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Jungle Holocaust

Jungle Holocaust

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Ahhhh...The Pasta Land Chunk Blowers
Review: Anyone into Italian horror movies during the mid to late '80's should know about the "Past Land Chunk Blowers" from reading Chas Balun's "Piece 'O Mind" column in GoreZone magazine or his other publication, Deep Red. They include such juicy titles as Cannibal Holocaust, Dawn of the Mummy, Burial Ground, Buried Alive, Dr. Butcher MD, and a score of others. Jungle Holocaust (aka Ultimo Mondo Cannibale) was Ruggero Deodato's first cannibal movie, made a few years before Cannibal Holocaust. It's not quite as well known, or notorious, as Cannibal Holocaust, but it does have a pretty good story. A plane crash lands in the jungle. At nightfall the cannibals creep out of the jungle and end up killing all but two of the survivors. They build a raft in order to escape down river, but it crashes on some rocks. The two survivors get separated and the rest of the movie chronicles the capture of Robert (one of the two survivors) by the cannibals. Of course the plot is secondary to the humiliation and torture that the main character goes through at the hands of the cannibals. Near the end of the movie, Robert escapes with the help of a hot looking cannibal babe (played by Me Me Lai, who went on to become a cannibal movie veteran). The tribe eventually catches up to them, and they get some really gory revenge on the traitorous cannibal woman. Here's some other "Third World Cannibal Movies": Cannibal Ferox (aka Make Them Die Slowly, Trap Them and Kill Them (aka Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals), Man from Deep River, White Cannibal Queen, Eaten Alive (aka The Emerald Jungle).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Ahhhh...The Pasta Land Chunk Blowers
Review: Anyone into Italian horror movies during the mid to late '80's should know about the "Past Land Chunk Blowers" from reading Chas Balun's "Piece 'O Mind" column in GoreZone magazine or his other publication, Deep Red. They include such juicy titles as Cannibal Holocaust, Dawn of the Mummy, Burial Ground, Buried Alive, Dr. Butcher MD, and a score of others. Jungle Holocaust (aka Ultimo Mondo Cannibale) was Ruggero Deodato's first cannibal movie, made a few years before Cannibal Holocaust. It's not quite as well known, or notorious, as Cannibal Holocaust, but it does have a pretty good story. A plane crash lands in the jungle. At nightfall the cannibals creep out of the jungle and end up killing all but two of the survivors. They build a raft in order to escape down river, but it crashes on some rocks. The two survivors get separated and the rest of the movie chronicles the capture of Robert (one of the two survivors) by the cannibals. Of course the plot is secondary to the humiliation and torture that the main character goes through at the hands of the cannibals. Near the end of the movie, Robert escapes with the help of a hot looking cannibal babe (played by Me Me Lai, who went on to become a cannibal movie veteran). The tribe eventually catches up to them, and they get some really gory revenge on the traitorous cannibal woman. Here's some other "Third World Cannibal Movies": Cannibal Ferox (aka Make Them Die Slowly, Trap Them and Kill Them (aka Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals), Man from Deep River, White Cannibal Queen, Eaten Alive (aka The Emerald Jungle).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Too romantic for cannibal movie
Review: At first, I wish it will be like Cannibal Holocaust (the most sadistic movie I've ever seen, if you believe the story)as this came from the same director. But I was dissapointed by the romantic side of this 'cannibal lover'.

Though, I still can enjoy and see this as the director variation. But, if you'd like to see sadistic side of cannibalistic ritual, believe me, you'd better chasing Cannibal Holocaust...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Superb Package for Cannibal Lovers
Review: Finally, Deodato's first cannibal epic gets a re-release in it's uncut
format - having been out of print for years ever since it's very rare mid 80's vhs release from Video City. The new DVD from Shriek Show touts "uncut for the first time in the US!!" which is somewhat untrue since the Video City tape was also uncut. In fact, the print on the old Video City vhs release ran 91 1/2 minutes, whereas the new DVD only runs 88 minutes (but this appears to be only due to the projection speed or NTSC/PAL difference - the DVD runs slightly faster). However, the new
DVD can be called even more "uncut" since it is now in widescreen. The old VHS suffered from horrible pan-and-scan which elimated important information (including in one early scene - a quick glimpse of a cannibal's face in an airplane window - completely off-screen on the old VHS even though there's an audio shock sound accompanying it). In fact, not only is there extra substantial information to the left and right of the screen, but the DVD even adds a sliver to the top and bottom! The DVD is a great looking presentation compared to the old vhs - no question.

Shriek Show delivers the goods with this release. I've heard some differing opinions on the quality of the transfer of the film, but I must say, I am totally satisfied with the job they've done here. Although not 100% perfect, the anamorphic widescreen image is crisp, colorful and sharp - and it does not suffer from any blatant artifacting or shifting. Aside from some Very minor blotchiness in a scene near the end at the river, it looks great throughout. No complaints. Also featured on this DVD is an audio commentary by Deodato (in italian!), but if you don't speak italian you can watch the movie with the english subtitle translation of his commentary! The subtitles are mostly in the black bar underneath the lbx film so they don't really interfere with the image.

