In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro

We've certainly seen our share of killer primate movies. From 'Monkey Shines: An Experiment in fear' to 'Link', 'Shakma' and 'In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro'. (I'm not mentioning 'Congo' and 'King Kong' here because they weren't real animals). 'In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro' is undoubtedly one of the most realistic and terrifying of all.

Based on fact, the film depicts the moment when thousands of baboons turned to humans as food substitute during a drought. Entirely filmed on location in Kenya, this adds to the realism of the movie (so sad to think 'filmed on location' will soon be a thing of the past with the ever-growing use of CGI...).

Timothy Bottoms stars as ranger Jack Ringtree, whose wife Lee (Irene Miracle) comes to visit him begging to come home. Her timing couldn't have been worse, as all hell is about to break loose. Nearby, a mining company run by Chris Tucker (John Rhys-Davies) encounters several problems while running out of contract time, but things are about to get much worse as the baboons descent on the small town.

The attack scenes are brutal, realistic and simply terrifying. The use of real baboons makes it all the more scarier and the suspense is nail-biting. This is the stuff nightmares are made of!

'In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro' is one of my all-time favourite and most memorable 80's horror films.

Would I watch it again? Absolutely!

"In The Shadow of Kilimanjaro" has a lot of good things going for it. The story, like every script that is based on true events, has some facts embellished but is convincing and flows well. The basic premise is that in Kenya in 1984, there was this "perfect storm" of events that lead to a terrifying spectacle. A severe drought killed off much of the vegetation and small animals in the country. What it didn't kill were thousands of baboons, which eventually turned into hungry mobs, devouring anything in their path, including humans.

The animal training and the shots of wildlife are really amazing, lending a lot of credibility to the story. There are literally hundreds of animals on the screen and you think to yourself that the shots of these apes all running in one direction must have been stock footage or computer effects but no. There was extensive work when the film was made to train all of these animals to perform for some key scenes in the movie that are quite impressive.

The film almost plays like a zombie film, with hordes of man-eating creatures who can't be reasoned with just waiting for the time to strike and in that aspect the film can be quite effective. Where it doesn't quite work is that the film doesn't go far enough into the horror genre, with many shots of potentially shocking attacks being abruptly cut. This might have been done for budgetary reasons, but nonetheless they leave you wanting so much more than they deliver. The ending also comes very abruptly and isn't quite as satisfying as it should be. The film is nevertheless quite good and if you're a fan of zombie films, this is one of those stories that didn't want to be a variation on the genre, but ended up being on. If you've ever wanted to see a good animal-based horror story, look no further. (On VHS, October 5, 2012)

The basic plot of IN THE SHADOW OF KILIMANJARO (1986) is that an army of crazed, homicidal babboons are killing folks left and right in the middle of nowhere. The thing the filmmakers should of realised is that babboons always look kind of bored. An example comes in one scene where a movie character has a flat tire in the desert. We cut to shots of yawning, pre-occupied looking monkeys watch him from afar. They seem to be saying "Hoo-Hummm, I dunno, should I kill him? I don't know, rather sit here and pick flies off my fur. (Yawn....) Okay. Let me go down and kill 'em." We had a good laugh with this one.

Michele returned to Hollywood for one final appearance after a short hiatus to raise her son as he was a high school student at the time of the films production.

Michele was excited to travel to Kenya for the filming but was disappointed with its final presentation.

Michele officially retired from acting within days of returning to her home in California.

Michele passed away on November 21st, 2018 at the age of 75 having never returned to her acting career.

If you've ever wondered why the Scotti Brothers music company didn't last long when they tried their hand in cinema, this movie would be a good place to start. It's hard to believe this actually got released widely enough that Siskel and Ebert took the time to review it on their show (both giving it thumbs down.) Poorly photographed, atrociously edited, and with a plot that's more of an idea than an actual story, given how little is done with anything that comes up. The gore sequences, while explicit, come off as a desperate attempt to entertain more than anything else. There is one eye-catching visual (during the flat tire sequence) that will get your attention and make you wonder how they did it. But unless you also happen to like seeing talented actors of some fame get humiliated, it's not worth the effort to see. Though afterwards you will be able to say truthfully, "I saw Timothy Bottoms' bottom!"