Now I know that there was a whole sub-genre of Italian cannibal films made
in the late 70s & early 80s, and they all included gore, rape, murder, and
savages, and most dispicable of all - animal killings, but this is the first
of those I have seen, and I was appalled.  Not in a good way either.  There
are animals tortured and killed for no apparent reason in this film.  And
it's not fake.  They are real.  I could not believe it while watching this.
It would be one thing if they had caught footage of animals in their natural
environment and filmed it - like a lion catching a zebra, for example.  But
here, the people are killing, and it's purely for shock value.  The worst
scene involves a monkey being eaten by a python.  If you watch closely,
there is an obvious tree branch that unnaturally comes into the scene and
deposits the monkey within striking distance of the snake.  That branch is
obviously covering up something - probably the arm of a man, forcing this
monkey to die.  And not a quick, painless death, mind you, but a slow,
horrifying death as the snake suffocates the suffering primate.  Of course
the camera stays, focusing on the pain in the monkey's eyes as the breath is
slowly squeezed out of him.  There are other scenes, too, with birds,
spiders, lizards and snakes.  I won't get into any more detail.  But that
alone makes me biased against this movie (and probably all others in the
sub-genre).

Ok, sorry about all that.  I know this is a movie review and not a PETA
convention, but I felt the need to address that issue and my feelings on it.
On to the movie itself.

A woman (Andress) and her brother travel to New Guinea to try to find her
lost husband.  They enlist the help of a doctor (Keach) who knows the area
(and her husband), and they're off to a remote island, supposedly cursed by
the locals.  We learn later that the island is inhabited by cannibals.  So,
the trio plus a bunch of guides head off into the wilderness, where we're
treated to some of the aforementioned animal brutality.  And they travel
further into the wilderness.  And they come to a peaceful village where a
priest is trying to convert locals.  The cannibals are on to them (you see,
the doctor tried, like the woman's husband, to reach the mountain top of
this island, and he was captured by the cannibal tribe.  He barely escaped
with his life, and now the cannibals are still after him), and mistakenly
kill one of the villages young hotties.  So, the group travels on, picking
up some random bearded dude, who Andress had kissed (Hey, wait a second -
wasn't she on this trip to find her husband?!?).  They battle rapids and
climb a waterfall (not sure why they couldn't climb through the treed area
rather than smooth wet slippery rocks, but hey, suit yourself!), and finally
reach the top of the mountain!  And that's when the cannibals attack!  Will
they survive?  Who really cares?

The movie is slow and boring.  The acting wasn't horrible, but with the
script and plot the way they were, it really doesn't matter.  I think the
film was an excuse just to show Andress undress  (Yes there are a couple
scenes where you'll see this Bond girl's goods).  That's about the only
reason to watch this sleaze.
 
 
 
 

Quality: 2.0  Visuals: 4.0  Intensity: 3.0  Gore: 4.0 
OVERALL RATING: 3.3