Río de la muerte, río del amor

Umberto Lenzi was a diverse director, having made Giallo films, Italian crime films and some of the most notorious cannibal flicks, not to mention a whole host of other films with various sub-genres of horror. Deep River Savages is the film that is often given credit for kicking off the whole cannibal tradition, and it's also a member of the British 'Video Nasty' list, which lead to it's banning in the eighties. It's odd that this film should be on that list; however, as it's debatable as to whether or not it's even a horror film. Sure, it features some gore; but this is more like an early version of Dances with Wolves than its more bloodthirsty cannibal film cousins. The film follows Ivan Rassimov; a man who, after accidentally killing another man in a bar, finds himself in the Amazon jungle, where he is taken captive by a bunch of savages. After enduring various tortures, he finds himself the object of affection for a dim-witted female member of the tribe, and when she chooses him as her husband; he soon realises that despite being bloodthirsty savages; these guys aren't all that bad...

Ivan Rassimov is one of my favourite cult Italian actors, and he does well in this film as his rugged appearance fits the feel of the movie very well and this makes him believable in the lead role. His performance gives the film credibility; something which is lacking in a lot of these types of films. He is joined by his Last Cannibal World and Eaten Alive co-star Me Me Lai, whose appearance again helps the movie and the pair do actually bode quite well on screen together. Umberto Lenzi's direction is assured as usual, and he does a good job of ensuring that the location fits the tone of the movie at all times. The jungle setting is well realised, and the shots the savages' village look great. The film is, like Kevin Coaster's highly rated nineties film, more than a little bit cheesy; and this isn't helped by Ivan Rassimov's voice-over. If it wasn't for the fact that I've seen 1957's 'Run of the Arrow', I would imply that Kevin Costner stole ideas from Umberto Lenzi. Of course, Dances with Wolves was about an Indian tribe; but there isn't a lot of difference. Still, I'd take Ivan Rassimov and cannibals before Kevin Costner and Indians any day! Overall, this isn't one of the 'great' Italian cannibal films...but it's not bad either.

This was the first of the 6 major Italian Cannibal flicks of the 70's, (and early 80's). And it isn't that bad at all. It has a quite good story, and the acting is suprisingly good. The love story is a little far-fetched, but the film itself is quite enjoyable, except, once again for the real animal deaths.

Not as good as either of Deodato's, but certainly better than Eaten Alive, Cannibal Apocalypse, or Trap Them and Kill Them.

Deep River Savages represents Umberto Lenzi's first steps in the notorious field of cannibalism and jungle adventure movies. This infamous director will gross out entire audiences during the early 80's, with vicious cult flicks like `Cannibal Ferox'; `Eaten Alive by the Cannibals' and `Nightmare City'. This film is more like a pioneer and Lenzi carefully explores the primitive jungle communities and their traditional rites. Deep River Savages isn't half as gross as the title and DVD-cover leads you to believe and it basically is a social portrait mixed with an authentic love-story! …Believe it or not! Actually…the best way to describe this film is: Dances with Wolves…with cannibals! The plots of both movies are pretty much alike, the only differences are the setting and the fact Kevin Costner's film is praised all over the world while nobody has ever heard of Deep River Savages. John – an Englishman – is traveling across Eastern Asia when he gets mixed up in a bar-fight. He accidentally kills a man and flees on one of the many unknown rivers. He ends up as a prisoner in primitive tribe, somewhere deep in the jungle. The aboriginals actually form a rather joyful community! They spend their days watching animal-fights (roosters and snakes versus martens) and swimming naked. Our ‘civilized' friend is tortured at first and he attempts to escape. But, pretty soon he falls in love with the local beauty (Me Me Lai – who looks even better here than she did in Deodato's Jungle Holocaust) and marries her. John feels at home there now and he even helps the tribe in fighting the sadistic enemy-tribe from the across the river.

The film contains very few action sequences and is overall pretty boring. I don't blame Lenzi for this, though. Even though I prefer his later splatter films, you have to keep in mind this movie was made in 1972! Deep River Savages also looks very cheap, amateurish and the cinematography isn't anywhere near as stunning as in other cannibal films. The whole movie depends on Me Me Lai's beautiful naked body and the short (but action-packed) climax. Nonetheless, it stays recommended to Italian horror-admirers who're interested in the roots of `Savage Cinema'.

This is often credited as "the first cannibal horror film", although it has less to do with cannibalism than with Italian shockumentaries such as "Mondo Cane". Viewing it is an often repellent but altogether fascinating experience - one that you will not soon forget. Umberto Lenzi's direction, which is a curious mix of skill and amateurishness, combined with the location shooting, give it a documentary-like feel that compensates for the thin and sloppily set-up plot. (***)

Umberto Lenzi's "Paese Del Sesso Selvaggio" (aka "Deep River Savages"/"The Man From Deep River") of 1972 is THE pioneering Italian Cannibal flick, and yet it is not necessarily a typical example for the sub-genre. While this may still be extremely violent for the average cinema fan, it is nowhere near as disturbing and outrageously gory as the Cannibal flicks from the early 80s, such as Ruggero Deodato's masterpiece "Cannibal Holocaust" (1980) or Lenzi's very own "Mangiati Vivi" (1980) and "Cannibal Ferox" (1981). The film is often compared to "Dances With The Wolves", and it is obvious why. "Deep River Savages" is built up more like a traditional adventure movie - with the difference that this one features Cannibals. Cannibalism is not the film's main focus however and the Cannibals actually play a very small role. This film mainly explores a Westerner's assimilation to a savage jungle tribe.

On a trip through the unexplored jungle between Thailand and Burma, English photographer John Bradley (Ivan Rassimov) gets captured by a primitive tribe, who hold him prisoner for a while. After some time, however, Bradley falls in love with the tribe's beauty Maraya (the ravishing Me Me Lai), who is the daughter of the tribe's chief, and becomes assimilated to the tribe... The film features a lot of sleaze, but it is not nearly as shocking or nauseating as the Cannibal films to come. This is therefore probably the most recommendable Cannibal film for the sensitive when it comes to violence (allthough these people are probably best advised to stay away from the genre in general). Like most entries to the genre the film does feature real animal-killings, so Peta-activists and pals won't be fond of it either. I happen to love meat, however, and the scenes add a lot of authenticity to the atmosphere. The great late Ivan Rassimov (he died in 2003) was one of the greats in Italian exploitation cinema, especially in Cannibal Flicks. As always, Rassimov delivers an excellent performance. Me Me Lai is stunningly beautiful, and she fits extremely well in the female lead of Maraya, arguably the most lovable character ever in a Cannibal flick. THE beauty of the sub-genre, Me Me Lai appeared in this film, as well as "Cannibal Ferox" and Deodato's "Ultimo Mondo Cannibale". Apart from the Cannibal flicks, she sadly did not have many memorable roles before she left the film business in the 80s. "Il Paese Del Sesso Selvaggio" is THE pioneering Cannibal flick, and yet it is an adventure film and even a romance more than it is a Horror film about cannibals. While "Cannibal Holocaust" is the only true masterpiece of the sub-genre, this one is also a highly interesting film that no lover of Italian Exploitation-cinema should consider missing. Most of the Cannibal flicks have their own particular qualities, but this one is quite unique. In case you just want to watch two films of the sub-genre, I would personally recommend to make it "Cannibal Holocaust" and this one.