And is this commentary a hoot or what!?! Deodato keeps saying "this is a realistic movie","everything is real", "this scene is real", "isn't this scene real", "nothing is fake", "everything is real", etc. You get the idea? He also contradicts his own previous statements and claims he had nothing to do with the numerous animal torture-killing scenes and blames them all on the producer. He says the producer shot and added all of these scenes to the film afterwards to satisfy East Asian markets. But look at the alligator scene -- Deodato says the skinning part of it was shot later in Singapore with the skinners playing the cannibals - but then we cut to a long shot obviously directed by Deodato of the skinned alligator right back where the scene started. Hmmm. It's also funny to hear him say later that the producer died years ago - thus, the guy has no way to defend these statements and accusations himself. All quite amusing - gotta love Deodato!

Other extras on the DVD include short on-camera interviews with stars Massimo Fosche and Ivan Rassimov (looking old) plus a still/promo art gallery, a weird US trailer (as "Last Cannibal World") which doesn't look like a US trailer at all ... I remember the film getting a US release in my town as "The Last Survivor" - wish that trailer could have been
included. There are a few bonus trailers for upcoming Shriek Show releases such as "Beyond the Darkness" (Buried Alive), "Nights of Terror" (Burial Ground), "Zombie Holocaust" and "Eaten Alive". Plus, to top it all off, inside the keepcase are 10 miniature lobby cards!

So, if you're a cannibal junkie, this is one to devour. It's no "Cannibal Holocaust" and suffers from a somewhat simplistic script, but
there's enough grue and nudity to satisfy gorehounds and enough animal cruelty to enrage everyone else. It ain't pretty, folks, but it is one of a kind. They don't make 'em like this anymore and even though Deodato says he wants to now make "Cannibal Holocaust 2001" (too late ruggero!) - - don't hold your breath. This is a long-dead genre destined to stay that way. Bon appetit!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: awful
Review: I stopped this film half way through and put it in the bin.
There is no excuse for such animal cruelty being passed off as entertainment.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ...And we fought the cannibal tribes and Beeeeasts!!
Review: I'm putting Ruggero Deodato in the spotlight again. It's really a shame that he isn't as well known as Dario Argento, coz his movies really go for the throat. Ruggero seems a cut above his fellow countrymen. His films seem to lose alot of the cheese factor associated with the genre, and actually work as suspenseful movies with intriguing stories. I'm saying this with Jungle Holocaust and Cannibal Holocaust in mind. House On The Edge Of The Park, while entertaining, doesn't hold a candle to the two previous films. The Holocaust films are pretty hardcore. This one has a guy stranded in the jungle with a cannibal tribe. Simple, but it's never boring. He teams up with a sympathetic cannibal woman who helps him escape. You know from the start that this girl will be unique because she is A) Attractive, B)doesn't look like she belongs in National Geographic like the rest of the females, and C)has implants. Makes you wonder how a stone age cannibal tribe gets access to implants. Others have mentioned, and I agree, that Massimo Foschi should get some kind of "Performance Of A Lifetime" award or something. Talk about a real trooper, he spends most of the film naked-all dirty, yucky climate, people groping him. This guy is what you'd call a dedicated actor. You think Vin Diesel would do that? Nosiree, Bob! DO NOT let Jungle Holocaust slip past you. Watch it with your wife, kids, inlaws or date. Everyone should see it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Eat up, folks!
Review: It's long past time for me to write up yet another review for yet another Italian grindhouse cannibal flick. Geez, I keep watching stuff like this and people are going to start thinking I'm weird--or worse. I guess I'll have to risk the averted glances and whispered warnings if I wish to see as many horror films as possible. And any surveyor of horror films will eventually make his or her way to the Italian gore epics. First, he or she will meander through the filmographies of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci, two directors well known for their gory excursions into the realms of the gialli and the zombie genres. After a short digression into the derivative dreck of Bruno Mattei and the intriguing films of Luigi Cozzi--with a short jaunt into the world of Enzo Castellari and possibly a few of the gorier spaghetti westerns as part of the course--the viewer is ready to take a safari into the deeper, darker parts of the jungle, the jungle where Umberto Lenzi and Ruggero Deodato dwell. Welcome to "The Man From Deep River," "Cannibal Ferox" "Eaten Alive," "Cannibal Holocaust," and "The Last Cannibal World," aka "Jungle Holocaust." Get ready for a bumpy ride.

