Director: Bruno Mattei (as Vincent Dawn)
Year: 2004
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: Mondo Cannibale; Cannibal Holocaust: The Beginning; Horror Cannibal 2; Cannibal World
Genre: Jungle Cannibal
Plot:
Receiving news of the channel's viewership struggles, a team is sent into the jungle to investigate rumors of a cannibal tribe living in the area but as their quest for sensationalized footage leads them into ever more barbaric acts of savagery and cruelty against the natives they soon strike back against the group.
Review:
As far as jungle cannibal exploitation genre efforts go, this is a below-average if still watchable entry. For those simply looking for an exercise in the normal routines found in the genre, the film serves this aspect up quite well. The near-constant scenes of the groups' jungle exploits requiring them to run into cannibals devouring a fallen tribe member, barbaric practices including the carving of a fetus from a still-living victim, and various other dismemberments on display. While also featuring the expected animal cruelty which is still shocking but thankfully nowhere near as revolting or graphic as anything that's ever been shown in the genre previously before turning into the expected revolt and butchery by the locals, giving the film a lot to like by diving into genre conventions wholeheartedly.
As well, the film also manages to offer up a decidedly intriguing if somewhat underwhelming social commentary on the nature of the media perpetuating the exposure and demand for graphic images. That the group is out in the jungle unrestrained and able to engage in raping, torturing, and outright barbaric acts against the cannibal tribe simply for the sake of ratings propels the film forward with a rather intriguing concept. Since the network executives are shown arguing constantly about whether it's worth keeping them out there preparing the rest of the show knowing full well what they're doing and only one seems to be appalled at what's going on since the new-age media policies go against their traditional values. This doesn't go as far as what it could've been in terms of pointed critique but the inclusion is enough here, which is all enough to give this one a few decent moments here.
That said, there's not much else to be had with this one. The fact that, even if all the action included here is expected in the genre, that none of it is carried off with any semblance of passion or creativity keeps the scenes feeling like lifeless, bland retreads of the same material we've seen in dozens of other entries. Hardly any of this comes off with the intended impact of gross-out scenes of barbaric butchery and sadistic exploitation towards the locals all being recycled verbatim with the scenes being plagiarized completely. With the recycled camera angles, scene setups, and eventual outcomes coming straight from the other films in the genre in roughly the same exact order as well, furthering the idea of this one being a straight rip-off quite easily.
The other issue to be had here, which runs pretty plainly throughout the film, is the general cheap look and atmosphere present. The fact that the entire film looks like it was shot on a digital camcorder doesn't help matters, taking a flat, soulless approach to the material here. Appearing with a stylized, soap-opera tone to the proceedings, especially with the interactions presented throughout here as well, the whole film comes off with a camp, cheesy quality that can be really off-putting. Also, the confrontations with the cannibals that delve into hand-to-hand combat look patently fake and choreographed while the graphic gore and bloodshed have the stereotypical bright-red fakeness common for the genre which is what all holds the film down.
Overview: **.5/5
While nowhere near the worst when it comes to these jungle-cannibal films, that it looks like a cheap, cheesy shot-for-remake of other jungle-cannibal entries manages to offset the few positives it has even if they do appear in the film. Give this one a look if you’re a fan of the style or approach featured here, appreciate the creative crew involved, or are a hardcore Eurohorror fan while most others should stick to the better entries and treat this as a curiosity if not outright avoid.
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