Das Geheimnis des blauen Diamanten

This Mexican adventure is a real treat for fans of cult movies.It has plenty of gore and violence including decapitations,throat cuttings etc.The scene where one guy has his eyes gouged out by some bloodthirsty crabs is the goriest bit and it reminds me the spiders sequence from Lucio Fulci's masterful "The Beyond"(1981).The cast is decent-a horror veteran Donald Pleasance("Halloween","Paganini Horror")shines as a Nazi adventurer.So if you are a fan of gory adventure movies like "Mountain of the Cannibal God" or "Cut and Run" give this one a look."The Treasure of the Amazon" is not easy to find though!

Disjointed jungle adventure follows three disparate groups of characters as they search for diamonds in the Amazon and encounter savage natives. Generally boring, but briefly enlivened by some awesomely gory scenes (crabs!), and a half-nude amazon fleshed-out (no pun intended) by Sonia Infante. Location shooting also helps, although some of the cast members look like they would be more comfortable in a nursing home. ** out of 4.

This is the best Indiana Jones knockoff I have ever seen. What it lacks in originality it makes up for in stupidity. Catchy and original names for characters like Gringo and Paco. Cheesy and lame effects make for fun. The props are about as pathetic as you can get. It stars a real hard ass (Gringo) who doesn't take crap from anyone or anything. I was also pleased by the work of Donald Pleasance. Donald plays really crappy villains well, if you can check him out in the movie Puma Man, he plays the ultimate in villainy, Kobras. Anyway, some of my favorite scenes are the ones with graphic violence that is so cheesy, Kraft invested in its use on Macaroni. For example, when Gringo cuts off an indian's finger, the severed finger looks like a carrot with ketchup on it. Good laughs if you watch while drinking lots of beer.

A pretty decent adventure film from 1985 offers us several small groups of characters, each going into the wilds of the Amazon seeking different kinds of treasure. The movie is downright imaginative in the unpredictable kinds of trouble they encounter seeking out gold, diamonds or oil.

The good thing about the movie is how it depends on characterization although the visuals are great too. It's much better than most of the clueless action movies of 2007. For one thing the camera holds steady instead of shaking all over creation trying to fake suspense. Most of the 2007 era cheap tricks --- such as the vim vim vim vim sound tracks weren't invented yet.

Expect a disparate bunch of characters, mostly bad, a couple of girls with legs, and more fearful jungle creatures than you ever guessed existed.

After the movie, buzz down to Manaus, Brazil and spend a few days seeing things first hand.

The treasure part of this movie is stupid, because diamonds don't emerge naturally from ground level. There is some gold finding, too - that separate escapade is done by a Nazi and a topless native woman (who is actually Latino instead of Amazonian). But I have to admit that that woman looked good. The Nazi (Pleasance) is okay, and I found myself on his side while searching for treasure in order to build a better world - (what the hell) - Though opponents to that have their way. There is a need to mention that there is a goof who is searching for oil; and he is, by far, one of the worst actors in history. The goof's girlfriend isn't too bad looking though; but miss goody two-shoes eventually shows her devious side. The main characters are the diamond getters: performed by Whitman and his two nagging companions, who travel through the jungle yelling and pointing guns at each other. Fortunately they are given the greater majority of film time, making the story passable: with the scenery and Whitman making the highlights.