Ultimo mondo cannibale
Encyclopedia
Ultimo mondo cannibale (1977
; Last Cannibal World, also known as Jungle Holocaust) is a cannibal exploitation film
directed by Ruggero Deodato
, which stars Massimo Foschi, Me Me Lai
and Ivan Rassimov
. The screenplay was written by Tito Carpi, Gianfranco Clerici
and Renzo Genta, and tells the story of a man trying to escape from a jungle island inhabited by a native cannibal tribe
.
The film was distributed under a confusing number of different titles and edits
, and is available uncut on DVD from the company Media Blasters
, under their "Shriek Show" label. It is the precursor to Deodato's controversial 1980 film Cannibal Holocaust
, but was originally slated to be directed by Umberto Lenzi
as a follow-up to his prototypical
1972 cannibal film Il paese del sesso selvaggio
(Man from Deep River).
A group of oil prospectors travel to the island of Mindanao
, but a rough landing damages the plane. While the plane is being repaired, prospectors Robert Harper (Massimo Foschi) and Rolf (Ivan Rassimov
) find the remains of the original prospecting team's camp, which is abandoned. Later, one of their team goes missing. They go into the jungle to investigate, and the pilot (Sheik Razak Shikur) is killed. Robert and Rolf are then separated, and Harper is kidnapped by a "stone age
" cannibal tribe.
The tribes people take Robert back to their cave, then tie him up and strip him down to his underwear. A native girl (Me Me Lai
) comes up to Robert and tears his underwear off, then two other natives fondle his genitals. The cannibals then attach Robert to a bungee-cord and repeatedly drop him from great heights. Robert is imprisoned in a small cave, and is continually humiliated and tortured by the cannibals over a long period. After realizing he is going to be eaten, Robert manages to escape with the native girl, then ties her to a cord and wanders around with her in the jungle. After she tries escaping, he rapes her.
While escaping from a rainstorm in a cave, Robert finds Rolf, whose leg is infected with gangrene
. The three of them wander through the jungle until they eventually find the landing field. As they descend towards it, the cannibal tribe finds them, then manages to kill and eat the native girl in an exceptionally graphic sequence. After Rolf is hit in the chest with a spear, Robert manages to kill one of the cannibals with a spear laced with cobra
venom, then he pulls out and eats his liver in front of the other cannibals. After frightening them off long enough to make it to the plane, the two of them finally manage to take off. According to the film, the real-life Harper returned to the U.S. and settled down in Mexico (Rolf's fate is not elaborated on).
in Italy (Cannibal Holocaust
, Cannibal Ferox
), this film contains a number of graphic and disturbing sequences which have led to the film frequently being censored or cut. In particular, scenes involving live animals
, including a snake's head being crushed by natives, and a prolonged scene of an alligator being skinned
and eviscerated
while alive, as well as scenes of animals killing other animals. Deodato claims that these scenes were added by producer
Giorgio Carlo Rossi without his permission.
In addition to the violence, the film also contains a controversial amount of full-frontal nudity, as the two lead actors – Massimo Foschi and Me Me Lai
– are naked throughout the entire middle-section of the film. The film also contains explicit close-ups of Foschi's penis
being fondled by natives.
1977 in film
The year 1977 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*In the Academy Awards, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight win Best Actor and Actress and Supporting Actress awards for Network....
; Last Cannibal World, also known as Jungle Holocaust) is a cannibal exploitation film
Cannibal film
Cannibal films are a sub genre of exploitation film made mostly by Italian filmmakers through the 1970s and 1980s. This sub genre is a collection of graphically gory movies that usually depict cannibalism by primitive, Stone-age natives deep inside the Asian or South American rain forests...
directed by Ruggero Deodato
Ruggero Deodato
Ruggero Deodato is an Italian film director and screen writer, best known for directing violent and gory horror films. Deodato is infamous for his 1980 film Cannibal Holocaust.- Biography :...
, which stars Massimo Foschi, Me Me Lai
Me Me Lai
Me Me Lai, sometimes billed as Me Me Lay, is an ex-actress born in Burma in 1952, to a Burmese mother and an English father. She moved to England in her teens, where she soon started her acting career, at first in television series like Paul Temple and Jason King...
and Ivan Rassimov
Ivan Rassimov
Ivan Rassimov was an Italian film actor of Serbian origin who appeared in many horror and exploitation films....
. The screenplay was written by Tito Carpi, Gianfranco Clerici
Gianfranco Clerici
Gianfranco Clerici is an Italian writer of numerous screenplays for Italian film and television productions.He has collaborated with several directors of exploitation cinema, including Lucio Fulci and Ruggero Deodato...
and Renzo Genta, and tells the story of a man trying to escape from a jungle island inhabited by a native cannibal tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
.
The film was distributed under a confusing number of different titles and edits
Film editing
Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
, and is available uncut on DVD from the company Media Blasters
Media Blasters
Media Blasters is an entertainment corporation founded by John Sirabella and Sam Liebowitz, based in New York City. They are in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American market manga compilations and anime and live-action movies and television series to home-video...
, under their "Shriek Show" label. It is the precursor to Deodato's controversial 1980 film Cannibal Holocaust
Cannibal Holocaust
Cannibal Holocaust is a 1980 Italian horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato from a screenplay by Gianfranco Clerici. Filmed in the Amazon Rainforest and dealing with indigenous tribes, it was cast mostly with United States actors and filmed in English to achieve wider distribution...
