La montagna del dio cannibale (1978)

A girl and her brother fly to New Guinea to look for a lost expedition, led by her husband, which has vanished in the great jungle.

Director:

Sergio Martino

Writers:

Cesare Frugoni (screenplay), Cesare Frugoni (story)

Stars:

Ursula Andress, Stacy Keach, Claudio Cassinelli

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ursula Andress	...	Susan Stevenson
Stacy Keach	...	Professor Edward Foster
Claudio Cassinelli	...	Manolo
Antonio Marsina	...	Arthur Weisser
Franco Fantasia	...	Father Moses
Lanfranco Spinola	...	Consul Burns
Carlo Longhi	...	Phil the pilot
Claudia Rocchi	...	Puka Body Painter #1 (as Luigina Rocchi)
Akushula Selayah	...	Sura (as Akushla Sellajaah)
T.M. Munna
M. Suki
Giovanni Masini
Franco Cuccu
Franco Coduti	...	(as Gianfranco Coduti)
Claudio Morabito

Storyline

Susan Stevenson and her brother Arthur get off a plane in Papua New Guinea, looking for her missing husband. They team up with, Dr. Edward Foster. The three head into the jungle, get in more than a few fights amongst themselves, and view lots of gratuitous animal cruelty, notable an iguana getting eviscerated.

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Plot Keywords:

cannibalism | grindhouse film | drive in classic | extreme violence | topless native women | 

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Taglines:

Their cult was death ... Their lust was for blood!

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Genres:

Adventure | Horror

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Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

13 April 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mountain of the Cannibal God

Filming Locations:

S.A.F.A. Palatino Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dania Film,Medusa Distribuzione

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min 92 min (heavily cut) 103 min (extended) 86 min (R-rated) 96 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in Sri Lanka.

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Goofs

When the snake eats the monkey, it is supposed to be natural footage of one animal eating another. There are many leaves around the shot, and one of them is very clearly added during editing to hide a device to launch the monkey into the snake's mouth. (A frame by frame analysis of this is on the unrated Blue Underground DVD.)

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Crazy Credits

The title card reads "The Mountain of of the Cannibal God".

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Alternate Versions

The U.S Anchor Bay DVD is uncut and includes 4 minutes of previously unseen rape, bestiality and masturbation scenes as added extras. It also restores the explicit castration scene to the movie.

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Connections

Referenced in Tarzan the Ape Man (1981)

User Reviews

Madman's review!

Italian horror supremo Sergio Martino managed to persuade Ursula Andress into this now notorious jungle adventure and moreover got her to display her boobies! Back in the days when animal rights activists were just a glimmer in their fathers eye, film makers were able to shock audiences by showing gratuitious scenes of animals being killed. In this case, a giant snake eating a monkey, tribesmen slicing open a large lizard, and a number of others - intense imagery but it does go to show how brutal nature can be.

Andress plays Susan Stevenson, the wife of a scientist who has become lost in the New Guinea jungle, and mounts an expedition with the help of her brother and another scientist. They soon meet up with the mysterious Manolo who helps in the search and discover that Susan's hubby has gone in search of a secret tribe living on a remote mountain called Ra Ra Me which translates as Mountain Of The Cannibal God.

Much of the group are killed on the way by members of the cannibal tribe and when they do arrive at the mountain, it is the Uranium in the rocks that Susan seeks for financial gain rather than locating her husband. However, her plans are quickly scuppered when the tribe capture her and the last remaining scientist and take them to their mountain lair. They believe that Susan is a goddess and create a living monument by smearing her naked body with fluid and putting ceremonial items on her. How sweet.

The jungle locations are rich and vibrant, and the cannibals are genuinly scarey looking characters - especially the midget one. The flick does over use shock tactics in parts such as the frenzied sex scene which includes a large boar as far as I can make out. That said, I personally enjoyed the whole 70's exploitation experience but that may be due to having something wrong with my head.

7.75 out of 10.