La Forêt de la terreur

During the 1930s and 40s, Johnny Weissmuller starred in a series of excellent Tarzan films for MGM. However, by the late 40s, Weissmuller's handsome good looks were giving way to middle age and MGM tired of the films. So, Weissmuller went looking for work and was hired to essentially play Tarzan in some very low-budget films. But, since they didn't own rights to Tarzan, the films were marketed as Jungle Jim films--Jim being a comic character which was much cheaper to license! Plus, Jim isn't exactly a jungle savage-- allowing the now paunchy Weissmuller to wear more clothes. While I love Weissmuller's Tarzan flicks, the Jungle Jim ones are not especially good...but at least they helped the aging actor to pay the bills.

Here in "Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land", our hero is approached by a sexy scientist to go to some legendary land where there are giants. Jim knows better and refuses--especially since it involves ivory. But then he eventually is forced to go on this expedition-- one where you'll see all sorts of stock footage and crappy 'creatures'. One of my favorite is just before he agrees to go--- when Jim struggles with a vicious hippo--a hippo that clearly is rubber AND while he's supposed to be under water, Weissmuller clearly isn't and footage of water is superimposed over the scene! Talk about crappy!! There's also a wolfman sort of guy! Why? Who knows?! And then there's the Indian elephants (in Africa) with tusks taped onto it (you can see them wiggling about). The bottom line is that if you like crappy jungle films, then you will like this one. If you think it in any way approaches the quality of the classic Tarzan films, then are you in for a rude awakening! Rather awful overall...and a bit dull.

Jungle Jim In The Forbidden Land is about Jungle Jim refusing to take anthropologist Angela Greene to a place in the jungle where living evidence of the fabled missing link is supposed to be. At the same time another woman of less character played by Jean Willes is looking to drive elephants through the jungle pass that goes through the missing link country. So a pair of agendas send Johnny Weissmuller into the forbidden land.

Weissmuller is doing the humane thing, let these people alone. And one look at them when a man and woman get out of the jungle and start wreaking havoc on all around would convince most anyone that's a practical policy. Still both women want to get that hidden valley where Mr.&Mrs. Missing Link come from. And both are checking out Weissmuller too, for the specimen he is.

Put all that together with Jungle Jim being framed for a murder he didn't commit and you have all the ingredients for this Jungle Jim feature. This one is done a bit more tongue and cheek than some of the others so it's bearable for adults.

31/100. This is the eighth entry in the Jungle Jim series, and unfortunately not the last. The were profitable at the time, mainly because the had minuscule budgets. As with most in the series, the plot is lame and stupid. This time he gets entangled with a greedy and evil ivory hunter. That's not all folks, he also has to grapple with a "giant man," in bad make up, a phony looking costume and a desperate need for a dentist. As with all in the films in the series, a lot of obvious stock footage is used, and a menagerie of animals that in reality do not co-exist anywhere in the universe. The acting is, as expected, poor, the art direction painfully obvious. The film looks as though it took perhaps a week to film.

Dr. Linda Roberts (Angela Greene), an anthropologist in Africa, is on a mission to find a tribe of giants. Failing to get permission for her trek from the district commissioner, Kingston (Lester Matthews), she asks explorer Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) for help.

However, Kingston has his own plans for the tribe and manages to capture two of its members. In the meantime, poachers searching for ivory complicate matters for Roberts -- and for Jim, who finds himself framed for murder.

The giant people here aren't too gigantic and look more like werewolves- and of course their makeup isn't good. Sort of pointless to add them in the film but I guess it adds a fantasy angle. But ivory poaching is far from that and it is a nasty trade. Jean Willes plays a bad girl wanting to take down as many elephants as possible for their ivory- she's real horrid person and, needless to say, she gets her just desserts. Which is the point of Jungle Jim films. Good vs evil, done in a simplistic, yet fun way. There's enough action, especially towards the end to keep you watching. Liked the chemistry between Weissmuller and Angela Greene and how they worked together to take on the poachers. As for Tamba, he's up to his usual monkey business.

Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land (1952)

** (out of 4)

Insane entry in the series has Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) given "truth serum", which makes him give away the location of the "giant people", a wolf man like tribe, which lives deep in the jungle. A group of mean people want to use them to locate some elephants so that they can be killed for their ivory. This eighth film in the series is only the third one that I've viewed but I'd be really scared if any of the others were as crazy and goofy as this one. I'm really not sure why they didn't call this JUNGLE JIM MEETS THE WOLF MAN because that's pretty much what it is. The "giant people" are more like missing link creatures but you can't help but look at them as werewolves in the sun. The creature make up is actually pretty good and a lot more believable than what we saw in Columbia's THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE, which was also directed by Landers. We also get several other outrageous scenes including one where Jim fights a hippo at the bottom of a river. The hippo is incredibly fake looking but this adds to some of the goofy charm. The funniest sequence is the one where Jim must fight a black panther, which features the worst stuffed animal I've ever seen. Stock footage is added in of course but this just makes the stuffed creature look even worse and seeing Weissmuller fight it was just hilarious. In the end this is a pretty bad movie but it's just so crazy that you can't help but find yourself entertained.