Last Cannibal World (1978)

Cannibal Holocaust has always been one of my favourite extreme movies to date. I recently saw Cannibal Ferox and started to develop a new found respect for this exploitative sub genre. Naturally, I couldn't wait to check out another one of these Cannibal gems and decided to watch Last Cannibal World (aka Jungle Holocaust). I gotta say, I was very happy with my choice. I knew I was gonna like this one the second I saw Ruggero Deodatos name at the beginning. We have a group of people in a helicopter flying over a rain forest. They are oil prospectors and this movie is apparently based on a true story of what happened to one of them, Robert. The plane crashes and Robert and his friend Rolf soon get lost in the rain forest where it soon becomes obvious that there are primitive natives inhabiting it, and they are cannibals too! Robert ends up getting separated and captured by the cannibals. To find out what happens to him, you'll have to give it a watch. I found myself giggling quite a few times during this movie. At the beginning after a plane crash, the Pilate (who has the best accent ever) is bleeding quite gruesomely down the side of his face. The female passenger starts to wipe his cut with a tissue and immediately gets a hostile "WHAT ARE YOU DOING????!" response. The blunt and shocked reaction had me in stitches. His facial reactions were just epic!As funny as this movie was, it was also pretty nasty and quite cruel in parts. I would say it's in the same vain as Cannibal Holocaust, it gets pretty gritty. During the scene where the natives torture Robert, I found the whole scene so creepy and unsettling. You have to imagine if you were in that situation, how scary it would be, yikes! There were quite a few "Damn!" moments in this movie, it was a lot more intense than I expected it to be. I felt really bad for Robert, his character goes through a lot, but man did he look fine running around all naked. And MAN did one of the natives look fine. She was a real stunner! But of course, this being a cannibal movie, if you really love animals… yeah don't watch this one. But, I did love it. If you're a fan of this sub genre, I highly recommend checking it out. Thankyou.

Director Ruggero Deodato's JUNGLE HOLOCAUST is part of his cannibal trilogy and a part of the rash of such to flow out of Italy in the 70's. An oil company prospector and one of his researchers lands haphazardly in the Amazon jungle near a vacated company base camp. Mossimo Foschi and Ivan Rassimov are captured by a Aborigine tribe with Stone-Age intellect and customs with a cannibalistic appetite. The early part of the movie is spent sweeping a trail through the chest-high foliage; but have no fear for there is time for maximum gore with a splash of nudity throughout the minimal plot. And oh yes, there is sex thanks to Me Me Lai. Be aware of the full-frontal male nudity. This movie was never rated by the MPAA.