I had already seen Deodato's "Cannibal Holocaust" long before I popped "Jungle Holocaust" into the DVD player. The former's reputation is supreme in the field of exploitation sleaze, and rightfully so. It's a deeply sick, horrific film involving a camera crew finding much more than they bargained for during a trip into the deep jungle. In "Jungle Holocaust," a few westerners once again find themselves lost in terrain unknown to civilization. This time out, it's a couple of white guys--Rolf (Ivan Rassimov) and Robert Harper (Mossimo Foschi)--accompanied by a local pilot and some native chick. The whole purpose of going into the jungle is to meet up with some oil research team camped out by the airfield, but when the plane lands our quartet finds their camp eerily empty. Too, the aircraft suffered slight damage and won't be ready to lift off for some time. While waiting for the sun to come up the female member of the quartet goes outside and promptly disappears thanks to a group of bloodthirsty cannibals. The other three don't know this yet, of course, but we do thanks to the title of the film and the description on the back of the box. It isn't too long before Rolf discovers a crude Stone Age weapon and delivers his professional opinion: cannibals ate our female crewmember. See, I told you so.

It also isn't too long before the native pilot perishes in an extremely unpleasant way (cannibals know how to make sharp traps), leaving Rolf and Robert to wander aimlessly through the jungle alone. Then Rolf waves bye bye after a raft the two men made drifts into a nasty series of rapids. Left to his own devices, poor Robert ends up in the hands of a brutal band of cannibals (finally!). The rest of the film shows us the messy trials and tribulations Harper must experience while living with a group of uncivilized man-eaters. According to "Jungle Holocaust," this means tearing off all of Robert's clothes in order to dangle him high above a cave floor from a rope, imprisoning the poor guy in a crevasse, throwing rocks at him, showing a fellow cannibal devoured by ants, witnessing a native woman giving up her recently born child to a crocodile in the river, the slaughter of a live crocodile (not the same one), and a few dinner scenes. Robert escapes from the tribe and takes with him Pulan (Me Me Lai), one of the foxier cannibal girls. And what do you know? The two eventually meet up with Rolf, who survived the river disaster and has since been living in a cave with all sorts of nifty homemade devices. Robert and Rolf then head out to find the plane and escape from this godforsaken land.

It's impossible to compare "Jungle Holocaust" with Deodato's later "Cannibal Holocaust." The latter is a far nastier yet far more compelling film than this one. My main problem with this film centers on how the pace slows down to the speed of molasses once the cannibals catch Robert. Some of the stuff we see is interesting during this part of the movie, but most of it is boring and drawn out. I also don't really care about Robert's transformation from civilized man to ruthless savage since almost anyone would undergo the same process in a similar situation. What does help the film is the gore, and Deodato throws in enough of the sauce to keep the viewer on his or her toes. The crocodile scenes are bad enough, but those sequences only serve as appetizers to the main course. Yes Virginia, the cannibals do consume a few people during the film. The worst of these scenes involves the hapless Pulan when her fellow cannibals finally catch up to her. In a truly stomach churning sequence Umberto Lenzi would later steal in its entirety for his "Eaten Alive" film, the cannibals turn Pulan into a smorgasbord in gooey close up. It's extraordinarily difficult to watch this scene without turning a bit green around the gills, so much so that what Harper does with the cannibal chief's ticker later on pales in comparison.

Media Blasters, god bless them, gives us everything but the kitchen sink in the way of extras. A commentary with Deodato, poster stills, biographies, interviews with Foschi and Rassimov, and a batch of trailers for "Buio Omega," "Zombie Holocaust," "Nights of Terror," and "Eaten Alive" intrigue the viewer long after the film concludes. For those just beginning their voyage into the cannibal genre, I recommend starting with something light like Sergio Martino's "Slave of the Cannibal God" before plunging into Deodato's grindcore epics.





Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ATTENTION! GOOEY MOVIE ALERT!
Review: Love this flick. Sicker they are, the better I say. Deodato was truly one of the masters of this style. I don't know if I would rank this up there with Cannibal Holocaust, though. Incidentally, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST is available on dvd. (...)The name of the dvd website has been edited out. It is the last name of the character Michael Ironsides plays in SCANNERS. Enjoys

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: GREAT MOVIE
Review: Rugero deadato is a great visionary director, not many directors want to go out in the jungle let alone film real animal killings. He created enough controversy with Cannibal Holocaust to last any director a lifetime, but did he quit? hell no!! he just keeps on churning out great italian cinema for the whole world to see (if you can get your hands on it).JUngle Holocaust is a great movie and has definate moments of genuine terror that will be hard to shake from your memory. Watch at your own risk and figure out for yourself wether the cannibalism in this movie is real or just staged.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: 2.0 Stars!
Review: The killing of animals in this film for entertainment purposes was an example of poor directing. Cannibal Holocaust is better, but in that film the animal killing is even worse. If they could have left out the killing of animals, I might not be as hard on the films as I am.


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