Don't be fooled by the misleading title. This is a serviceable jungle adventure flick which manages to be rather more entertaining and less grisly than earlier entries in this particular Italian sub-genre. Think of it as INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM meets MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD and you'll be on the right track. All of the clichés are present and correct in this enjoyable yarn which kicks off with a bus load of sweaty people bouncing down a dirt track while an amusing "tropical" song plays over the credits. From here, we are introduced to the various sleazy characters who will variously get bitten, beaten, eaten, tortured, and murdered in a variety of ways within the next hour-and-a-half.
Anyway, after being introduced to the film's "hero" as he gets amusingly beaten unconscious by two huge guys in a bar, the plane takes off and predictably crashes. One guy loses a gallon of blood from his skull, while another thinks that he's Crocodile Dundee and ventures into the wilderness with the others trailing behind. Various pitfalls await, including some snakes, quicksand, a nasty bunch of piranhas who chew off a man's leg, and of course the long-awaited cannibals. The heroines get captured and stripped (big surprise there, didn't see that one coming), and then it's up to the hero to save the day.
This guy obviously models himself on Indiana Jones and spends the film doing all manner of good-natured things. In the film's highlight he attacks the cannibal camp and blasts about a hundred of them with his shotgun before escaping. But is this the end of the film? Not likely. The surviving trio then fall foul of an illegal smuggling cooperation run by a Gunnar Hansen lookalike which is mining in the hills. "Gunnar" proceeds to have his wicked way with the women while an extra from a blaxploitation movie indulges in a little lesbianism. The hero, tied up with the pigs, cunningly contrives a means to escape (using friction burns he causes his wrists to bleed and the hungry pigs immediately chew the ropes away), frees all the native slaves, and blows everything up in sight, including the whole camp and all of the bad guys, before escaping on a helicopter with his girlfriend. The end.
There are many individual scenes in this film to enjoy. For example the showdown between the chief smuggler and the film's hero, played by a wooden-jawed Italian nobody. Watch the hero get shot in the leg and later forget about the wound as he runs through the jungle. Another highlight sees a suspiciously perverted character get his leg half chewed off by piranha before being shockingly executed by the group's leader who has no time for wounded people in his party. This same leader later becomes a pin cushion for the cannibals and their blow pipes and has his beating heart devoured by a hungry native. It has to be seen to be believed. Eagle-eyed viewers may spot ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST's Alexandra Delli Colli losing her clothes on the trip through the jungle.
Well, as you can see, it's certainly an action-packed and fast-paced film with a lot happening all the time. There's a high dosage of excessive gore and nudity (although never as shocking as in earlier entries) and as an adventure film this manages to be frequently thrilling. It may not be a brilliantly made film, and normal mainstream viewers would likely be put off by the poor editing and bad dubbing. The attempts at characterisation are frankly pathetic and a little digging below the surface will expose just how shallow this movie is... but for fans of cult Italian exploitation films, this is an enjoyable affair and well worth tracking down, and I can safely say that I enjoyed it a darn sight more than most of Lenzi's/Deodato's offerings.
Anyway, after being introduced to the film's "hero" as he gets amusingly beaten unconscious by two huge guys in a bar, the plane takes off and predictably crashes. One guy loses a gallon of blood from his skull, while another thinks that he's Crocodile Dundee and ventures into the wilderness with the others trailing behind. Various pitfalls await, including some snakes, quicksand, a nasty bunch of piranhas who chew off a man's leg, and of course the long-awaited cannibals. The heroines get captured and stripped (big surprise there, didn't see that one coming), and then it's up to the hero to save the day.
This guy obviously models himself on Indiana Jones and spends the film doing all manner of good-natured things. In the film's highlight he attacks the cannibal camp and blasts about a hundred of them with his shotgun before escaping. But is this the end of the film? Not likely. The surviving trio then fall foul of an illegal smuggling cooperation run by a Gunnar Hansen lookalike which is mining in the hills. "Gunnar" proceeds to have his wicked way with the women while an extra from a blaxploitation movie indulges in a little lesbianism. The hero, tied up with the pigs, cunningly contrives a means to escape (using friction burns he causes his wrists to bleed and the hungry pigs immediately chew the ropes away), frees all the native slaves, and blows everything up in sight, including the whole camp and all of the bad guys, before escaping on a helicopter with his girlfriend. The end.
There are many individual scenes in this film to enjoy. For example the showdown between the chief smuggler and the film's hero, played by a wooden-jawed Italian nobody. Watch the hero get shot in the leg and later forget about the wound as he runs through the jungle. Another highlight sees a suspiciously perverted character get his leg half chewed off by piranha before being shockingly executed by the group's leader who has no time for wounded people in his party. This same leader later becomes a pin cushion for the cannibals and their blow pipes and has his beating heart devoured by a hungry native. It has to be seen to be believed. Eagle-eyed viewers may spot ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST's Alexandra Delli Colli losing her clothes on the trip through the jungle.
Well, as you can see, it's certainly an action-packed and fast-paced film with a lot happening all the time. There's a high dosage of excessive gore and nudity (although never as shocking as in earlier entries) and as an adventure film this manages to be frequently thrilling. It may not be a brilliantly made film, and normal mainstream viewers would likely be put off by the poor editing and bad dubbing. The attempts at characterisation are frankly pathetic and a little digging below the surface will expose just how shallow this movie is... but for fans of cult Italian exploitation films, this is an enjoyable affair and well worth tracking down, and I can safely say that I enjoyed it a darn sight more than most of Lenzi's/Deodato's offerings.