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Released by: Severin Films
Released on: November 26th, 2024.
Director: Ruggero Deodato
Cast: Ivan Rassimov, Me Me Lai, Massimo Foschi
Year: 1977
Purchase From Severin Films
Last Cannibal World – Movie Review:
The first film in Ruggero Deodato’s so-called ‘Cannibal Trilogy’ is 1977’s Last Cannibal World, also known as Jungle Holocaust and The Last Survivor, which is set in New Guinea where Robert Harper (Massimo Foschi) and his associate, Rolf (Ivan Rassimov), arrive by plane to meet up with a group of natives that live in the jungle. When they arrive, they find that they group they were to meet up with has been killed, slaughtered by cannibals!
A short time later, their guide is also killed, leaving the two foreigners alone in the massive jungle hoping to make it back to their plane. It isn't long before the two men are separated and Robert winds up getting captured by the cannibals. They take him back to the massive cave where they live and keep in him a bamboo cage where he's forced to witness their rituals and practices.
As he's tormented by the cannibals, who are curious about this new arrival, Robert is lucky enough to befriend a native woman named Pulan (Me Me Lai) whose kindness offers him a chance at escape and survival.
As much a jungle adventure movie as it is a cannibal gut muncher like Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox, both of which would follow in this film's wake, Last Cannibal World, famously called "among the most idiotic films ever made" by Roger Ebert (who, in his review, notes that he walked out twenty-five minutes into the movie!), is actually a pretty intense film. Featuring more than a few scenes of real-life, actual animal violence, the movie has a sweaty, dirty feel to it that works well in the context of the story being told.
The location photograph featured in the film is one of its strongest assets – the jungle is very nicely shot, we get some great long and medium shots that show it off and then some interesting tighter shots in certain scenes where tension is being built. Marcello Masciocchi shot the picture and he’s also credited as the cinematographer on the aforementioned Sandokan mini-series as well as a few Italian cop films like Stunt Squad, a few westerns like Boot Hill and even a mondo movie in the form of Naked England, so he was clearly suited for this type of film.
Ubaldo Continiello score is also very strong. It’s a nice selection of music, sometimes very serene and peaceful but not always appropriate. In this scene we should be tense, even scared, but the music makes you want to grab your girl and start slow- waltzing. It sounds more suited to some of the sex films he scored like 1982's Emanuelle in the Country directed by Mario Bianchi and Alberto Cavallone's 1980 picture Blow Job. He also scored Mario Gariazzo’s 1979 giallo sleaze fest Play Motel, Lamberto Bava’s 1980 thriller Macabre and 1976’s Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man, the film that Deodato made before Jungle Holocaust, which is likely why he got the gig on this production.
The film also benefits from some really solid acting. Ivan Rassimov isn’t given as much to do as Massimo Foschi but he handles his role just fine. Foschi’s character is completely put through the ringer once captured, and he goes all in on it offering up a performance best described as fearless. Supporting work from the lovely Me Me Lai is also quite good, her role almost entirely physical but not less effective for it.
Last Cannibal World – UHD/Blu-ray Review:
NOTE: As this review is based on an online screener provided by Severin Films for review purposes, the technical portion and the extras review for this release will is not complete. If/when finished product is made available, we’ll update this review accordingly.
The stream offered for review presents the movie in a 1080p high definition transfer, framed at 2.35.1, while the UHD would, obviously, be a HVEC encoded 2160p transfer “scanned in 4K from the original camera negative.” The stream looks good, showing decent detail and great colors as well as nice black levels and accurate skin tones, preserving natural film grain but showing very little in the way of actual print damage.
Audio chores on the stream are handled by an English language 2.0 Mono track with optional subtitles in English. The finished product should also include an Italian language track 2.0 Mono track. The English track sounds good. There aren’t any problems with any hiss or distortion to note, the dialogue is clean and the score has good depth to it.
Finished product will be a two-disc set with extras spread out across the set as follows:
Disc One (UHD):
-Audio Commentary With Director Ruggero Deodato
-Trailer
Disc Two (Blu-ray):
-Audio Commentary With Director Ruggero Deodato
-Jungle Fever – Interview With Assistant Director Lamberto Bava
-The Queen Of The Cannibals – Interview With Actress Me Me Lai
-Man Eat Man – Interview With Actor Massimo Foschi
-Archival Interview With Actor Ivan Rassimov
-Trailer
-TV Spot
This release is also slated to come with a booklet containing writing by Claire Donner of The Miskatonic Institute Of Horror Studies
Last Cannibal World – The Final Word:
Last Cannibal World is not only historically significant in the annals of Italian horror filmmaking, it’s also a well-made and, at times, remarkably intense film. Severin’s UHD/Blu-ray edition looks to be a solid release and stacked with extras.