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.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.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.
- Director
- Writers
- Imam Tantowi
- Rukman Lukito(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe director decided to make this movie after seeing the success of the Italian cannibal movies Sacrifice! (1972), Slave of the Cannibal God (1978), and Last Cannibal World (1977). Some scenes are almost directly lifted from those films.
- GoofsWhen the native is killed by the spike trap, it is obvious that the spikes are rubber because they bend around his body.
- Crazy creditsRight before the opening credits, on screen text reads, "This is a true adventure. Filmed on location in the jungle where the events portrayed actually took place. The production thanks the Indonesian Government for allowing this story to be brought to the screen." Several cannibal films in the era claimed to be accounts of true stories, but this is probably untrue.
- Alternate versionsThe USA release under the "Tales of Voodoo" label (Volume 2) runs at 84 minutes. All scenes seem to be intact, so the shortened running time is probably due to technical factors.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Video Nasties: Draconian Days (2014)
Featured review
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!
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!
helpful•143
- Baphomet-4
- Apr 16, 1999
- How long is Primitif?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Death Cry of the Cannibals
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content