Incontro nell'ultimo paradiso

Ineptly presented, but surprisingly not that bad to watch. Being the guy from ElectricLadyLand, I am of course here for just one reason, Sabrina Siani. Be warned that you have to wait for her appearance, about 30 minutes just like that other reviewer warned me beforehand. As the movie starts, it holds very little promise, it is a far, far cry from Hollywood production standards, but those two chumps aren't as bad as I thought they were gonna be. Yes, the dubbing is ludicrous, but holds a certain charm in its own way. Here I have to mention that I initially feared my copy would not feature an English soundtrack, so after the relief, I was just thankful I did have this long-sought-after item in all its splendor.

Which, of course, is Sabrina Siani. That reviewer from North Carolina who reckons she's got too much junk in the trunk is really off course. That's the way an ideal voluptuous girl is supposed to look, and praise to The Good Old Days, no fake implants, just nice boobies :)-8 unspoiled by Dr Frankensteins. My most valuable comment here, compared to your other reviewers, would be to point out that these boobies are rather inconsequential compared to the lovely, lovely rear view shots. A buttock fetishist's dream. So, you guys out there, go for it! Loved the referrals to Bo Derek, Blue Lagoon and Endless Love. Clearly, Mr Lenzi was in high spirits working with a pretty half-naked girl. What kind of person wouldn't be? By the way, here's how to show off pretty legs to full effect: let her ride on the back of an elephant's neck. Wow! Double wow!

The jungle language used in the movie does seem to be genuine, as that Ikona yell is similar to a local 'no'.

The director had as much chance to get a lift- off from this as that rusted helicopter hulk would have lifted off in real life. But if you're expecting a total letdown of a movie, you will be surprised.

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.

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!

Umberto Lenzi is perhaps most (in)famous for "Cannibal Ferox", a film that is not good maybe, but is certainly memorably brutal. This movie seems to have a similar plot with two Euro-idiots deciding to tour a Third World jungle where they encounter both a primitive tribe and vicious ruby smugglers. However, they also meet a lone teenage white girl (Sabrina Siani), who is living there for no apparent reason, and the movie becomes instead a throwback to the late 60's "female Tarzan" movies like "Luana", "Samoa", or "Tarzana". Although it was apparently filmed partly in the Dominican Republic (rather than a European zoo), this movie resembles the contemporary cheap-jack Eurocine/Jess Franco productions ("Cannibals", "Diamonds of Kilimanjaro") much more than it does the Italian cannibal epics. The "locals" seem to be a strange mixture of African and Asian, while I strongly suspect many of the "natives" are really white Europeans in grease-paint. To make matters worse, this is actually a comedy. Italian comedies are really an acquired taste (not unlike huffing paint thinner), but even by the standards of that inferior genre, this is pretty inferior.

Lenzi was fairly proficient at gialli and police thrillers (i.e. "So Sweet, So Perverse", "Almost Human"), but he demonstrates no aptitude whatsoever for screwball comedy. The male characters are all incredibly annoying, but it's hard to know whether to blame the Italian actors or the talentless idiots responsible for dubbing them into English. Then there's barely legal Euro-model Sabrina Siani, who had a great body, but absolutely no idea how to use it. It wasn't that she was a bad actress so much as that she was simply NOT an actress. She never really made any attempt to act, just letting her pert young breasts and her post-adolescent derrière do it all for her. Unlike someone like Edwige Fenech, who was a genuinely talented actress, or Gloria Guida, who was definitely serviceable, Siani doesn't manage to pull off either funny OR sexy here. Her body is the only thing she (or this entire movie) has going for it.

If you're tempted to see this, I would recommend instead Franco's "Cannibals" (also with Siani) or "Diamonds of Kilimanjaro" (with Katja Bienert). Both movies are much more unintentionally funny than this movie is intentionally, and most of the annoying cast in those gets devoured by bloodthirsty cannibals.