Plot
The film begins with a reenactment of the gruesome events of cannibalism as described by the prosecuting attorney during Alferd Packer's trial in 1883. Packer insists that things happened differently than what has been recounted, and begins to tell his story to journalist Polly Pry (Toddy Walters) through flashback.
In 1873, a group of miners in Provo, Utah hear of new gold discoveries in Breckenridge and decide to travel to Colorado Territory to stake a claim. After the original guide, Lucky Larry, dies from a lightning strike, Packer is nominated as the replacement since he claimed knowledge of the area. He and his trusty horse, Liane, set off with five miners, Shannon Wilson Bell (Ian Hardin), James Humphrey (Matt Stone), Frank Miller (Jason McHugh), George Noon (Dian Bachar), and Israel Swan (John Hegel), on what Packer estimates will be a three-week journey.
Four weeks later, they become convinced they are lost. At a nearby frontier post, they run into a group of three fur trappers, Loutzenheiser (Edward Henwood), Nutter (Andrew Kemler), and their diminutive leader, Frenchy Cabazon (Robert Muratore). The trappers despise the miners, “diggers” as they call them, yet seem to like Packer’s horse. They tell the group they are heading towards Saguache. The next day, Packer wakes up to discover his horse and friend, Liane, is missing. The men press on and cross the Green River near the Utah border. The group asks Packer if there are any other big rivers that they will have to cross to which he replies, “Oh no, just the Colorado River.” Eventually, the Packer party is spotted by two “Nihonjin” Indians (obviously played by Asians and speaking Japanese). They are taken back to the tribe where they learn the trappers are waiting for the winter storm to pass as recommended by the chief (Maseo Maki).
The story returns to the present time, where Polly continues her research of Packer’s story by herself. The next day, Packer is sentenced to death by hanging. Polly visits Packer once again in prison, where he continues his story, and she reveals her growing affection for him through song.
The men set out in the wilderness after Packer learns the trappers have already left. The group begins to suspect that Packer is really only interested in following the trappers to find his horse. They soldier on until they encounter the foreboding Cyclops (Henwood) who recalls how a Union soldier shot out his eye in the Civil War. He realizes Packer's men are not “Southern boys” after they can not finish the lyrics to "Dixie". They escape and the badly frostbitten Swan tries to cheer everybody up with a song about building a snowman. They soon run out of food, resorting to eating their shoes as they become lost in the snow covered Rocky Mountains. Out of frustration, Bell shoots Swan in the head because he does not appreciate his (Swan's) Pollyanna-esque perspective on their predicament. The men discuss their dire situation that night over the fire, speaking of the cannibalism that the Donner Party had to resort to in California. They decide to consume the body of their dead companion, but “not the butt”. Only Bell refuses. A few more days leads to talk of sacrificing one of their own. Packer convinces them for one more chance for a scouting trip, but when he returns, Bell has killed the others, claiming they planned to kill and eat him after Packer left. Packer is forced to kill Bell after threatening to turn him in, realizing he has gone insane.
Arriving in Saguache sometime later, Packer finds Liane, who has taken to Frenchy Cabazon. The sheriff of Saguache eventually finds and arrests Packer for cannibalism during a bar-fight between him and the trappers. On the day of Packer's execution he is saved at the gallows by the effort of Liane and Polly. They had gotten a stay of execution from the governor which states that Packer could not be convicted of a state crime since Colorado was not a state at the time of the incident. Cabazon tries to trigger the gallows, since the townsfolk came to see bloodshed. The Indian chief saves Packer by cutting his rope with a katana before beheading Cabazon, satisfying the crowd's bloodlust. Polly and Packer kiss only to be frightened by a still-alive Bell.
Read more about this topic: Cannibal! The Musical
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“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
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The Good Old Cause, reviv’d, a Plot requires,
Plots, true or false, are necessary things,
To raise up Common-wealths and ruine Kings.”
—John Dryden (1631–1700)