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Reviews
Primitif (1978)
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!
La bestia in calore (1977)
Sleazy, campy, titillating fun.
SS hell camp, or the beast in heat rode the crest of the wave of the late 70's early 80's video nasties phenomenon in Britain- well, in style anyway, since it has always been curiously scarce. An SS atrocities film with an Ilsa style villainess named Krast, who performs human experiments to advance the nazi cause. She creates a brutal beast-man and injects it with a libido enhancing serum, and throws captured virgins into its cage. Why? who knows. The local resistance get p****d, and attempt to invade the experiment compound. Krast in turn gets p****d with the resistance and tries to extract information about the resistance by torturing the locals. The film cuts between scenes of the resistance struggle and the sleazy goings on within Krast-ville, the former being mostly comprised of war footage (Cheap!) and the latter showing assorted torture techniques (Gory but camp). As a film SS hell camp is pretty shabbily made, and including war scenes seems more of a digression than a plot element, but there again, a film like SS hell camp neither has nor needs a real plot, since it simply serves to titilate.
Historians will hate it, Genre fans will enjoy it.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
A masterwork of horror cinema.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre wins my personal award for the best horror movie ever made. Filmed on a minute budget, Director Tobe Hopper relies on psychodramatic sound and imagery, captured with raw, documentary-like urgency. Very loosely based on Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein, the story sees five teenagers visiting Texas in order to check on a family grave after news reports of graves being desecrated. Unsuspectingly, they infringe the territory of a family of twisted cannibals, and once separated, they meet grisly deaths one by one at the hands of Leatherface, excellently acted by Gunnar Hansen. Often imitated, never equalled. As a point of note, however: There were three sequels, and if you haven't seen them, do yourself a favour; Don't bother, unless you have a high capacity for disappointment.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Enter Stanley Kubrick's world, and never return!
Only Stanley Kubrick could translate the brilliant and highly relevant "A clockwork orange" to film, and of all his films, I will remember him most from this. Violent, controversial and problematic, "A clockwork orange" concerns the issue of moral choice. The film centers around Alex, the narrator and main character, who lives as a full time thug in a bleak future world, spoiled by political corruption and decadence. He and his "droogs" (he and his companions speak in a form of slang) while away each evening thrill-seeking, raping, stealing and assaulting, until... Well, unfortunately for the benefit of those who have not seen "A clockwork orange", I can't reveal any more... Well, Malcolm McDowell is Excellent, Walter Carlos' music direction is excellent, and Stanley Kubrick... Well, let's just say: Why are people cloning sheep? Clone Stanley Kubrick! Cinema needs him now more than ever! Rest in peace, brother.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
Dramatic and ambitious
Cannibal holocaust is easily the most messed up "legit" film that I've seen. But tenderness aside, is it worth hunting down, (ha!) and paying huge prices to watch, and endure? Well, yes, I think so.
The tale begins with an anthropologist venturing into the amazonian "green inferno", infamous tribal cannibal territory, where they quickly capture a live savage, who they use to lead them safely deep into the jungle, in the hope of recovering film reels shot by a previous expedition. The savage leads them to the land of the "tree people" and the team find and recover the reels, in exchange for a tape recorder. Cut to civilization, where the reels are examined, and restored, with the intention of broadcasting them nationwide, but the network executives haven't actually seen them yet...
So what's the fuss about? Well the scenes that stand out are the animal killing scenes particularly, including the painful killing of a muskrat, the decapitation and gruesome disembowelling of a giant turtle, (bear in mind this is done by the actors) The punishments for adultery, the gang rape of tribeswomen, and general murder and mutilative cannibalism of tribesmen and explorers alike, one of which looks very real, a little too real...
Through all this visceral gore and gruesomeness, there is a basic point: We may live in cities, surrounded by techie advances, but ultimately, we are the real savages, and have no real right to encroach on so called "primitives".
What I can't believe is that this film has been released almost worldwide at one time or another, which is odd, since Rugerro Deodato has made a very dubious film here. Nevertheless, it is worth a viewing, although don't expect to like it, as it is utterly tasteless.
Double Dragon (1994)
Absolute piffle.
Rarely do I comment on poor films, but I feel that as a movie lover, it is not unreasonable to feel outraged when you wait for three years for a movie based on a gaming classic and your patience is met with "Double Dragon", a pathetically acted, woefully directed, sopoforic waste of time and money. Avoid.