While not the best film in the "handi-cam, first-person-POV" sub-genre of horror films, Welcome to the Jungle certainly takes it's place in the oft-hated "shaky-cam/documentary" wing of horror.
Jonathan Hensleigh, director of 2004's The Punisher, and writer of such films as Armageddon, Die Hard With A Vengeance, and The Saint, presents to us a first-hand, documentary-style account of a group of 20-somethings who venture into the jungles of New Guinea in search of the long-lost Michael Rockefeller.
The good: Great cinematography, great directing, beautiful scenery, and a compelling story. This film is very reminiscent of the Blair Witch Project, only more polished and less shaky. It takes the best elements of The Blair Witch Project and pushes them slightly further. In this writer's opinion, it draws a bit more from BWP than Cannibal Holocaust, although both of those aforementioned films' influences are very apparent.
The bad: You don't really care for the characters. Some of their actions are questionable, and while you care more for the "good" couple than you do for the drunken, drugged, "bad" couple; all four of the principal-characters come off as greedy, yuppie, crybabies.
While some reviewers will say that the film is boring in it's first half, I wouldn't go so far as to make that claim. The film does a good job of building up to it's final scenes. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the first half is kind of compelling. The way the characters interact with each other is really entertaining to watch, especially when they turn on each other and split up.
Overall, this film is really good. It's miles ahead of the usual DTV crap that you're accustomed to, especially from Dimension Extreme.
7/10
Jonathan Hensleigh, director of 2004's The Punisher, and writer of such films as Armageddon, Die Hard With A Vengeance, and The Saint, presents to us a first-hand, documentary-style account of a group of 20-somethings who venture into the jungles of New Guinea in search of the long-lost Michael Rockefeller.
The good: Great cinematography, great directing, beautiful scenery, and a compelling story. This film is very reminiscent of the Blair Witch Project, only more polished and less shaky. It takes the best elements of The Blair Witch Project and pushes them slightly further. In this writer's opinion, it draws a bit more from BWP than Cannibal Holocaust, although both of those aforementioned films' influences are very apparent.
The bad: You don't really care for the characters. Some of their actions are questionable, and while you care more for the "good" couple than you do for the drunken, drugged, "bad" couple; all four of the principal-characters come off as greedy, yuppie, crybabies.
While some reviewers will say that the film is boring in it's first half, I wouldn't go so far as to make that claim. The film does a good job of building up to it's final scenes. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the first half is kind of compelling. The way the characters interact with each other is really entertaining to watch, especially when they turn on each other and split up.
Overall, this film is really good. It's miles ahead of the usual DTV crap that you're accustomed to, especially from Dimension Extreme.
7/10