Man from Deep River (1973)

Indiana Jones on acid.

I must admit, I am a huge fan of the cannibal sub-genre, and the cannibal flick's from the 70's and 80's are some of my some of my favorite movie's of all time. It is no doubt the cannibal genre itself pushed the envelope further than any other genre as far as gore and shocking content is concerned, and for that, they will alway's hold the title of the most horrific movie's ever made in my opinion, and Man From Deep River is no exception.

Man From Deep River is shot on location in the real jungle, with real native's, real ritual's, and is based on a true story, which add's a lot of authenticty to the movie and give's it the feel of a documentary. I would think of it as a depressing, disturbing version of Indiana Jones on acid. I was really expecting to hate Man From Deep River after reading review's of people saying this is not gory, not shocking, it's boring ect. I think a lot of people forget that this was made in the early 70's when large amount of on-screen gore had not caught on yet. For the time this was made (72), it has a lot more gore and offensive content than any other film's made around this time period. Most horror film's made in the early 70's had gore, but the penetration was not on screen, in this film the gore is not only on screen but there is a decent amount of it, including real life animal death's. Which I do not necassarily agree with, but I don't think anyone who eat's meat has the right to complain about, murder is murder, regardless what the reason for it is.

Man From Deep River is a beatifully shot movie with great scenery, good acting, good plot, and has an authenticity that too many film's lack. If you are a fan of any other cannibal film's from Lenzi or Deodato, and want to see how the genre got it's start, I highly recommend picking this one up. December 13, 2007

The one that started it all in the cannibal genre!

British photographer John Bradley (Ivan Rassimov) is in Thailand doing business in the jungles, until he is captured by a wild tribe as he is tormented and being used as a slave. However a beautiful tribal girl (Mai Mai Lei) falls in love with the man and her mother who knows English helps him escape but there is danger for the tribe as a vicious cannibal tribe sets war on the good tribe, as only John must protect them from the flesh-eaters.

Violent and very good Italian horror action drama that set the course for the Italian cannibal genre thanks to infamous Italian director Umberto Lenzi who would later give us the notorious "Cannibal Ferox". This movie is basically a cannibal version of "Dances with Wolves" but it was before that movie ever occured, the acting is alright but the music score is quite good and has a good deal of gory violence especially some shocking scenes of actual animal mutilation such as a monkey getting the top of it's skull sliced off with a sword to have it's brain eaten, an alligator gutting while it's alive and a goat being stabbed in the throat. While not as excellent or extreme as "Cannibal Holocaust" which is still the king of all cannibal movies, this is a very good introduction to the cannibal genre from Italy.

This DVD has a very good widescreen transfer with good picture and sound with some good extras like photo gallery, Theatrical Trailer, Interview with Umberto Lenzi and other Shreik Show Trailers.

Also recommended: "Cannibal Ferox", "Jungle Holocaust (a.k.a. Last Cannibal World)", "Mountain of the Cannibal God", "I Drink Your Blood", "Cannibal Holocaust", "Massacre in Dinosaur Valley", "Battle Royale", "Ichi The Killer", "Faces of Death", "Bloodsucking Freaks", "Hostel 1 & 2", "The Hills Have Eyes (1977 and 2006)", "Emmanuele and The Last Cannibals", "Eaten Alive", "Cannibal Apocalypse", "Dances with Wolves", "Cannibal The Musical" "and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Series plus 2003 remake and The Beginning". December 8, 2007

Cult classic for sure

Wow I can't believe this movie got two reviews. It's an incredible beautifully shot and directed film by Umberto Lenzi.
The other reviews I don't understand at all what the heck they were expecting maybe "Cannibal Holocuast". An excellent movie about a man whose life changes and how he adapts himself to a dramatic situation. This is the type of movie that shows how man will do anything to survive once he lives in a world that doesn't take order from the outside world.

Very well, Isaac Rassimov does a great job of acting and narrating the tale. Basically a photo journalist of sorts from London who gets captured by a tribe. The tribe does many bad things to him and he observes how they brand out justice to any strangers tresspassing on their land. Eventually one of the girls
(saving his life in the process) takes a liking to him and they become lovers. The musical score for this movie is amazing. Again , it's beautiful shot and some of the scenes showing the wildlife and locales will take your breath away guaranteed. Umberto Lenzi is best known for making average horror movies including a horrible called "NightMare City" but this is by his best and most remembered movie to date. The DVD features are thin but this is a great movie. Highly recommended. July 15, 2006

LOL! WHERE THE HELL IS RICHARD HARRIS?

IS IT JUST ME, OR DOES THIS MOVIE BARE A STRIKING RESEMBLENCE TO "A MAN CALLED HORSE"? IT STARTS OUT LIKE THE SOFT CORE "EMMANUEL" FILMS OF THE 1970'S AND QUICKLY DECENDS INTO A B-RATE EXPLOITATION FLICK. THE PLOT TAKES A BACKSEAT TO NUDITY, GORY VIOLENCE, AND A SESPENSION OF REALITY. THE MAIN CHARACTER WALKS OUT ON A BEAUTIFUL BLONDE GIRLFRIEND AS IF SHE WERE A 2 DOLLAR HOOKER, KILLS A GUY IN A BAR FIGHT, GOES OFF ON SOME UNDERWATER PHOTO EXPEDITION, AND GETS FISHED OUT OF A RIVER BY A GROUP OF JUNGLE NATIVES WHO HAVE NEVER SEEN A WHITE MAN BEFORE. HE IS PUT TO WORK DRIVING WOODEN POSTS INTO THE RIVER BANK WHILE SURROUNDED BY BEAUTIFUL NATIVE GIRLS WHO JUST HAPPEN TO BE COMPLETELY NAKED!(WOWZERS!) ONE OF THE GIRLS TAKES A LIKING TO HIM AND HE MUST ENDURE COMBAT AND TORTURE TO PROVE HIS BRAVERY AND VALUE AS A MEMBER OF THEIR TRIBE. (LIKE I SAID, DOESN'T THIS PLOT SOUND FAMILIAR?)
FROM A PURLY EXPLOITATIONAL POINT OF VIEW, "MAN FROM DEEP RIVER" IS A SURE CLASSIC. IT HAS EVERYTHING THE 13 YEAR OLD BOY INSIDE ALL OF US CRAVES: EXOTIC GIRLS, TRIBAL MEN WHO DONT CARE IF YOU FOOL AROUND WITH THEIR SISTERS, BAR FIGHTS, PRIMATIVE WARFARE, AND CANNIBALISM. NOT TOO BAD, AS LONG AS YOU DONT TAKE THE STORYLINE SERIOUSLY. December 18, 2005

Man from Sleep River

"The Man from the Deep River" as the credits show, is not what I expected. The box indicates that it is in the vein of all the other Italian cannibal movies. This is not the case as the film is more of a action adventure with little gore or horrific images. Basically, the plot is that a photographer gets stranded in the jungle and is captured by a native tribe. He eventually gains their acceptance and falls in love. He must ultimately decide if he should stay with the tribe or return to civilization. The director is widely known for his gross out movies but this is not really one of them. There are a few scenes of real animal killings and one sequence of cannibalism but other than that, there is nothing going on. Not much to recommend with this film, some good cinematography of the jungle locales, the one cannibalism scene, and that is about all. The DVD sports an interview with director Lenzi that is pretty good. He talks about how his one cannibalism scene was the first in the history of Italian cinema and a few other anecdotes about the movie. Not worth buying (like I did) but perhaps a rental. April 6, 2005

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