*1/2 One of Joe D'amato's infamous blends of sexploitation and horror, though faaar from his best,TRAP THEM & KILL THEM/EMANUELLE & THE LAST CANNIBALS could've been far trashier had the director had the slightest interest in his material. Instead we're left with a tedious leaden vehicle that's sluggish and dull more than titillating & gross, not coming a snail's width to comparing to his mind-boggling masterpiece of sleaze: EMANUELLE IN America, which REALLY displays the sleaze ethic in spades, as irredeemably vile as a soiled toilet paper landfill.Photo journalist Emmanuel embarks on a jungle trek to uncover a hidden cannibal tribe, enthusiastically boffing her brains out every chance she and the other meager characters get, before messily dispatched in a painfully perfunctory fashion.Stilted and lifeless except when centering on the coital antics of the cast, the sheer boredom of the director permeates the entire affair, reaching its apex, ironically, when the title flesh-eaters arrive amid a sparse assembly of awkward gore FX that could've redeemed the film had they been approached in an over-the-top fashion, instead of the "Lets-Get-It-Over-with" mentality that remains. Inspired moments of exploitation inanity, throwaway elements that would appear ludicrous & alien in other films but only add to the fun-house texture of a Z-film (like the chain-smoking chimpanzee, or photo-snapping teddy bear) are sadly lacking. The flick is only watchable due to its premise: Soft-core porn meets sadistic jungle savagery. When you think of all the missed opportunities such a ripe premise passes by (committing the unforgivable sin of stifling boredom)it almost brings a tear to the eye. For a more inspired glimpse of skinematic shenanigans and breathtaking surroundings, you'd do better with Joe's EROTIC NIGHTS OF THE LIVING DEAD which at least is pretty to look at and is interesting in that joyous, sublimely horrendous kind of way.Ole Joe was capable of livelier stuff in his less hack-y moments, we could've had a mini-trash classic that predated either grandaddies of the subgenre (FEROX & HOLOCAUST) instead of this tepid time waster.

Regrettably not the classic that Emanuelle in America is. Regardless it is recommended viewing thanks to the usual D'Amato hijinks. Surprisingly bereft of hardcore material, this so-called horror-porn is more horror-adventure than anything else, with a few softcore scenes to "liven" the proceedings. Most of these are delightfully ridiculous (including a scene where Emanuelle's lover somehow inserts himself with removing or even unzipping his trousers), the least disturbing gang rape ever (actually, it's just kind of pathetic), and a scene where one character discovers to his dismay that sleep is the least effective roofie. This also has some surprisingly strong gore (strong for D'Amato anyway...after the horrible effects from Death Smiles at Murder, Antropophagous, and Porno Holocaust anything will look good!), including some unfortunate mammary trauma.As usual Laura Gemser spends much time out of her clothes, and with various sexual partners. Her character is much less impressive this time, however. Sure, she delivers the usual "I'm a free woman" spiel, but doesn't really deliver on it. Whereas in Emanuelle in America she used her body and sexuality almost as a weapon, here it's hardly an issue. She sleeps with Professor Mark Lester (weirdly enough, also the name of Mark Shannon's character in Sesso Nero, minus the title of Professor) and some other random dude, and feels up a couple ladies, but it never really feels like she's in control. It doesn't help that the dubbing in this film is far inferior to Emanuelle in America's. Not quite Female Vampire bad, but maybe halfway there. D'Amato's work is pretty workmanlike this time around. There are some pretty creative sequences littered throughout (I loved the way the sex scene between Emanuelle and Mark was intercut with them leaving for their expedition), but it's not really up there with his best work. His cinematography is likewise bare bones, but does feature some embarrassing errors. There's one scene set in the daytime where the close-ups are almost pitch black! You've also gotta love the way he has his character enthusiastically gawk at some stock footage of alligators.All in all somewhat disappointing compared to the outrageous and audacious Emanuelle in America, but worth viewing for jerks like me to laugh at the insanity of it all. Nico Fidenco (he of Porno Holocaust and Emanuelle in America fame) returns with a decent soundtrack, and Laura Gemser is always a welcome presence. Did I mention that for no reason there's a shot of a monkey smoking a cigarette?

Much with like Nun or Nazi-sploitation, the Italian cannibal movie cycle of the 1970's is something of a bizarre enigma of a niche genre to the uninitiated. To the average layperson, Italians and cannibal movies must seem terribly outlandish... but then again so would the idea of Herzog shooting so many German-language films in the Amazon. Italy actually made at least 5 serious cannibal/jungle adventures and around 10 lesser ones from 1972-1988. This one lacks the professionalism of Ruggero Deodato's, the style of Umberto Lenzi's, and the austere grandeur and seriousness of Sergio Martino's efforts, but makes up for it with ample sex and lurid cheesiness.Yup, this is the one and only true soft-core porn-themed Italian cannibal movie, complete with plenty of self-pleasury, lesbianry, voyeury, buggery, and plain ol' missionary. One of those films that makes you feel dirty while watching it or later with the mere memory of having seen it.One of the lower-budgeted efforts ranking down there with ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST, EMANUELLE IN THE LAST CANNIBALS must have been shot mostly just outside Rome. Awful gore effects only enhance the fun, but the real stars of the show are the even worse-than-usual dubbing, shamefully bad dialog, and many questionable directorial touches. Right when you're laughing out loud at the film, it often switches gears into 'sex mode' with numerous soft-core scenes which act as plot-padding filler. Thankfully the animal-killing scenes are in short supply for a change.Acting-wise, they could have done a lot worse. Save for Japanese actor Al Yamanouchi's hilarious early-career miscasting as an uncredited Latino guide, the cast is most appropriate with a good cross-section of Italian B-movie characters of the time. Donal O'Brien chews scenery wonderfully as a hard-as-nails guide, Gabriele Tinti gives just as earnest a leading man performance as he did in his earlier art-house days, Laura Gemser & Nieves Navarro look pretty and seems comfortable with the rampant nudity. Also watch for ubiquitous euro-fatman and villain voice-over actor Geoffrey Copleston as a random Amazonian landowner. All that's missing are cameos from George Eastman or Luc Merenda.Fidenco's score gives a certain level of cheesy seriousness to the thing, but also pegs it all as sexually-themed. This film was more-or-less remade much more professionally years later as CANNIBAL FEROX with no sex and much more violence. Among its genre peers, this film (which I'll call TRAP THEM AND KILL THEM this time) ranks among the more enjoyable in that in the unintentional hilarity department it ranks second only to EATEN ALIVE.

By the time you've got this far in the reviews you've read the same old accounts of the movie something like 20 times or more so there is nothing much i can add to make the story more interesting but... 1. The women really should have shaved their pubic hair. Take it from me, the bush is so thick you can't even see the vaginal lips... 2. It's not a monkey watching the two (Gemser and Zucchi) bathe (in one of the most tacked-on scenes in history) near a waterfall; it's a chimpanzee. And chimpanzees don't exist in South America. 3. The end of the film, where Gemser paints her body and emerges naked from the waves. Take a look at the cannibals. A more expressionless lot of "shocked and awed" tribesmen you never did see. The gore? Laughable, utterly. I mean it's FUNNY. Especially the scene where a guy is pulled in two with a string. Bwahahahahahaha. Watch it for the nudity and the sex scenes - but those are also unreal. Gemser and her academic boyfriend keep rolling about on top of each other on the bed, moving constantly. Where does he ever have half a chance to push his penis inside her vagina? And what are the two women doing washing each other anyway, since they never actually make love? Unreal. Fails as a gore-fest, fails as a sex flick, fails even as a bad film of the type so bad it's good. It isn't even bad enough.