Nudo e selvaggio (1985)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Michele Massimo Tarantini

Writers:

Michele Massimo Tarantini (story)
Michele Massimo Tarantini (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 August 1985 (Italy)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Horror

Tagline:

A journey into the cannibal inferno

Plot:

A plane crashes in the Amazon jungle, and its passengers must battle their way through cannibals, slave traders, wild animals and murderous piranha fish to safety.

Plot Keywords:

Cannibal | Jungle | Piranha | Slave Trader | Sex

Cast

Michael Sopkiw	...	Kevin Hall
Suzane Carvalho	...	Eva Ibañez (as Susane Carvall)
Milton Morris	...	Capt. John Heinz
Marta Anderson	...	Betty Heinz
Joffre Soares	...	José (as Joffrey Soares)
Gloria Cristal	...	Monica
Susan Hahn	...	Belinda (as Susie Hahn)
Maria Reis	...	Myara (as Mary Reis)
Andy Silas	...	China
Leonidas Bayer	...	Prof. Pedro Ibañez (as Leonid Bayer)
Carlos Imperial	...	Pilot
Samuka	...	Native Chief (as Samuca)
Ney Pen	...	Native
Adalberto Silva	...	Hotel Desk Clerk (as Albert Silva)
Jonas Dalbecchi	...	Carlito

Also Known As:

A Baixada dos Dinosauros (Brazil)
Cannibal Ferox 2 (UK) (video title)
Cannibal Ferox II (UK) (video title)
Massacre in Dinosaur Valley (International: English title)
Perdidos no Vale dos Dinossauros (Brazil)
Stranded in Dinosaur Valley (USA)

Runtime:

88 min | UK:85 min (heavily cut)

Country:

Italy | Brazil

Language:

Portuguese | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 (heavily cut) | UK:(Banned) (uncut) | Australia:R (censored) | Canada:(Banned) (Ontario) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | France:-12 | South Korea:18 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Amazon rainforest, Brazil

Company:

Doral Film

Trivia:

Most of the native cannibals in the movie were played by Brazilian military men on shore leave.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning and end of the river sequence, we see two panoramic shots of the same stretch of river. Not only are the shots supposed to be taking place hours apart, but the position of the boat shows that they're even in reverse chronological order.

Quotes:

Myara: Do you really want to escape?

Movie Connections:

Spin off from Cannibal ferox (1981)

One of the best in exploitation horror

There should be an old axiom about bad movies, so I'm going to make it. Generally, the worse a movie is, the better it gets (as long as there's some action). Massacre in Dinosaur Valley is one of those movies. By anyone's standards, this is an incredible terrible and incompetent movie, but it's so chocked full of sex, action, and overall fun that there's no way I could find myself not enjoying every second of it. Sleaze director Tarantini obviously couldn't help himself in cashing in on the success of the cannibal genre, throwing in his usual soft-core porn along with it. It may have been more successful in the early 80s, during the cannibal boom, but I digress. Tarantini also incorporates every aspect of the genre with this film: gratuitous nudity as sex (though it's a little heavier than most other cannibal films), great gore, beautiful women, and total cheese in every scene. Overall, it all comes together horribly, but in such a fun way that I dare you to say you didn't find it entertaining.

We open with Professor Ibanez and his lusty, busty daughter, Eva, arriving at a hotel. There they meet our hapless hero, Kevin (Michael Sopkiw), whose a paleontologist of sorts. Anyway, the professor's heading to Dinosaur Valley, and lets Kevin come along. They get into a plane with some strange characters: a paranoid Vietnam vet, his ape wife, a photographer, and his two models, Belinda and Monica (who are obviously only there for the sex angle). The plane crashes (of course) in Dinosaur Valley, and several characters die from the crash, or by the hands of piranha and a cannibal tribe. Eva and Belinda are captured by the tribe, and are prepared to be sacrificed to their dinosaur god. Our hero saves them in a wild and totally fun action scene, but, just to show how bad the movie really is, the shotgun he uses is only a nine shot and he fires over twenty times without reloading. After escaping the cannibals, they get caught again by illegal miners and their leader, China. Belinda is killed after being raped by another woman, China has his way with Eva, and Michael escapes in the night. He comes back, frees the slaves, gives China his predictable fate, saves Eva in a rather chauvinistic way, and they fly into the sunset in their stolen helicopter (rather cliché).

This movie is sheer exploitation in every aspect and on every level, and the good thing about true sheer exploitation is that there's never a dull moment at any time. There are no morals, ethics, or limits set. Everything goes through the roof in this one, while still staying soft core. Tarantini certainly has the eye for what men like, as the sex/nudity starts in the opening minutes of the film. There are sleazy zoom-ins to the "naughty bits," lesbian rape, and full frontal galore. All of this is deplorably unethical, but who has time for ethics? Then there's the horribly awful disaster part, with the cheesiest plane crash of all time, as well as the worst acting. Well, that's not fair. Michael Sopkiw does a pretty decent job acting and dubbing his character (there's no perfect dub job), but that's not true for everyone else. Then the cannibal genre takes hold, bringing excellent scenes of gore and nudity sleaze (and combinations of both). It calms down after that, but still never strays from action. Once they get captured by the miners, you know whose going to make it and how, but despite being predictable, the movie is so bad anyway that it doesn't really matter. Probably the worst part of the film is the dialogue. While watching it (even after the first time), I always find myself laughing and audibly thinking "People wouldn't really say that!" Either they did a horrible job translating, or Tarantini is the worst screen write on the face of the earth. Not saying that it's completely a bad thing, as it helps with the goofy environment in the rest of the film.

Really, the only thing I can say I don't like about this movie is how the cannibal tribe appears, which is almost always a problem in the obscure additions to the cannibal genre. In the "good" cannibal movies, the tribes look dirty, gritty, dirt encrusted, and savage. In this one, it looks like the actors playing the tribe got a shave and a haircut before playing their parts. I always have at least that problem with these movies. Other than that one qualm, I'm perfectly satisfied with Massacre in Dinosaur Valley. The gore, sex, and sleaze is high, and the talent is low, which is a good combination every time. If you swear by Roger Ebert and by good, legitimate classics or even just good adventure films, you'd best stay away. The target here is younger men and their friends watching a neat nudo-film. A couple of drinks and a group is the perfect atmosphere for watching this movie. Proceed at your own risk, but I recommend it every time. Turn the volume up, your brain down, and enjoy exploitation that way it was meant to be.