, but was originally slated to be directed by Umberto Lenzi
Umberto Lenzi
Umberto Lenzi , is an Italian film director who was very active in low budget crime films, peplums, spaghetti westerns, war movies, cannibal films and giallo murder mysteries ....
as a follow-up to his prototypical
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
1972 cannibal film Il paese del sesso selvaggio
Il paese del sesso selvaggio
Il paese del sesso selvaggio , better known as The Man from the Deep River in North America or Deep River Savages in Europe, is an Italian exploitation film directed by Umberto Lenzi...
(Man from Deep River).
Plot
According to an opening title card, this film is based on a true story.A group of oil prospectors travel to the island of Mindanao
Mindanao
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
, but a rough landing damages the plane. While the plane is being repaired, prospectors Robert Harper (Massimo Foschi) and Rolf (Ivan Rassimov
Ivan Rassimov
Ivan Rassimov was an Italian film actor of Serbian origin who appeared in many horror and exploitation films....
) find the remains of the original prospecting team's camp, which is abandoned. Later, one of their team goes missing. They go into the jungle to investigate, and the pilot (Sheik Razak Shikur) is killed. Robert and Rolf are then separated, and Harper is kidnapped by a "stone age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
" cannibal tribe.
The tribes people take Robert back to their cave, then tie him up and strip him down to his underwear. A native girl (Me Me Lai
Me Me Lai
Me Me Lai, sometimes billed as Me Me Lay, is an ex-actress born in Burma in 1952, to a Burmese mother and an English father. She moved to England in her teens, where she soon started her acting career, at first in television series like Paul Temple and Jason King...
) comes up to Robert and tears his underwear off, then two other natives fondle his genitals. The cannibals then attach Robert to a bungee-cord and repeatedly drop him from great heights. Robert is imprisoned in a small cave, and is continually humiliated and tortured by the cannibals over a long period. After realizing he is going to be eaten, Robert manages to escape with the native girl, then ties her to a cord and wanders around with her in the jungle. After she tries escaping, he rapes her.
While escaping from a rainstorm in a cave, Robert finds Rolf, whose leg is infected with gangrene
Gangrene
Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...
. The three of them wander through the jungle until they eventually find the landing field. As they descend towards it, the cannibal tribe finds them, then manages to kill and eat the native girl in an exceptionally graphic sequence. After Rolf is hit in the chest with a spear, Robert manages to kill one of the cannibals with a spear laced with cobra
Cobra
Cobra is a venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. However, not all snakes commonly referred to as cobras are of the same genus, or even of the same family. The name is short for cobra capo or capa Snake, which is Portuguese for "snake with hood", or "hood-snake"...
venom, then he pulls out and eats his liver in front of the other cannibals. After frightening them off long enough to make it to the plane, the two of them finally manage to take off. According to the film, the real-life Harper returned to the U.S. and settled down in Mexico (Rolf's fate is not elaborated on).
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Massimo Foschi | Robert Harper |
| Ivan Rassimov Ivan Rassimov Ivan Rassimov was an Italian film actor of Serbian origin who appeared in many horror and exploitation films.... |
Rolf |
| Me Me Lai Me Me Lai Me Me Lai, sometimes billed as Me Me Lay, is an ex-actress born in Burma in 1952, to a Burmese mother and an English father. She moved to England in her teens, where she soon started her acting career, at first in television series like Paul Temple and Jason King... |
Pulan |
| Shiek Razak Shikur | Charlie |
| Judy Rosly | Swan |
Graphic content
Though not nearly as graphic or brutal as several of the films which followed during the cannibal film boomCannibal boom
The cannibal boom is a period in the history of exploitation film, lasting roughly from 1977 to 1981, where cannibal films were at the peak of their popularity in Grindhouse theaters and cinema...
in Italy (Cannibal Holocaust
Cannibal Holocaust
Cannibal Holocaust is a 1980 Italian horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato from a screenplay by Gianfranco Clerici. Filmed in the Amazon Rainforest and dealing with indigenous tribes, it was cast mostly with United States actors and filmed in English to achieve wider distribution...
, Cannibal Ferox
Cannibal Ferox
Cannibal Ferox, also known as Make Them Die Slowly, is a 1981 Italian exploitation film written and directed by Umberto Lenzi. Upon its release, the film made claims to being "The most violent film ever made"...
), this film contains a number of graphic and disturbing sequences which have led to the film frequently being censored or cut. In particular, scenes involving live animals
Cruelty to animals
Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse or animal neglect, is the infliction of suffering or harm upon non-human animals, for purposes other than self-defense. More narrowly, it can be harm for specific gain, such as killing animals for food or for their fur, although opinions differ with...
, including a snake's head being crushed by natives, and a prolonged scene of an alligator being skinned
Skinning
Skinning, a gerund from the verb to skin, commonly refers to the act of skin removal.The process is usually done with animals, mainly as preparation of the meat beneath and/or use for the fur...
and eviscerated
Disembowelment
Disembowelment is the removal of some or all of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract , usually through a horizontal incision made across the abdominal area. Disembowelment may result from an accident, but has also been used as a method of torture and execution...
while alive, as well as scenes of animals killing other animals. Deodato claims that these scenes were added by producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
Giorgio Carlo Rossi without his permission.
In addition to the violence, the film also contains a controversial amount of full-frontal nudity, as the two lead actors – Massimo Foschi and Me Me Lai
Me Me Lai
Me Me Lai, sometimes billed as Me Me Lay, is an ex-actress born in Burma in 1952, to a Burmese mother and an English father. She moved to England in her teens, where she soon started her acting career, at first in television series like Paul Temple and Jason King...
– are naked throughout the entire middle-section of the film. The film also contains explicit close-ups of Foschi's penis
Penis
The penis is a biological feature of male animals including both vertebrates and invertebrates...
being fondled by natives.