The Savage Is Loose (1974) User Reviews

A real crowd pleaser....NOT!

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 8 June 2023]

"The Savage Is Loose" is an exceptionally well made film, hence my score of 5. The acting is very good, the direction very nice and the story is interesting. However, it's also about incest...which isn't a topic that's bound to interest most viewers! Because of this, it's not at all surprising that the movie bombed at the box office....and imagine the surprise of those who watched it and didn't know that the film would be so Oedipal!

When the story begins, a family has been shipwrecked on some island. There's enough for them to eat but the chances of rescue seem very dim...and as the story goes, this seems even more unlikely. So, the father (George C. Scott) teaches the boy about survival...and over time, the kid grows into a sort of Tarzan wannabe. But as he ages, there is a HUGE problem...the only available sexual outlet is his mother...and you can rest assured the father isn't about to just hand her over to the frisky young man!

The film is realistic and surely Oedipal impulses would be a serious problem in such a situation. But it's also nasty...and something we really don't want to see in a movie...at least not the average person! Not a film I particularly enjoyed, though it's very well made.

Savage is just horny

[spoofbyrd · 6/10 · 27 October 2023]

This was a personal project of George C Scott. The early 1970s did see a lot of these personal projects because it was before the era of Jaws and Star Wars . They were eagerly bankrolled because the Industry was still under the spell of Easy Rider. Scott was infuriated that his film got an R rating . Still even one F bomb can do that in an otherwise clean film. The Savage is Loose is basically mediocre and it's exploration of a taboo subject is competent but not profound . The directing and cinematography is good . Scott , his wife Trish Van Devere and Lee Harcourt Montgomery do their roles very well . Still the film doesn't have that intangible X factor special something that would propel it into Classic or even Cult Classic status .

Bad date movie

[Starbanker · 1/10 · 19 December 2009]

Going through the movie listings for a good flick to bring a date to I saw George C. Scott...wow! My date was a very conservative young lady from Taiwan, that took nearly a month to get permission to date. I was stunned at the subject material of this film, Incest, Masturbation, Murdering a father to have sex with his mother. The plot takes off at that awkward point in Swiss Family Robinson where Mrs. Robinson brings up the fact they have three sons on an island with no other women, then goes straight for a pervert fantasy plot line. This movie should have been rated X at that time. This was truly a "car crash" spectacle, no one could look elsewhere. We couldn't believe what we were seeing. I read somewhere that Scott was embarrassed of this film, I might add that he had better have been. This was not what I expected in my wildest nightmares. First date-Last date...period.

Ludicrous & a complete disaster

[joclmct · 1/10 · 18 March 2021]

This is one of the worst movies I've ever endured & 90% of the blame goes to the arrogance of the director & star, George C Scott. The remainder of the blame goes to the scriptwriter's unbelievably bad screen writing. As the 2 hours drag on for what seems an eternity, nothing happens except a sex showdown between the father's & the son's sex urges for wife & mother! The son could've just masturbated. The entire production is seedy, ridiculous & unbearable. Giving it 1 star is the best that can ge said for it. Avoid @ all cost unless you are a masochist who's into incest.

Obscure for good reasons

[Wizard-8 · 3/10 · 23 September 2018]

This vanity project for actor George C. Scott (who not only starred in the movie, but directed, produced, and acted as its distributor) has been pretty much forgotten today, with no signs that it will be resurrected on DVD or Blu-ray. There's a good reason for that... make that a number of reasons why. Certainly the subject matter - incest - will make it unappealing for many people, but also how it is handled. If you are looking for sleazy thrills, you'll be very disappointed; while the movie got an "R" rating, by today's standards (or even normal 1970s standards), the movie is more deserving of a soft "PG" rating. It instead tries to be a more thoughtful and serious take on the hot-topic subject matter, but it fails in this regard as well. It's incredibly slow and long (almost two hours long), with a limited amount of dialogue. As a result, the movie becomes both very boring and lacking in deep character development. Scott the director can't seem to do anything to add any spark to the limited narrative or the atmosphere, with the exception of some really amateurish camera movements here and there. If you really want to watch this obscurity, as of this date it's available on YouTube. But more likely than not you'll want to fall asleep before the end, as I almost did.

I saw this movie in 1974

[texasblondie45 · 7/10 · 6 May 2005]

when it came out. I was 20 years old (I am now 51 years old). I've never forgotten this movie in all these years. Now looking back, this was a subject matter that took a lot of guts to touch on way back then. Heck, incest would be a touchy subject matter even now! I saw it with my 2 sisters and I remember walking out of the movie 31 years ago just dumbstruck. Wow, what a story! I've never seen it in video stores and have never heard anything about it nor have I ever met anyone else that saw it back then when I did. (What did we do before the Internet?) If you ever get the chance to see it, do. I wouldn't watch it with any children under the age of 18. It's pretty graphic from what I can remember. And the ending, well, you just have to see it.

The Swiss Cheese Family Robinson.

[mark.waltz · 2/10 · 4 September 2022]

With films like this and "Bank Shot" it seems that Oscar refuser George C. Scott (having gotten another nomination the year after refusing his award for "Patton"), it's games like Scott was in a campaign to get the Academy to never consider him for a nomination again. He had some memorable flops after this (as well as one even bigger disaster than this, "Exorcist III"), but would mainly do character parts for the remainder of his film career. What was he thinking in producing, directing and starring in this bizarre film that is more boring than shocking and basically just runs out of steam once you've seen every creepy crawly or cute creature on the island him and his family are stranded on.

