The late great Joe D'Amato (or should that be Aristide Massaccesi) really knew how to entertain the genre movie fan with his bizarre cross breed of titillating soft core porn and ultra gory violence. And with 'Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals' he certainly doesn't disappoint.
The film opens with fan favourite Laura Gemser in her infamous Black Emanuelle role as an investigative reporter working undercover at a psychiatric hospital. One of the demented young female patients bites a chunk out of a nurses breast and Emanuelle sneaks into the (now strait jacketed) patients room to fiddle with her crotch and take some snaps!? Above the girls pubic region is a strange tattoo that is soon discovered to be the markings of a long extinct cannibal tribe! Her editor sends her over to meet a cannibal expert professor who takes Emanuelle home to his place to watch his home movie of some poor guy's penis being slowly sliced off before he promptly jumps into bed with her!? Both then head off into the Amazon to see if they can uncover the mystery of the believed extinct cannibal tribe and in true exploitation style you know they're guaranteed to do just that (with much bloody mayhem along the way!)
'Emanuelle and the Lost Cannibals' is a cracker of a movie and delivers big fun entertainment in spades! This one's got everything a fan of grade z exploitation cinema could ever want! As soon as the film opens (with the nurse nipple assault and Emanuelle's questionable masturbatory tactics) you know you're in for a hell of a time. A bewilderingly mind numbing (and sleazy as hell) script with ghastly acting backed up with truly awful dubbing add to the cheeseball fun immensely. Emanuelle strolls through the film without a care seemingly more concerned where her next sexually charged experience will come from (and there's plenty of frisky takers) rather than whose about to have their guts ripped out next!
The cannibal mayhem does take a good while to kick in proper (in fact almost an hour into the movie) but there's enough sleazy masturbatory action (and a smoking monkey?) to keep most engrossed (well I certainly enjoyed the oddball sleaziness that drenched this cracker!) And when the gore fun kicks in it delivers the goods in that impeccable 70's cannibal movie way! Also of note is the similarly cheesy disco score that will bring a grin to many faces (more so as it's included in full on the extras section too!)
The disc from Italian Shock (as part of their most welcome Joe D'Amato Collection) is a godsend to fans of the film also which will be the essential release to pick up and nigh on impossible to top by their competitors. The widescreen print is very nice indeed, the transfer is lovely and detailed (even when the image was increased to fill a widescreen TV) if perhaps a tad soft on the colour front (I had to do some minor colour adjustments on my remote control). There's no noticeable print damage and the audio is clear and solid throughout (for full enjoyment of that goofy dubbing and frantic disco/tribal score!)
The extras on the disc are positively bustling with a great lengthy theatrical trailer and two separate sub menus for both D'Amato and Gemser containing stills gallery, bios and more! Next up is the inclusion of the films original soundtrack which whilst not perhaps being to my own personal taste for repeated listening (there's only so much bad 70's disco and tribal thumping remixes I can handle) is an excellent addition and a very attractive one for fans of the film! Also slipped into the packaging is two fold open liner leaflets for D'Amato and Gemser. The reading in both the printed matter and the extensive onscreen text make for fascinating reading and provide many points of interest to those new to D'Amato, Gemser and their films.
'Emanuelle and the Lost Cannibals' is one of the most fun sleazy exploitation films you're likely to see and Italian Shocks DVD release is assured to be the definitive release. I absolutely loved it! Get some beers and popcorn in, dim the lights and have some truly excellent fun! Essential purchase - buy it now!
Review by Alan Simpson
Released by Italian Shock |
Region 2 (PAL) |
Running time - 90m (packaging lists 85m) |
Ratio - Widescreen 1.85 |
Audio - English Dolby digital (optional Dutch subtitles) |
Extras : |
Complete musical soundtrack; Theatrical trailer; Stills gallery; Star & Director biographies/filmographies; 4pp-insert booklet |