Primitif (1978)

User Rating:

2.2/10   

Director:

Sisworo Gautama Putra

Writer:

Imam Tantowi (written by)

Release Date:

4 August 1982 (France)

Genre:

Adventure | Horror

Tagline:

Incredible but true!

Plot:

After a raft accident in the jungle, three anthropology students and their guides attempt to escape from a primitive cannibal tribe that has hunted them down.

Plot Keywords:

Tribe | Cannibal | Jungle | Primitive | Escape

Cast

Enny Haryono	...	Rika
Barry Prima	...	Amri (as Berry Prima)
Johann Mardjono	...	Tommy
Rukman Herman	...	Bisma
Jafarpree York	...	Lahang
Novita Rully
Youstine Rais		(as Yostienne S. Rais)
Michael Kelly
Rengga Takengon		(as Ringga Takengow)
Eva Arnaz
Yayuk Suseno

Also Known As:

Primitives (International: English title)
Savage Terror (UK)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Indonesia

Language:

Indonesian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.50 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | Australia:R | France:-12 | Norway:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Rainforest, Indonesia

Company:

Rapi Films

Trivia:

The director decided to make this movie after seeing the success of the Italian cannibal movies Il paese del sesso selvaggio (1972), La montagna del dio cannibale (1978), and Ultimo mondo cannibale (1977). Some scenes are almost directly lifted from those films.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the native is killed by the spike trap, it is obvious that the spikes are rubber because they bend around his body.

Quotes:

Robert: We found it! The primitive tribe!

Soundtrack:

We are the Robots

Obscure cannibal film.

Primitives is an extremely rare cannibal film filmed in Indonesia, and although it is a blatant take on cannibal ferox, it is unique in odd ways. The soundtrack is stolen Kraftwerk! Yes, I kid ye not, the film actually opens to "We are the robots"!

The "heroes" are Scooby-doo esque students that venture into the jungle to gain some hands-on experience with primitive culture to aid them in writing their thesis, and decide to go for gold by venturing even deeper into savage territory, in order to bring back experience they can really write about, and that they do. They take a raft down river, and when it hits a rock, their guide is killed and they are separated. Lost, they encounter hostile savages, who capture two of the students, while the other wanders around looking for them. The rest writes itself.

Primitives is generally a dull watch, but has its moments. In one scene for instance, a kiddie savage pee's on a captive student (Robert) from a height of 20 feet while a laughs! In one combat scene, A savage throws an axe at Robert, and he misses. The axe then boomerangs and strikes the savage in the throat, killing him! There are also some interesting animal combat scenes, like a leopard versus two crocodiles, and a huge snake versus a huge reptile.

Like other cannibal films, it has some token animal killing scenes, although they are mostly faked I'd say (but still yuk). It is also pretty gory in spots, the most notable being a scene where a savage gives birth, and licks the bloody baby clean! (Eskimos do this too, by the way, and they don't use diapers...) There's also an excellent spike trap scene which will make you howl laughing.

Still, unless you can't get enough of cannibal films, you may not appreciate it, but it may act as a good introduction to cannibal film to the uninitiated. (Though poor nonetheless)

Cannibal holocaust lite!