Real life wife Trish Van Devere is his wife here, with Lee Montgomery ("Burnt Offerings") and later John David Carson as their only child. There's not much conversation to be had after they learn how to survive on the island, but when the now grown son (Carson) begins to have sexual urges, they are directed to none other than his mother, the only woman on the island they'll never get off of.

Father and son end up in a savage game of life and death, and rather than presenting this plot device in a Greek tragic way like "Oedipus", that just stops the film cold as it really serves no purpose other than to shock, at least those who haven't tuned out. I found Peter O'Toole's alternate "Robinson Crusoe" variation, "Man Friday", much more emotionally involved than this as it dealt with a different type of sexual survival that actually made a point and had a real plotline, where here plot just simply meant grave, as in the burial of the dead, aka lifeless.

Memorable

[iton-67578 · 7/10 · 11 March 2017]

I watched this film when I was very young -- maybe 12; it was either a TV or cable movie then. Taped it, and had it for years. I sympathize with the other reviewer who said he showed it to his Taiwanese date -- my wife is Taiwanese, and somehow, I don't think she would like it either, though not due to prudishness. She's just not into savages, Tarzan-like figures, or Christianity. I did like this film when I was a kid -- and well into my 20s, but have not seen it since then (now in my later 40s). Yet, I still remember most of it vividly. Kudos to George C. Scott -- and I am very sorry for him that the film did not do better, but also I am in no way surprised. Many out-on-a-limb worthy efforts fail to win over the majority of viewers. (I recall my grandmother saying she walked out of A Clockwork Orange when she somehow went to see it in the theater in the early '70s -- and I loved that film too; still do.) I wonder how Savage would do now, if it were released on DVD in good quality. I would advise seeing it, especially to younger people with imagination, curiosity, and a capacity for deep thought. (I could not watch Scott in Day of the Dolphin, however -- not due to any acting problem, but because that film struck me as terribly heartrending -- I felt badly for the dolphins.) This one didn't trouble me a bit, except I wondered what would come next at the end.

unforgettable movie

[gerald_evans · 10/10 · 10 March 2006]

I really liked this movie when I saw it YEARS ago. Like others I have never forgot it. I have searched for "savage" (I forgot the title)for a long time. Not for children for sure. Rather erotic esp for the times. I would buy the VHS if I could find it. I was not a prude when I first saw the movie but I remember being slightly shocked by the content. I enjoyed the survival aspect of the movie. Georgia Scott would have to work hard to make a bad movie in my opinion. Looking for a copy of "The Saveage is Loose". I can not remember the mother/wife in the movie but I do remember that she was rather hot. There were several "surprise" moments in the movie including the ending that I would not want to give away. If you haven't seen it and are rather open minded, do your self a favor and find it, and if you do please tell me where you found it.

Thank God for video stores going out of business.

[Kelly G. · 10 January 2001]

Upon taking a final cursory glance at the dusty back shelves of a semi-local video store going out of business, already with an armful of moldy oldies such as "House on the Edge of the Park" and "Slime City" (at five bucks a piece), I caught sight of this long out of print study in Oedipal politics set on a jungle island where a young boy, taught to obey the rules of the wild, discovers that his only sexual partner is his sexy mother. So it's a battle of wills between he and his father to decide who, as Lou Reed said, can "bag their beloved Big Bird."

It's not anywhere near as kinky as it sounds; Mostly this takes the high dramatic road, and pulls it off reasonably well, although much of it's intentions are dampened by George C. Scott's inert direction.

On a final note, I would like to point out that I put down an original video copy of Larry Cohen's "It's Alive" to buy this one. Think I made the right choice?

Yeah I thought so.

A needlessly ugly film

[parkerr86302 · 15 March 2006]

An ugly little film with no reason to be ugly. Let's use some logic here. In circumstances such as these, if there were absolutely no other women around except his mother, it is quite likely, perhaps even understandable, that a young man would start to develop sexual feelings for her. Instead of truly examining this, the film opts instead for completely unsympathetic characters, including portraying the young man as a wild animal (the "savage" of the title) who plots to kill his father and rape his mother. Nice, eh? The filmmakers might have made their point better (assuming they were trying to make a point at all) by adding a little sympathy to everyone's plight. Maybe they could have had the young man feel some horror over his desire for his mother? Maybe mom could have agonized over whether or not she owes something to her son under these extreme conditions? Any of this would have made for a better movie. Instead, the boy is a stalking predator while mom runs around the movie shrieking about how fearful she is of him. Too bad; there was promising subject matter here, boldly ignored by George C. Scott and writers Max Ehrlich and Frank De Felitta. A real waste.

Exploring Eternal Human Behavior

[wdavis283 · 7 February 2001]

This movie provides a family the basis for discussions regarding eternal human behavior usually impossible to begin with teenagers, male and female. While not a "remake" of Oedipus, teenagers will better understand the essence of their tensions from this experience.

You are warned to view this movie first as parents without the siblings. Then, if you are prepared to begin the transition of establishing an open relationship with your teenagers at an adult, not parental, level, view it together.