Ultimo Mondo Cannibale, or maybe Jungle Holocaust, Last Cannibal World or simply Cannibal as it's also known amongst English speaking audiences, starts as Robert Harper (Massimo Foschi) the owner of an oil company & his friend Rolf (Ivan Rassimov) land on an island called Mindanao expecting to be greeted by a team of people scouting for oil. While landing the plane is damaged & loses a wheel, the runway is overgrown & the camp completely deserted. Upon exploration of the surrounding area Robert & Rolf witness native cannibals feasting on human remains & put two & two together & decide to leave Mindanao as soon as possible but while the pilot Charlie (Sheik Razak Shikur) fixed the plane it is too late to take off, during the night Charlie's woman Swan (Judy Rosly) disappears & the next day Cahrlie, Robert & Rolf search for her. Charlie is killed by a native booby trap & Robert & Rolf become hopelessly lost, somehow they have to survive the harsh brutal reality & perils of the jungle as well as the cannibal natives...This Italian production was directed by Ruggero Deodato & is perhaps my absolute favourite Italian cannibal flick. The script by Tito Carpi, Gianfranco Clerici & Renzo Genta is apparently based on a true story although I would suspect that's highly debatable, anyway I will openly & freely admit right now that I love Ultimo Mondo Cannibale (I like the Last Cannibal World re-title) complete with all it's unpleasantness. For a start I think this has as strong a story as any other cannibal film, I also think it's my favourite story from all the Italian cannibal films. The basic premise of civilised man having to survive in the brutal jungle is just great & it's brilliantly portrayed here, it's a very harsh & unforgiving film just like nature itself & I just liked the whole primitive stone-age survival story & it's a lot more interesting & entertaining than many other Italian cannibal films. However Ultimo Mondo Cannibale doesn't disappoint in the nastiness stakes either, there's as graphic scenes of cannibalism as in any film I've seen, there's plenty of controversial animal killings, there's rape, murder, gore, torture & loads of nudity to offend those with weak constitutions or sensibilities. It moves along at a great pace, there's not much dialogue as this is a film where the story is told through actions rather than talk & I think it's a highly watchable dirty nasty little exploitation flick the likes of which they don't/can't/won't make anymore, unfortunately...Director Deodato does a good job & Ultimo Mondo Cannibale is more than just a Cannibal Holocaust (1980) rehearsal, I actually prefer this film to Deodato's supposed classic. Deodato uses the harsh thick jungle to good effect, he manages to make the jungle & everything it a real threat as there is a real sense of hopelessness surrounding Robert & his situation. I love the location which was the Philippines in Malaysia & they make for a brilliant backdrop in which the gory action takes place. The native cannibals themselves actually look like a real tribe untouched by modern civilisation. There is a lot of male & female nudity in Ultimo Mondo Cannibale from both old & young. There are some top gore scenes in this, probably about as graphic a cannibal sequences ever shown including decapitations, disembowelling, flesh eating, a scene when some natives arm is eaten down to the bone by ants, mutilated bodies & limbs as well as the expected animal killings which include a snake eating a lizard, a snake eating a bat, a snake having it's head bashed in & a crocodile being killed & gutted. A lot of people complain about the real animal death's in these cannibal flicks, personally I think a lot of these people are hypocrite's & a large percentage probably eat meat for which an animal has to be killed & it's as simple & straight forward as that. I mean I just think these people are cowards & have an 'out of sight, out of mind' attitude, I bet there's more suffering in slaughterhouses throughout the world in one day than in all the Italian cannibal flicks put together.Technically the film is great, I love the way it's shot with really nice 2:35:1 widescreen cinematography that showcases the jungle locations. The acting is very strong here with Foschi standing out, Me Me Lai would go on to appear in Umberto Lenzi's cannibal flick Eaten Alive (1980) as would Ivan Rassimov who also appeared in the very first Italian cannibal flick Deep River Savages (1972).Ultimo Mondo Cannibale is my my favourite of all the Italian cannibal films, I just think the mixture of the extreme gore & violence coupled with the strong acting & engaging story beats everything else in this short lived sub genre the Italians had all to themselves. I thought it was brilliant but it certainly isn't a film for everyone, particularly not for those with a nervous disposition or who are squeamish. Economy conscious director Umberto Lenzi edited huge chunks of this into his own Eaten Alive which is probably why he casted two of it's stars as well.

As a primer for the better known Cannibal Holocaust, Jungle Holocaust is definitely not a movie for all tastes. It's rough and raw presentation of savagery would put-off many a viewer. And because director Ruggero Deodato chose to use real aboriginals as his cannibals and real jungle locations, the movie has an authentic feel to it that serves to increase the unsettling feeling Jungle Holocaust produces. I've never run into a real cannibal, but this is what I would expect them to look like. They're dirty, vicious, and wild and (other than one exception) completely believable. The situations our hero Robert Harper (Massimo Foschi) faces seem real making the horror in Jungle Holocaust very effective.Beyond the gruesome on-screen action, the acting is a real highlight of Jungle Holocaust. Foschi has the most screen time and does the most with it. His slow disintegration into madness and to the savageness of the cannibals around him is fascinating to watch unfold. It's a terrific piece of acting. Me Me Lai has the second most screen time and while she's good in her non-speaking role, she's also the one exception to the believability factor in the movie I mentioned previously. I sincerely doubt that any stone-age, cannibal tribe in the history of the Earth contained a woman that looks as good as Me Me does in Jungle Holocaust. She looks too good to be believable and stands out like a soar thumb when compared with the other tribe members.Finally, a word of warning: Those who do not want to see real animals die on-screen had best be advised to stay away. If you are easily offended by this kind of stuff, don't' watch the movie. While I personally find these scenes unconscionable and disgusting, I was able to get past them and appreciate and even enjoy the brutal nature of this fascinating film.