Schiave bianche: violenza in Amazzonia (1985)

Director:

Mario Gariazzo

Writer:

Franco Prosperi (writer)

Release Date:

9 August 1985 (Italy)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Horror | Romance

Tagline:

Only one thing kept her alive.

Plot:

A young woman seeks vengeance and finds love when her parents are killed in the Amazon and she is taken prisoner by an indigenous tribe of headhunters.

Plot Keywords:

Tribe | Death | Prisoner | Violence | South America

Cast

Elvire Audray	...	Catherine Miles
Will Gonzales	...	Umukai
Dick Campbell
Andrea Coppola	...	Catherine's Uncle (as Andrew Louis Coppola)
Dick Marshall
Alma Vernon
Grace Williams
Sara Fleszer
Mark Cannon
James Boyle
Peter Robyns
Jessica Bridges
Stephanie Walters
Neal Berger
Deborah Savage

Also Known As:

Amazonia: The Catherine Miles Story (International: English title)
Cannibal Holocaust 2: The Catherine Miles Story (Europe: English title)
Captive Women VII: White Slave
Forest Slave (USA)
White Slave

Runtime:

90 min | UK:89 min (cut)

Country:

Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R | UK:18 (cut) | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Iceland:(Banned) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Spain:18 | West Germany:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Company:

Cinevega

Trivia:

Though throughout the movie it is said to be a true story (and even talks of locating the "real" Catherine Miles), it is actually fictional.

Quotes:

Catherine Miles: Sometimes the dead come back.

Movie Connections:

Spin off from Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

Bottom of the cannibal flick/jungle girl barrel

Since I obviously have WAY too much time on my hands I have watched, and now reviewed, all the movies in the Shriek Show "Jungle Girl" boxset. This is the one that was NOT directed by Jess Franco, but it is every bit as ridiculous as the ones that were, even though it was supposedly based on a true story that happened to the pseudononymous "Catherine Miles". In the usual prologue a young girl is captured by native cannibals after her parents are killed, supposedly by the same cannibals, (but there's a truly idiotic twist there later). But the film then deviates from the usual Franco formula by, rather than focusing on a rescue party, focusing instead on the girl's ordeal at the hands of the cannibals. It actually isn't that much of an ordeal--she ends up being treated more as a goddess than a "white slave" as the Italian title suggests. (Probably the most offensive aspect of these movies is not that they imply Third World people routinely engage in cannibalism, but that they would all fall down and worship any European bimbo with bleach-blonde hair).

There is actually little cannibalism after the first scene, but quite a bit of ritual abuse of women, not so much of "Miles" but of the poor native girls. The "Miles" character is so annoying I personally would have liked to see her cooked and eaten with extreme prejudice, but alas it is not to be. Part of the problem is the unknown actress who plays her, who makes even Franco jungle-girl regulars like Sabrina Siani, Ursula Fellehner, and Analia Ivers look like grand dames of Shakespearean theatre in comparison . She also looks to be about thirty years old (quite a contrast to Franco who usually couldn't wait until his actresses were even eighteen before throwing them half-naked into the jungle). Occasionally this movie does achieve a kind of unpleasant realism, but it's definitely not "Cannibal Holocaust", and all this really accomplishes is to distract from the cheesy fun. Besides any "realism" is completely demolished by some REALLY stupid plot twists near the end.

I might very grudgingly recommend the bargain-priced "Jungle Girl" boxset which this is a part of (along with two Franco films--"Diamonds of Kilamanjaro" and "Golden Temple Amazons"), but as a stand-alone feature this movie should definitely be avoided.