Jungle Holocaust

A group of oil prospectors have a rough landing in their base camp on the Malaysian island of Mindanao. Worse, no one is there to greet them. While pilot Charlie fixes the plane, the others go to explore. Resident survival expert Rolf (Ivan Rassimov) soon discovers signs that the advance party has fallen prey to cannibalistic natives. With night falling, the group cannot take off and are forced to spend a nervous night in their plane.

Against Rolf's advice the only woman in the group, Swan, leaves the safety of the plane to go relieve herself. The others hear a scream…

Come morning Charlie, Rolf and Robert (Massimo Foschi) go to investigate. Charlie triggers a trap and is impaled on a spiked ball. Rolf and Robert then discover Swan's remains – along with the cannibals. Fleeing into the jungle, they soon become lost. Then they come upon a river, which they reason must take them near to the clearing and their plane. They build a raft and start off downriver. But on encountering rapids, the raft hits a rock and overturns. Robert makes it to the bank, but there is no sign of Rolf.

Disoriented and starving, Robert eats some mushrooms which serve only to make him sick. In his weakened state, he is captured by other natives. They strip him naked and, believing he can fly, bungee him off a cliff repeatedly. Seeing that he can't, Robert is then earmarked for crocodile bait, fed scraps, pissed upon and generally subjected to abuse. Fortunately one of the native women, Pulan, (Me Me Lai – bizarrely a one time newsreader and game show hostess on television) develops a fondness for this man from the skies and helps Robert escape… into the land of the cannibals…

Jungle Holocaust (AKA The Last Cannibal World and Cannibal, amongst others) was an important film for its director, Ruggero Deodato, its success paving the way for the second entry in his cannibal trilogy, Cannibal Holocaust and thereby sealing the fate of his career for better or worse.

Where its successor is a complex, challenging and contradictory examination of the exploitative mondo documentary, Jungle Holocaust is a relatively straightforward survivalist adventure romp. Yet, while not as extreme as Cannibal Holocaust (few films are, though as regular readers will know I tend to seek them out) it still has something to offend most sensibilities even beyond the gory entrail munching.

First off, there are the inevitable scenes of animal slaughter, along with the corresponding justifications that they exemplify the day-to-day struggle for existence and survival of the fittest, and that – in any case – it's all for food. Both reasonable, it seems to me.

Then there are the casual racism and dodgy sexual politics of the piece. And here is where Jungle Holocaust is harder to excuse. Amidst the otherwise ostensibly native tribespeople, the Eurasian Me Me Lai stands out – and I'm not only talking about her breasts ;-) In an implicit evolutionary hierarchy, she's presented as more advanced than the others, closer to the assumed standard of western civilised man. If this wasn't bad enough, we then have the scene where Robert, rediscovering his inner savage most likely, determines that the best way to make Pulan do what he wants is to rape her – at which point she becomes somewhat more compliant and loving. It's as if that's "what women want"

These misgivings detract from what is otherwise a well-made, powerful and effective film. Deodato excels in conveying the nightmare of Robert's situation, drawing the viewer into sharing his plight amonst the natives, while Foschi's committed performance – I hope for his sake as many scenes were done first take as possible – convinces far beyond the usual level for films of this ilk. Rassimov is also good in support, while Lai does what she can with what is, after all, a thankless, voiceless, eye-candy part.

Shriek Show's Region 1 DVD of Jungle Holocaust is a quality product in every regard.

The film – prefaced by a brief introduction by Deodato – looks and sounds good, given its age, origins and budget, with a clean, largely damage free 2.35:1 anamorphic picture.

Deodato also contributes a full-length commentary, presented in Italian with English subtitles, emphasising the rigours of the location shoot for both cast and crew and the improvisational nature of many scenes. He also asserts that the animal slaughter footage was inserted at the behest of the film's producer and that he himself has nothing to do with it, which seems a bit odd in the light of Cannibal Holocaust. (This said, it is noticeable that the third film of his trilogy, Cut and Run consciously avoids such shock tactics.)

Foschi and Rassimov contribute separate on-camera interviews. Foschi's is longer – 20 minutes compared to eight – and more interesting. He remembers the challenges of the production and the experience of working with Deodato with obvious fondness. Rassimov – who sadly died a matter of months after contribuing his interview – has less to say.

Rounded off with an extensive poster and stills gallery and trailers for the film and other Shriek Show releases – Eaten Alive, Beyond the Darkness, Zombie Holocaust (AKA Dr Butcher MD) and Zombie: Nights of Terror – the disc has nicely animated menus and is packaged with a set of ten reproduction lobby cards from Jungle Holocaust's German release.