Last Cannibal World

LAST CANNIBAL
WORLD

AKA Ultimo Mondo Cannibal, Cannibal, Carniverous, Jungle Holocaust, The Last Survivor, De Laastse Kanninbalen

Last Cannibal World Prior to making the infamous "Cannibal Holocaust", Italian director Ruggerro Deodato made his debut in cannibal country with this lesser known entry into the flesh eating sub-genre, which borrows cast members Ivan Rassimov and Me Me Lai from Umberto Lenzi's earlier cannibal film "Deep River Savages".

Set in the Philippines (for a change) a group of oil company representatives are flying out into the middle of the jungle to visit a potential site they believe to be rich in untapped oil resources. Unfortunately, when they touch down at the camp, company Boss Robert Harper (Massimo Foschi), is alarmed to find no trace of his workers, and only the remains of the tents and equipment they had set up. His anthropologist friend Rolf (Ivan Rassimov) is similarly alarmed by the fact that the camp appears to have been attacked by primitive natives.

With it being close to nightfall, they're forced to wait until morning before attempting to take off again. But their hopes of leaving at first light are subsequently dashed when the female crew member leaves the plane to answer the call of nature and doesn't come back. A subsequent search of the area proves disastrous as after finding her being hacked up and turned into bar-b-que, the co-pilot then gets killed by a spike ball trap, and Rolf and Robert get lost and separated.

Poor old Robert then finds himself being captured by the natives, who drag him back to their cave where they strip him naked and subject him to various indignities, before caging him up for use as future alligator bait. Not overly keen with this depressing prospect, he manages to escape with the help of a sympathetic native girl (played by Me Me Lai) where he then begins the arduous task of trying to find his way back to the aeroplane.

Fans of Deadato's later film "Cannibal Holocaust" will undoubtedly be interested in seeking out this film, although whilst it is an entertaining watch it doesn't have the same style or grace. One scene that had me in hysterics, and perhaps seemed a little out of place compared to the other scenes, was a highly amusing incident where some of the native kids "pee" down on Foschi's character from above his cage. Although be warned, as like almost every other cannibal film there's the usual depressing bouts of animal cruelty, which range from an anaconda swallowing an iguana to a live alligator being gutted and it's dead prey being extracted from it's stomach.

Overall Marks : 2/10 (would have given this a higher mark, but for the animal cruelty)

Other Information.

This film was apparently intended as a sort-of follow up to Umberto Lenzi's "Deep River Savages" (aka Man from Deep River), hence the inclusion of Ivan Rassimov and Me Me Lai from that film. Lenzi had originally been approached to direct, but had declined, and so the job was offered to Ruggero Deodato, who then went on to direct Cannibal Holocaust.
Although available on UK video back in the early 80's, under the title "Cannibal", the film surprisingly escaped the attention of the authorities who were busy prosecuting similar videos under the Obscene Publications Act during the "Video Nasties" furore of that era. Unfortunately, Cannibal Holocaust wasn't so lucky at the time.
Ivan Rassimov and Me Me Lai have acted together on two other Cannibal films. The first being the aforementioned "Deep River Savages", and the other being "Eaten Alive". Both by rival genre director Umberto Lenzi.
The special effects were by Italian cosmetic effects expert Paolo Ricci, who also worked with Deadato on the 1983 film "Atlantis" and the 1985 jungle action pic "Cut and Run". He has also worked with other fellow Italian directors Sergio Martine, on "Mountain of the Cannibal God", which was filmed in the same year as this, and in his later pic "Big River Alligator". He's also worked with Umberto Lenzi on "Eaten Alive" and "Ironmaster" and with Lucio Fulci on "The Black Cat".
Lamberto Bava actually worked on the film as a continuity editor. He also worked with Deodato on Cannibal Holocaust, before going on to become a director in his own right. His credits include the "Demons" films, which he directed with Dario Argento, the film "A Blade in the Dark", and most notably "Cemetery Man". He has worked with Argento several times, as well as with fellow Italian directors Lucio Fulci and Michael Soavi. He is also the son of the other cult Italian horror director Mario Bava.
The film has been released in the US and Europe in various cut and uncut forms under a multitude of different titles. The film was released to UK cinema's back in the late 70's in a heavily cut form under the titles "Cannibal" and "Last Cannibal World". This heavily cut version was also released on UK video in the early 80's, prior to the introduction of the video recordings act, under the title "Cannibal".
The UK DVD release in 2003 entitled "Last Cannibal World" was passed with only 2 scenes cut. The part where the crocodile is gutted, and were Masimo Foshci's character rapes me Me Lai.
The Swedish version, entitled "Last Cannibal World" was cut by about 10 minutes and the US drive in movie release under the title "Carnivorous", was similarly cut. The Dutch print on the Empire label entitled "De Laastse Kanninbalen" (The Last Cannibals) on the video box but Ultimo Mondo Cannibal on the film itself is apparently uncut. An uncut US DVD under the title Jungle Holocaust is also available.