A Filha da Selva

Normally when you get an Umberto Lenzi film set in the jungle; there's blood and people getting eaten, but with Daughter of the Jungle he actually tried to make a comedy film! Naturally I went into this expecting the worst, but surprisingly it's a decently entertaining film. If I had to compare it to something else along the same lines, I'd probably use Massacre in Dinosaur Valley; although this film is nowhere near as good as the later trash classic. Anyway, we focus on two American men who find themselves in the jungle. They're kidnapped by a bunch of cannibals but think they've been saved when they see an American plane. However, it turns out that the plane is full of mercenaries looking for rubies; so the Americans flee into the jungle where they find a beautiful girl who brought up by monkeys. This film is obviously very cheap and clearly Lenzi was in 'can't be bothered mode', and it's hard to believe that this film was made by the man behind the likes of Almost Human and Seven Blood-Stained Orchids. The use of stock footage is abundant too and the plot is unbelievably stupid. The film was obviously intended to be funny; although the jokes continually miss the mark and the only funny thing about it is the dubbing; which is among the worst I've ever heard. The voices are frankly ridiculous and that saps up any chance that the film may have had to gain any credibility. Still...it does at least make for amusing viewing and the film is at least not as bad as I thought it would be.

Who would have thought that just one year after making one of the most notorious gore-exploitation films ever, "Cannibal Ferox", Umberto Lenzi would return to the jungle for a lightweight slapstick comedy?!? Two annoyingly bickering but essentially good-hearted heroes, a troublemaking but smart monkey, some rather inept crooks, and a few cannibals who don't eat anybody, and actually help the heroes defeat the bad guys at the end, are the main ingredients of this one, and if they don't sound too appetizing, maybe I should also mention the presence of Sabrina Siani in a self-made jungle bikini. This woman is A VISION: I would rate both her face and her body a solid 10 out of 10. There is no gore and the violence is of the "hit over the head with a coconut" variety, but the 20-year-old Siani provides some nudity and makes you go "Wow!" with the natural beauty of her form. The role of a female Tarzan fits her quite well too - she can swing on vines and ride elephants. The film is never very funny, but if you make it until Siani appears (about 30 minutes in), you'll make it all the way to the end. (**)

I'm always on the lookout for any film that might offer a little Italian cannibal action, and with Daughter of the Jungle being directed by Umberto Lenzi of Cannibal Ferox fame I figured it might be worth a blind buy.

How wrong I was.

While the film does serve up a tribe of primitive savages in a jungle setting, graphic gut munching is most definitely off the menu; what we get instead is lots of truly awful comedy and some cheap titillation courtesy of blonde babe Sabrina Siani, who plays a female version of Tarzan called Susan.

This jungle hottie is discovered swinging through the trees by a pair of American chumps, Ringo (Rodolfo Bigotti) and Butch (Renato Miracco), who have become lost in the jungle, encountered and befriended a local tribe, and have subsequently found themselves in hot water with a ruthless gang of criminals (led by Sal Borghese) searching for rubies. With a little help from their new primitive pals, the pair of doofuses take on the bad guys.

The film's excruciatingly unfunny slapstick and constant supposedly amusing bickering between the two friends make this film a real struggle to sit though, and even the sight of Siani in (and out of) her tiny jungle costume isn't enough to compensate.

1.5/10, round up to 2 for the smoking chimp.

This film seems to be Lenzi's way of poking fun at his own cannibal gore films. Two college students decide to take a vacation to the Amazon. While in a small village getting supplies, they provoke the anger of a local scoundrel, whose ruffians beat them up. After renting a boat and sailing down the river in search of some good scenery, the two kids become lost and are forced to jump in the water to avoid a cascade. Now totally lost, they enter a small village, where the natives eye them mysteriously. It is here that they meet a bizarre jungle female, who happens to be the last survivor of a helicopter crash that occurred years ago. She soon develops a bond with the two adventurers, and many funny things happen throughout the movie. When compared to Lenzi's other jungle films, this is a distinct let-down. However, when viewed on its own merits, it proves to be a highly enjoyable and entertaining film. The Italian-language version is really the one to get, because all other versions either play up the comedy element too much, or try to present this film as another cannibal epic. This also contains a few well-used pieces of Budy Maglione's music--which shows that maybe Lenzi really DID want to spoof his previous films. Anyway, Sabrina Siani is excellent as the jungle girl, and Sal Borgese plays a great criminal. Director Lenzi proves once again that he is no novice when it comes to creating a believable, entertaining genre film. Well done!

The iconic Italian director Umberto Lenzi became a cult filmmaker in several genres as Giallo, Peplum & Sandals, Poliziotteschi and mainly Jungle Adventures as CANNIBAL FEROX, in this specific niche came out the sexploitation Incontro Nell' Ultimo Paradiso featuring the eye-candy Sabrina Sianni in sexy tiny outfits allied in a strong humor oriented.

The plot is quite simple two dumbest guys travel to Amazon jungle for a touring, soon they get stranded into a deep forest, bumping up angry natives and later both are caught by a moronic gang of rubies smuggles, at night they sneaking away and daylight they meeting a naïve jungle sexy girl, hereinafter the smart one figure out escaping from there by a jammed helicopter meanwhile the lovesick wondering with gorgeous girl team up a bunch of natives to struggles against the gang.

Shot at Dominican Republic on those everlasting palm trees quite opposite with Amazon rain forest, whoever wrote the screenplay underpinned the offering in two key elements, firstly in dizzying sexy beauty of Sianni and also in many stereotyped characters as the gang leader Dupré and their fat, stupid and even stutter sidekicks, aiming for became it a delightful and harmful Sunday matinee, let it see easily.

Thanks for reading.

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First watch: 1992 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 5.