Original title: Ultimo mondo cannibale
In 1972, one of director Ruggero Deodato’s contemporaries, Umberto Lenzi, had made a cheap and thoroughly routine jungle adventure romp, El paese del sesso selvaggio/Deep River Savages (1972), a dull Tarzan variation enlivened by some graphic animal mutilation and half-hearted cannibalism. Later in the decade, and throughout the early 1980s, the cannibal movie was to became a staple of the Italian exploitation cinema, and though Lenzi was a leading light in the development of this particularly demented sub-genre, El paese proved less immediately influential than Deodato’s Ultimo mondo cannibale, released as Cannibal in the UK and Jungle Holocaust in the States.
A marginal improvement over the dreadful El paese, Deodato’s movie claims to be based on the true story of a doomed expedition into the steaming jungles – but then which cannibal film didn’t? Despite that, it’s not terribly convincing (some prints, notably US releases, apparently featured captions explained to perplexed viewers that what they were watching was actual cannibalism, filmed in the wild!) due mainly to poor central performances and Deodato’s strictly by-the-numbers direction. Some of the jungle scenery is beautifully photographed and is often genuinely sinister, but the tribes people are laughable more than terrifying.
The usual bug-bears of the cannibal genre – the implicit racism and explicit animal cruelty – are present and correct and it seems somewhat churlish to waste one’s time bemoaning the fact. They were both regrettable staples of the short-lived craze for jungle-bound cannibalism movies and enough has already been said to condemn the practices. Sadly, that other staple of the Italian cannibal film, the tendency to allow characters to simply wander about aimlessly until the next cannibal attack is ready, is also in evidence and that simply makes a distasteful film too tedious to endure.
Deodato’s direction only comes to live sporadically, notably in the scenes of Harper’s imprisonment and humiliation by the tribesmen, but generally he seems ill-at-ease and his marshalling of the non-cannibal scenes are listless and uninspired. Given that he was to follow up with the galvanising Cannibal Holocaust (1979), by default and by merit the best of the genre, this comes as some surprise. He certainly isn’t served well by his technicians – editor Daniele Alabiso’s cutting is obvious and clumsy, while Ubaldo Continiello’s dirge-like score is an affront to the ears. Only some atmospheric cinematography from Marcello Masciocchi impresses.
In the final analysis, Cannibal is another largely forgettable jungle romp, notable now only as a precursor to the infinitely better Cannibal Holocaust and the ludicrous but fun Cannibal Ferox (1981). It lacks the raw savagery and political will of Deodato’s later cannibal film and is so po-faced and determinedly serious that it lacks the high camp comedy factor of Lenzi’s legendary atrocity. Dull, poorly-made and largely unmemorable.
The EOFFTV Review 