Last Cannibal World (1978)

Too much of everything

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Fantastic!

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

After catching Sergio Martino's stylish The Case of the Scorpion's Tails last night I decided to watch another Italian title that has been in my viewing pile for far too long. Finding his lone take on Italian Crime to be magnificent,and his late Gialli to be interesting takes,I decided it was time to at last enter Deodato's jungle.View on the film:Stating in the very interesting commentary on Shriek Show's DVD that the film was largely shot in natural light, directing auteur Ruggero Deodato takes the grit shown in 1976's Live Like A Cop,Die Like A Man to a more extreme level,with Deodato & cinematographer Marcello Masciocchi (with Lamberto Bava working as one of the assistant director)extensive use of hand-held cameras placing the viewer in the hot,sweaty heart of the jungle. Camping in the jungle with the cast,crew,and the real tribe of the land, Deodato dices the shots of animals being killed (which he claims were filmed by the producer as inserts) with gruelling psychological torture to Robert Harper, who observes his humanity from "The West" being raised in the (impressively filmed) caves of the tribe,and slammed down into a savage pulp.Adding an unexpected depth to Harper,Deodato crosses the shocks with gentle moments of silence that close in on the bond Harper makes with tribeswoman Pulan. Swinging Harper deep into the jungle, the writers give the first half an Adventure edge,which allows for excitement from the exploration of the jungle,and also a glimpse at Harper's innocence. Caving Harper in with the tribe, the writers tear all of Harper's beliefs and ideas to the bone,until he is thumping his chest in a battle with the leader of the tribe. The poster girl for the genre,Me Me Lai gives a fittingly relaxed performance as Pulan which neatly contrasts with the macho aggression from the guys, whilst Massimo Foschi gives an incredibly raw,passionate performance,as Harper gets lost to the jungle.

(I avoid giving anything away unlike some other reviews. Best to see this gem unspoiled but do heed warnings.) I was expecting a film sort of like Cannibal Holocaust, an exploitation cannibal film probably with gratuitous gore, plenty of nudity, dumb story, dumber acting, explicit animal cruelty, unconvincing natives in loincloths, chintzy budget, and uh lessee really dumb story and dumber acting and oh I uh already mentioned that. I read some reviews, which I fortunately forgot before I finally saw it a year or two after I had gotten it. Since Cannibal Holocaust is the one we hear about so much, I figured a weak distant cousin to it and well since I didn't like Cannibal Holocaust that is why I waited so long to watch this one. Anyway I have some recommendations. If seeing human bodies ripped open (which I trust are not real ones) and eaten cooked or raw is repugnant, or if seeing full male and female nudity (adults and children) at some length turns you off, or if seeing live animals bashed and sliced open (which really does seem real) angers you, then pass on this one. You won't like it. But if those sorts of things stimulate and excite you, then read on. My personal take of course but the natives are what I would call refreshingly convincing, the story neither dumb nor predicable, and the acting not bad at all, at least not what one expects from such a title and it is a real cannibal film. Enough people get ripped open and eaten so you don't forget that point. No patty cake sissy film that does not deliver. By all means, absolutely get the Shriek Show label version or whatever version that has the entire film - many versions eviscerate it and ruin it, and that is perhaps why we don't hear so much about it. And don't read other write-ups and reviews, certainly not the synopsis in Wikipedia, which will spoil it for you. You may very well find this wonderful gem worthwhile, particularly if you are hardened against gore and snuffing animals like me, but if you do not heed my warnings and watch it anyway and hate it, don't blame me. You have been warned. I give it 10 stars, Note that only about 10% have done so. I should also mention the girl native, actress Me Me Lai. Nice, really nice.

