Jungle Heat (1988) - Ratno Timoer

I'm back and have found my way back to the jungle! After doing a rewatch of Jobic Wong's goddamn amazing Jungle Heat, I figured it was about time I checked out it's Indonesian namesake. Turns out Ratno Timoer's Jungle Heat is fucking great too! Starring Peter O'Brian from Rambu ("in his most eloquent and interesting" role according to his obviously fan-written wikipedia article) and badass Advent Bangun (Timoer's Devil's Sword). With all these signs of quality, it's a mystery why I haven't watched this sooner. In an opening scene oddly reminiscent of Braindead, it is established that we are dealing with savage cannibals and a treasure. A certain Dr. Albert is after said treasure, but fucks up immensely, is nibbled to death and has his baby daughter fall into the hands of the cannibals. The cannibals proceed to raise her as their queen after they botch their attempt at sacrificing her to the gods. Skip a few years ahead and an adventurer named Lola have gotten hold of Dr. Albert's map. After discussing the map in Indonesia roughest bar (rape-attempts and fights galore), she teams up with Peter O'Brian and head into the jungle. What follows is every jungle actioner trope in the book. It's basically nonstop action up until the last 30 mins or so, when the narrative creeps to a standstill with cannibal marriages and awkward love scenes. Just before the end Ratno Timoer seem to have realized that some HIGH OCTANE was needed though, and people start killing each other and/or exploding. YES!

Cannibal Terror (1981) - Alain Deruelle

A french cannibal film, with some likely Franco involvement. If Franco indeed had something to do with this, at least that would explain why it doesn't make much sense. Franco never cared for such restraints as plot or coherence, Cannibal Terror doesn't care either. I like how the "jungle" in this flick is mostly barren wasteland or fields (the colour green is simply absent in the film) and how the cannibals looks like bored frenchmen. Robbers end up in cannibal country, rape each other and die. Pretty bad.

The Man from Deep River (1972) - Umberto Lenzi

Armed with an endless supply of J&B, Ivan Rassimov heads down river, only to be captured by savages!  It's essentially a remake of A Man Called Horse mixed with elements from the mondo film. The Man from Deep River is supposedly the film that set the standards for Italian cannibal cinema. From the hands of Umberto Lenzi, starring Rassimov and set to an amazingly dreamy soundtrack from Daniele Patucchi. How could this possibly be bad? It is indeed one of the better cannibal films, as it actually has something more to offer than gruesome violence and animal killings. I must admit that i found it quite entertaining to see Rassimov play something other than a menacing giallo-madman, even though he's pretty scrawny-looking in this. Very decent, it's even sort of upbeat at times!

The Devil Hunter (1980) - Jess Franco

A bizarre Franco flick where a bugeyed freak is hunting down beauties! There's like several films taking place at once in this thing. It cuts back and forth between models at some beach resort, jungletribes and freaks. It's not particularly nasty (probably banned due to blood on breasts), but it's as chaotic as any Franco film can aspire to be. Filled with junglerapes, murders, Al Cliver strolling around being depressed and amazing dubbing. Even though this is a mess of a film and way too long, there's still laughs to be had. It probably made sense in Franco's head.

The Mountain of the Cannibal God (1978) - Sergio Martino

Ursula Andress exploring the jungles of New Guinea, before ending up as the goddess of a cannibal tribe. It's been years since I've seen this, and to be honest I remember it as a forgettable entry into the cannibal tradition. I just realized that it was made by Sergio Martino though, and that would indicate it might actually be a bit interesting. Will have to rewatch this at some point. 

Cannibal Apocalypse (1980) - Antonio Margheriti

Margheriti, the king of hut destruction's attempt of jumping on the cannibal bandwagon. The film features parts set in the Vietnam war of course, but also John Saxon and Radice/Morghen! Vietnam vets work up an appetite for human flesh and stuff somehow go bad when they head back to the states. I wouldn't really group this with the rest of the Italian cannibal flicks, as this is something else altogether. Also features a radical soundtrack by Alessandro Blonksteiner. Pretty cool!

Cannibal Ferox (1981) - Umberto Lenzi

The other big cannibal flick on the DPP list. Not as good as "Cannibal Holocaust", even though I confused the two for a long time. Not going to say a whole lot about this, but Radice/Morghen gets a truly rough treatment in this. Features the usual stuff to expect from a cannibal film, if that floats your boat.

Cannibal Holocaust (1980) - Ruggero Deodato

The one cannibal film it is likely anyone has heard of, and the one cannibal flick you should see if you're only going to see one. There are quite a few, but Ruggero Deodato made the best one without a doubt, perfecting the fake snuff at the same time. I can't help but think that Deodato got lucky with "Cannibal Holocaust", as a lot of his other films are utterly mediocre. This one is genuinely haunting though and well worth a look.