Cannibal (2004) from Tuna
 This is a French Canadian film released in the English part of Canada as White Skin, and in the French part as La Peau Blanche.

Marc Paquet is an English Lit major at a university in Montreal, and lives with Frédéric Pierre, a black student and wannabe author. Pierre has a girlfriend, but Paquet has had a long dry spell, so Pierre treats them to two hookers as a birthday present to his friend. Paquet explains that he doesn't find redheads attractive, because their skin is so light, and so was glad that Pierre ended up with Jessica Malka, whose hair is fiery red. We soon learn just how fiery she is when Paquet hears Pierre screaming for help. Malka has cut his throat, and he is barely holding her at bay. Once outnumbered, she escapes out the window. The two don't report the injury, as they don't want anyone to know there were patronizing hookers. They tell the hospital a story about a skinhead attack.

The next day, Paquet sees a woman musician playing in the metro, and falls instantly in love, even though she is a redhead. They end up in bed, but she suddenly leaves, saying she should never have let it happen. He pursues her, and they become an item. When she informs him she has cancer, he is 100% supportive, but her problem is not really cancer, and Paquet begins to suspect the truth when he discovers that she is the sister of the throat-slitting hooker.

I never thought I would be typing this, but it is a new slant on the vampire theme, and I enjoyed it.  Writer/director Daniel Roby collaborated with the author of the original novel, Joël Champetier, on the screenplay, and the result was not just a good first feature, but a damned watchable movie! The film was beautifully shot in Montreal, which is a lovely city to see, and everything about the film is competent. The characters are likable and, if you accept the basic premise of the film, the story is plausible.  Every time I thought I knew where the film was going, it changed direction. Best of all, it had a terrific surprise ending. In short, there are much worse ways to spend 92 minutes, and I look forward to Roby's sophomore effort.

 

DVD INFO

  • No meaningful features
  • Widescreen, anamorphically enhanced

 

NUDITY REPORT
Jessica Malka shows her breasts in two scenes.

The Critics Vote ...

  •  No major reviews online, but many genre sites are linked from the IMDb page.

The People Vote ...

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics, or a C- from our system. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or a D on our scale. (Possibly even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

Our own guideline:

  • A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre.
  • B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. In order to rate at least a B-, a film should be both a critical and commercial success. Exceptions: (1) We will occasionally rate a film B- with good popular acceptance and bad reviews, if we believe the critics have severely underrated a film. (2) We may also assign a B- or better to a well-reviewed film which did not do well at the box office if we feel that the fault lay in the marketing of the film, and that the film might have been a hit if people had known about it. (Like, for example, The Waterdance.)
  • C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by people who enjoy this kind of movie. If this is your kind of movie, a C+ and an A are indistinguishable to you.
  • C means it is competent, but uninspired genre fare. People who like this kind of movie will think it satisfactory. Others probably will not.
  • C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie, but genre addicts find it watchable. Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film, but films with this rating should be approached with caution by mainstream audiences, who may find them incompetent or repulsive or both. If this is NOT your kind of movie, a C- and an E are indistinguishable to you.
  • D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-. Films rated below C- generally have both bad reviews and poor popular acceptance.
  • E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre.
  • F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

 

Based on this description, this film is a C, a very watchable film!

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