This is an 80s actioner about as generic as they come, only without good action, without memorable characters, and even without sexiness (which should have been the point of putting fashion models in the jungle). The thing is, this could have been soooo much better if anyone really had put some passion into this project. The setup has a lot of potential, but nearly every single opportunity gets wasted by bad writing or directing. The pretty girls get no sexy scenes, the villains get offed in very uninteresting ways (and much too quickly - what a waste of Sybil Danning), the heroes don't get much heroing to do, and the jungle setting is used for maybe 10 minutes.That the movie had potential is witnessed by the fact that I was able to sit through it without fast-forwarding; despite all its flaws it's at least quickly paced and loud - 5/10.

****SPOILERS**** Numb nut like movie with the distinction that one of its stars Dennis Hooper never made it on the screen by being replaced by Marjoe Gortner after he was arrested by the local police while walking in public stark naked and as drunk as a skunk. The film itself had to do with a Mafia South American alliance to ship a load of cocaine to the states that went, excuse the pun, south instead of north of the border. That's when the mob boys headed by Vito Mastranga, John Vernon, decided to double cross their Brazilian partners headed by the gorilla like, as well as cultured, Cesar Santiago, Paul L. Smith, that lead to the fireworks at the very end of the movie.There's also this group of fashion models lead by Joanna Quinn, Nina Van Pollandt, who's plane crashed in rebel held , the Santiago boys, territory that were held hostage who in the end revolted and brought the entire drug operation to an end. That with DEA agent D'Antoni, Dana "Egg" Elcar, coming to the girls rescue, as if they needed him, with a fleet of helicopters. As for Santiago and his #1 henchman Nick Spilotro, Alex "Rip" Cord, they together with Mafia chief Mastranga ended up dead on arrival when the two crime faction came to blows with each other over Mastrangas double cross. This also lead to Santiago's step sister Angel, played by the busty Sybil Danning,getting wiped out when a hand grenade, thrown by Mastranga men, blew up under her feet.****SPOILERS**** Slow moving at first the film picked up steam in the final sequence with the models taking control of the situation, after being beaten and gang raped by Santigao's men, and putting an end to this massive drug operation. With all the action in the movie the best was saved for last with what sounded like a drunk and high on drugs Marina Arcangeli singing, or trying to sing, the movies theme song "I'm in your Reach".

A group of gorgeous models doing a photo shoot in South America run afoul of ruthless drug lord Cesar Santiago (hulking Paul Smith in excellent smoothly villainous form). However, the gals manage to acquire some heavy duty firepower and make a fierce stand against their cruel and vile captors. Director Ernst R. von Theumer, who also co-wrote the cheerfully crass script with Robert Collector, relates the entertainingly trashy story at a brisk pace, maintains a blithely lurid tone throughout, stages the last reel outburst of stirring action with real rip-roaring gusto, delivers a handy helping of bloody violence and raw brutality, and further spices things up with a tasty smattering of gratuitous female nudity. The choice cast of veteran exploitation cinema regulars have a ball with the winningly low-grade material: Statuesque blonde goddess Sybil Danning vamps it up deliciously as Santiago's sadistic lesbian sister Angel, John Vernon really sinks his teeth into his meaty role as jolly and easygoing mobster Vito Mastranga, Margoe Gortner frets up an obnoxious storm as whiny and irritating modeling agency producer Larry Schecter, Woody Strode projects considerable charm and authority as Santiago's formidable right-hand man Luther, and Alex Cord does well as Mastranga's antsy and slimy attorney partner Nick Spilotro. Moreover, Dana Eclar is a hoot as excitable fed D'Antoni and the always delightful Louisa Moritz has a regrettably minor part as sweetly ditsy make-up artist Laura McCashin. Nicholas Josef von Sternberg's glossy cinematography gives the picture an impressively slick look. Roland Baumgarter's rousing score hits the right-on rocking spot. The theme song is hilariously awful. A total schlocky blast.

I like jungle movies. Usually some people are cast away in the virgin forest and have to find their way out of it – often they are very ill equipped, wear a nightgown (see Ann Sheridan in Jacques Tourneur's Appointment in Honduras) or high heels, like in this flick. The story is very simple, but effective. Some babes and another team of bad dudes have appointments in an exotic country, the first for a shooting session with a fashion photographer, the second for some drug trade. The groups meet and clash and there is a lot of barrel melting gun action.As I said, it works and delivers good and insightful entertainment. I found the cast very interesting. There are some good character actors. Marjoe Gortner (Earthquake, The Nelson Marcus Murders-Kojak pilot) plays the fashion photographer as an overexcited, bossy, fussy mother hen, it looks like he thinks it is the biggest part of his career. Don Siegel regular John Vernon (was also Cuban thug in Hitchcock's Topaz) is the Mafioso who doesn't seem to have a worry in the world although the whole atmosphere is very tense. He is always laughing without any apparent reason (I suspect he was drunk during the whole shoot). Woody Stroude appears too, as a mixture of guerrilla and bodyguard. He seems to have a good time and displays much unexpected charm.That's not all. The movie also boasts two iconic female leads: Nina Van Pallandt (Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye) is the leader of the fashion shooting crew. She gets a lot of screen time and is surprisingly effective in a role that would have been tailor made for Pam Grier. Muscular, wispy haired sex symbol Sybil Danning (kind of Austrian women's answer to Arnold Schwarzenegger) plays the sister of the drug lord (a Broderick Crawford lookalike, is also good and convincing).MINOR SPOILER The story goes as those stories go. There is a good climactic scene towards the end: The drug lord and his entourage have dinner with the mafioso and his team on an open air terrace under the trees. Everybody is friendly, but it's clear that they all distrust each other. At the same time the captured babes manage to free themselves inside the drug lord's palace, of which the party is not aware. The women try to get away, they shoot at a guard. As soon as it rings out, hell breaks loose on the terrace, everybody overturning tables and reaching for a firearm. It's really well done.A last word about the location. Almost all of the action takes place in the drug lord's castle, an old, venerable, architectonically interesting Mexican fortress that is put to good use by the film makers. I could bet on it they used exactly the same place for the Harrison Ford starrer Clear and Present Danger (as a Colombian drug lord's lair).