tony King). Exposed to cannibalism back in 'Nam, the trio embark on a bloodthirsty rampage in Atlanta, Georgia.

Director Antonio Margheriti keeps the absorbing and enjoyable story moving along at a snappy pace, does a good job of creating and sustaining a bleak tone that stays grimly true to itself to the literal bitter end, stages several action set pieces with skill and flair, and delivers a few potent moments of high impact splatter (said hardcore gore includes a tongue being bitten off, some splashy gunshot wounds, and, in the undeniable gruesome highlight, Charlie has a massive hole blown in his torso by a shotgun-toting police officer). The solid acting by the sturdy cast rates as another major asset: Elizabeth Turner lends sound support as Hopper's worried wife Jane, May Heatherly likewise impresses as infected nurse Helen, Cinzia De Carolis makes a sexy impression as tempting teenage trollop Mary, and Wallace Wilkinson grumps it up delightfully as the grouchy Captain McCoy. Moreover, Margheriti and co-writer Dardano Sacchetti deserve praise not only for putting the primitive practice of cannibalism in a novel modern urban setting, but also for their nifty nightmarish approach to depicting soldiers suffering from a highly atypical form of post-traumatic stress disorder. Alexander Blonksteiner's funky-throbbing disco score hits the get-down groovy spot. The slick cinematography by Fernando Arribas provides a pleasing polished look. A fun piece of vintage early 80's Italian horror trash.