Papaya:

Love Goddess of the Cannibals

R1 DVD

Severin Films

Papaya is an unusual film, directed by Joe D'Amato, best known for his regularly censored classic “Anthropophagus” and his soft porn erotica “Emmanuelle and the White Slave Trade”. It stars Sirpa Lane, a Finnish actress and model who starred in such diverse sex classics as La Bete (The Beast) and Roger Vadim’s Charlotte. It has a quirky plot which seems to spend a lot of time using every possible situation to offer hot sex scenes set in a tropical landscape to a seventies music beat ! At the same time it attempts to tie in a story about voodoo and an environmental tale of the dangers of nuclear energy !

The film opens with Papaya relaxing semi naked on a beach and meeting what seems to be her love interest in a bamboo hut, this is followed by a nicely filmed, torrid sex scene which climaxes with Papaya biting off his penis and spitting it out before the hut is set on fire ! Certainly an attention getting opening scene. As the film unfolds we find out that various murders have taken place in the preceding weeks, all of workers on a team building a nuclear reactor, to emphasize the point the charred body of Papaya’s ex lover is left in the hut of Vincent, one of the major movers and shakers of the reactor.

As Vincent and Sara begin to investigate what is occurring, they are caught in a web of intrigue created by Papaya. They are invited to a local Fiesta with the hint that they will see the real ceremony, the Rite of the Stone rather than the more tame version presented for tourists and run by the local Catholic Church. As they enter the town the public festival continues in sight, while they are led to a secret location for the original pagan rite. This long censored scene is a beauty ! Combining pig slaughtering, blood drinking, orgiastic sex and human sacrifice, all with a Disco beat - it is a real triumph for D’Amato who seems to want to combine his horror and erotic cinematic pretensions in one film.

The story continues with regular erotic scenes of every possible persuasion combined with environment concerns about nuclear energy and the natives planning a revolt against the reactor and the Westerners building it !

Papaya is a interesting diversion which is hard to pigeon hole, it has elements of horror, loads of sex, an environmental message, strange dialogue obviously dubbed later and a groovy soundtrack. It is certainly a fun ride and well worth the purchase price. D’Amato filming is impressive and he certainly knows how to capture the “heat” of a sex scene, Papaya is a great looking film as well as an unusual one.

Severin have done a great job offering the first fully restored uncensored edition of this film ever released.