Perdidos no Vale dos Dinossauros

Some of my fellow fans of Italian Horror/Exploitation cinema and the Cannibal-subgenre in particular seem to regard "Nudo e Selvaggio" aka. "Massacre in Dinosaur Valley" (1985) as a particular highlight. While Michele Massimo Trantini's film is definitely fun to watch, I am personally not too enthusiastic about it. What makes this film fun is both its incredible schlock-factor, and the fact that it combines elements from various sub-genres. While the film is obviously a Cannibal flick (and also marketed as such) it isn't anywhere near as disturbing as (nor otherwise comparable to) the genre classics by Umberto Lenzi and Ruggero Deodato. This film is more like a gory adventure/action film that includes Cannibals and even employs comedy elements.

The film actually begins like a silly 80s slapstick comedy, with goofy jokes, staged fistfights, stereotypical characters, and some female eye-candy. A bunch of drifters stranded in a Brazilian village all require a flight to a certain savage and 'forbidden' area in the Amazon jungle, the 'Dinosaur Valley' which is still inhabited by Cannibals. Needless to say that the slapstick comedy is soon over and the film turns into bloody survival exploitation. Still, the film is tame compared to almost all other Italian Cannibal flicks from the 80s.

The characters are eccentric and their actions often incredibly stupid, but the film is entertaining from start to finish (though never creepy or suspenseful let alone shocking). The highlight in the cast is obviously the ravishing Suzanne Carvalho, who plays Eva, the sexy daughter of a famous scientist. Michael Sopkiw (who might also be known to fans of Italian genre-cinema for playing the lead in Sergio Martino's "2019 - After the Fall of New York") is well-cast in the lead as a shotgun-wielding anthropologist. The rest of the characters include two luscious nude-models, a sleazy photographer and a married couple with slight marital problems - he is an insane 'Nam vet, she is an alcoholic pain in the ass who does not even stop annoying her husband and mocking his impotence once they are surrounded by hungry cannibals.

The film is fun enough to watch, but in my opinion, it is only recommendable to my fellow enthusiastic fans of Cannibal flicks and/or schlock Horror. Those who haven't seen any Cannibal films so far are well-advised to watch Ruggero Deodato's masterpiece "Cannibal Holocaust" (1980) followed either by Deodato's own "Ultimo Mondo Cannibale" ("Last Cannibal World" 1977) or Umberto Lenzi's "Il Paese Del Sesso Selvaggio" ("Deep River Savages", 1972), "Mangiati Vivi" ("Eaten Alive By The Cannibals", 1980) and "Cannibal Ferrox" (1981). When you've seen all the Deodato and Lenzi flicks, you can throw in this one, though there are still a few other Cannibal flicks that I'd probably recommend over "Dinosaur Valley". Unlike most other Cannibal flicks, this one doesn't involve any animal-killings, so some people might actually prefer it (though it probably isn't their genre in general). Overall, "Massacre in Dinosaur Valley" is highly entertaining, though nothing essential in my opinion.

My review was written in January 1987 after watching the film on Lightning video cassette.

"Massacre in Dinosaur Valley" is a poor Italian exploitation film, made worse by an intentionally misleading title: there are no dinosaurs or fantasy elements in this potboiler. Pic was lensed in Brazil in 1985 with "Stranded in the Valley of Dinosaurs" as its working title.

Format is in the corny vein of "Five Came Back": a bunch of folks are caught in the jungle and swamp when their light plane crashes en route to Manaos. Among the passengers are an archaeologist (Michael Sopkiw), a scientist who's killed in the crash, his pretty daughter (Susane Carvall, usually credited as Suzanne Carvalho) plus several other beauties. They're attacked by indians, fall prey to leeches and quicksand, plus the other tired gimmicks of the genre.

Sopkiw finally frees two girls from the clutches of the indians and an hour into the film finds fossilized dinosaur footprints. Just when the film might be getting interesting, the three survivors are captured by a creep using slave labor for his mining operations. The rest of the picture is devoted to the boring subplot of Sopkiw engineering another escape with Carvalho.

This sexploitationer mixes pratfall comedy, disrobing women and the usual gore carelessly.

The story of "Massacre in Dinosaur Valley" (a.k.a. "Nudo e Selvaggio") is clichéd to the very last speck of celluloid. We have the not-so-invincible hero, the tropical version of Professor Challenger and his gorgeous daughter, the neurotic 'Nam vet and, to add gratuitous T&A, a photographer and two models. They go dig dinosaur bones on a forbidden area of Amazonas, but the plane crashes (it's one of them Star Trek-like crashes), leaving 'em stranded in the heart of the jungle. On the way to get back to civilization, they stumble on hungry alligators, piranhas, quicksand and a tribe of meat-eating Indians. But the real threat is an illegal mine where the sadistic China abuses his slave laborers. Everything's derivative, but at least it's well directed and full of gore and nudity. Sharp ears will recognize the score. It's the same one composed by Andrew Barrymore for Lamberto Bava's "Blastfighter" (also starring Sopkiw, also co-written by Dardano Sacchetti, who's not credited in "Massacre").

The copy that I borrowed from a friend is titled "Amazonas". I have been a friend of all the Italian gore films, so that is why I checked it out. It has adventure, sex, and gore. It sort of reminded me of Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals in that it goes a little farther in the sex scenes then your average adventure movie. The copy I have is the uncut unrated version. So if there is a rated R version, I can imagine it just wouldn't have the same edge that the unrated version has.

An anthropologist, Vietnam vet, his bitchy lush wife, scientist, his daughter, and two fashion models(??!?) on their way to dig up some fossils on Dinosuar island (there's no dinosaurs in the movie, don't worry, it's just a name) crash land in the midst of a jungle and must contend with various obstacles to their survival including cannibals, wild animals, and various other things. This movie is so goofily cheesy that I couldn't help but to enjoy it. Lots of gore as well as T&A (and some bush too) make this film go down so much easier. Add to that many quotable lines and you have a good bad movie.

My Grade: C+