Ruggero Deodato contributed the undeniably most brilliant film to the Cannibal sub-genre with his unequaled masterpiece "Cannibal Holocaust" of 1980. While "L'Ultimo Mondo Cannibale" aka. "Jungle Holocaust" of 1977 does not reach the brilliance of Deodato's masterpiece of three years later, this is still a highly atmospheric and at times stunning film that lovers of Italian cult cinema and sleaze should not miss. The aka. Title "The Last Cannibal World" is the correct translation of the original title and yet the title "Jungle Holocaust" fits the film very well. Like hardly another film, "Jungle Holocaust" accomplishes to show the jungle itself as hostile, unmerciful and menacing, and the film creates an atmosphere that is uniquely claustrophobic for a film entirely playing in nature. It is not only the cannibals here that are blood thirsty and primitive - the most grim thing in "Jungle Holocaust" is the pitiless jungle itself. While the film is of course ultra-violent and often disturbing, it is a bit tamer compared to other genre entries such as "Cannibal Holocaust" or "Cannibal Ferox", and often resembles a traditional adventure film - with the difference that this is filled with constant enormous sleaze and nauseating gore.A group of four people have to land their plane somewhere in the middle of the Amazon jungle, one of them, a man called Robert (Massimo Foschi) is captured by a tribe of cannibals who still live like people in the stone age. His only hope to escape the savages, who eat human flesh, is a beautiful tribeswoman (Me Me Lai)...The film makes a pretty good point about how a civilized man can be driven absolutely savage by being thrown into a world ruled by savagery. Even though the nauseating gore is not quite as omnipresent as it is the case with "Cannibal Holocaust" or Umberto Lenzi's "Cannibal Ferox" and "Mangiati Vivi", "Jungle Holocaust" is certainly not for the squeamish. The acts of violence are cruel and whenever gore is shown it is extremely nauseating. Bloodlust, mutilations, and, well... Cannibalism - it is all there and all shown in explicit detail. Animal protectors should also avoid the film, which arguably features more real animal killings than any other Cannibal movie. The sleaze level is also extremely high, Me Me Lai is the sexiest savage girl ever to appear on screen and she is naked throughout the movie (sometimes she's wearing a loincloth). Massimo Foschi delivers a very good leading performance, and the cast furthermore includes Italian Exploitation cult-actor Ivan Rassimov. As far as I am considered, this film is not nearly as memorable as "Cannibal Holocaust", which stands out as the unmatched masterpiece of the Italian Cannibal sub-genre, but "L'Ultimo Mondo Cannibale" is still an immensely atmospheric with some ingenious aspects that I highly recommend to all my fellow lovers of Italian Horror and exploitation cinema!

Robert Harper is a explorer with a crew who are flying over the Malyasian jungles until their plane crash lands there. Some of the crew are mysteriously killed and his best friend is lost as well, a tribe of cannibal wild people capture Robert as they torture and humiliate him a lovely cannibal woman helps him try to escape so he can be find his friend and get out.Entertaining, bloody and well made Italian cannibal horror adventure directed by the man who gave the world the infamous "Cannibal Holocaust" known as Ruggero Deoato, this movie serves as a prequel to that movie and is supposedly based on a true story. The performances especially by the gorgeous Mei Mei Lei are good and there's some nice gore effects like a open chest cannibalism scene, the movie does have some scenes of real animal killing such as a bat being fed to a snake and a live Alligator butchering that is quite reminiscence of the Turtle killing scene in "CH". While not as brutal as "CH", this movie is a very good film of the Italian horror genre and of the most underrated.A must see but not if your squeamish! Also recommended: "Cannibal Ferox", "Men Behind The Sun", "Zombi Holocaust", "Hell of the Living Dead ( a.k.a. Night of the Zombies, Virus, Zombie Creeping Flesh), "Mountain of the Cannibal God", "Man from Deep River", "The Toxic Avenger", "Re-Animator", "The Hills Have Eyes ( 1977 and 2006)", "Caligula", "Primatives", "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky", "Ichi The Killer", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series & 2003 remake", "Massacre in Dinosaur Valley", "Hostel", "Bloodsucking Freaks", and "Cannibal Holocaust".