7/10
Rises above the usual cannibal flicks...
20 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Well, as far as the standard cannibal flick ingredients goes, this one has them all:

Animal Attacks: Check

Animals being disemboweled while still twitching: Check

Randomly inserted animals killing each other: Check

Castration scene: Check

At least one fairly close-up shot of a woman's hairy crotch: Check

Sexual violence towards women: Check

Cannibalistic natives covered in dried mud: Check

Cheesy and out-of-place soundtrack: Check

So, pretty standard as cannibal movies goes, as said.

*minor spoilers* This one though, rises above genre standards due to a bit better acting and a somewhat tighter story, with a bit of a twist at the ending. It's no Cannibal Holocaust but still...

Like a few other commented, it actually plays out more like an adventure story with the cannibal movie genre's ingredients sprinkled in between. It falls short story wise in some places. Stacey Keach's character, (who is the male lead for the better part of the movie) who has the most interesting reason for returning to the mountain of the cannibal god, is killed off and hastily replaced. It is a major error and it would've made for a better movie if his character had been kept alive.

One thing I've never understood though is the random scenes of animals killing each other. Those scenes that seems to be in every other cannibal movie. In this case, an anaconda eating an unfortunate monkey. It's not incorporated into the story but just seems to be there for its gruesomeness. Is it an attempt at some sort of crude symbolism or just giving the audience a bit of blood while not having to spend anything of the limited (I guess) graphic effects budget? I don't know...

What I do know, is that if you are into Cannibal movies, this is a decent watch, both for having all the right ingredients, Ursula Andress' naked body (despite being over 40 years old when this movie was made, she is nothing short of stunning) and amazingly, a somewhat decent story and acting.

Within its own genre this is a clear 7 from me.
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