Color, 1977, 92 mins 49 secs. / 88 mins. 56 secs..
Directed by Ruggero Deodato
Starring Massimo Foschi, Me Me Lai, Ivan Rassimov
Severin Films (UHD & Blu-ray) (US R0 4K/HD), Code Red (Blu-ray) (US R0 HD), Media Blasters (US R0 NTSC), Geneon (DVD) (Japan R1 NTSC), Filmfreak (DVD) (Netherlands R2 PAL), NSM Records (DVD) (Austria R0 PAL) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)

After Jungle Holocausta modest career directing Italian programmers in the '60s and early '70s, the now infamous Ruggero Deodato hit paydirt in Jungle Holocaust1977 with his first international hit, Ultimo mondo cannibale. Shown in the U.S. as The Last Survivor and also known under its more literal translation, Last Cannibal World, the film gained far more notoriety among gorehounds as Jungle Holocaust to tie it in more closely with Deodato's second and far more ferocious gut-muncher outing, Cannibal Holocaust. More rooted in the pulp yarn tradition than its volatile companion feature, Jungle Holocaust is still extremely disreputable by most film standards as it rubs the viewer's nose in real animal deaths (a bat and crocodile get the worst of it in the most depressing and mean-spirited moments), gory dismemberment and flesh eating, a man's damaged limb consumed by ants, and other charming atrocities. At least this time there's the distance of a traditional narrative to keep the viewer relatively secure, even if the ending (and the opening in some versions) does claim the story is based on true events. Uh, sure.

While searching for oil in the remote area of Mindanao, a quartet of explorers crashes their plane near an abandoned jungle camp and realize the area is inhabited by cannibalistic natives. Led by anthropologist Rolf (giallo regular Rassimov) and Robert Harper (Foschi), they find their number dwindling thanks to hungry locals and deadly booby traps. After a disastrous attempt to sail away to safety, Robert and Rolf are separated, leaving the latter in the hands of the primitive tribe who strip him naked, hoist him in the air by ropes so he can fly like a bird, and then toss him into a homemade underground cage so the cannibal kids can pee on his head. The loveliest of the cannibal women (sexploitation favorite Me Me Lai) takes pity on Robert and helps him escape, but their flight to freedom contains several unexpected complications.

Though Umberto Lenzi's Man from Deep River is usually cited as the first real Italian cannibal film due to its slight man-eating content, this is the one that Jungle Holocaustreally kicked off the trend worldwide. Even in cut form it enjoyed a wide release and a decent gross-out reputation thanks to frequent reissues from AIP, and relatively speaking, it's still one of the best made of its ilk. The skillful scope photography, atmospheric score, and earnest performances make this a gripping study of survival, while exploitation fans should enjoy the high levels of gore Jungle Holocausteffects (with the most unforgettable set piece saved for the end, which was so effective Lenzi recycled it - along with much of this film's atrocity footage - for his lovably ludicrous Eaten Alive). Thematically it's also less didactic than the '80s cannibal films; there isn't any questionable moralizing along the lines of who the real savages are. More closely akin to survival epics like Cornel Wilde's superb The Naked Prey, this is one of the more tolerable Italian cannibal films for those courageous enough to venture onto such morally treacherous grounds.

Though this has circulated on home video almost since the format's incarnation, uncut editions have been few and far between with the most complete coming first on VHS from Video City. Many store shelves contained copies of the notorious Lettuce VHS edition, titled Cannibal, which excised all of the graphic shots of Foschi's frequently exposed manhood. Other VHS editions also revealed that Deodato and company actually shot alternate takes of some of the more revealing scenes with Foschi keeping his black briefs on. Working with an infernally difficult title to reconstruct, Media Blasters' DVD could legitimately be considered the first complete, fully widescreen English edition on any home video format. The image quality provoked wildly divergent reactions, mainly concerning the fairly pale black levels Jungle Holocaustand some compatibility problems caused by the PAL master running faster than film speed. (That means the feature runs 88m10s versus the correct Jungle Holocaust92.) The letterboxing adds a considerable amount of vital information to the sides, while the color fidelity is adequate for the time. Extras are where this disc easily excels; Deodato contributes both a video interview and a commentary track (in Italian with optional English subtitles), while Foschi also appears for a frank English-language video interview (20m14s). Also included is an English interview with Rassimov (6m43s), who recalls some difficulties with all the wildlife in the area as well as his ongoing friendship with Deodato. Other goodies include an extensive video gallery of posters and lobby cards (6m20s), trailers for this and other Shriek Show titles, and a batch of international color lobby card reproductions. The trailer, under the Last Cannibal World title, is especially fascinating as it includes Deodato and crew (dubbed in English) pontificating about the making and importance of the film, intercut with cartoon teeth transitions.

In 2018, Code Red brought the film to Blu-ray in its uncensored form with a fresh HD scan "from several vault elements." The result looks pretty impressive if you're familiar with the history of the film, and almost all of the film looks fairly pristine; some of the more unabashed moments are a bit less sharp and appear to be down a generation or two, but it's a massive upgrade all the same. The DTS-HD MA English 2.0 mono track is also in good shape. Also presented in HD with the same quality is what's touted as the R-rated cut of the film, presumably conforming to what was released by AIP and featuring the alternate clothed shots of Foschi "flying" as well as the expected trims to some animal violence and the more graphic frontal nudity. Both transfers bear the Last Cannibal World title as well. Instead of the previous Deodato commentary, you get a fine new audio commentary with Horace Cordier and Ian Jane, and it's chock full of trivia about virtually every participant as well as a great deal of context about the advent of the cannibal craze. It's also nicely contextualizes the production within the Italian film industry at the time with other connected filmmakers like Sergio Corbucci getting tied in as well. They also go into the pluses and minuses of mushroom usage, the jarring use of music in some scenes, and Foschi's truly fearless performance in so many respects. Ported over are the Rassimov and Foschi interviews as well as the Jungle Holocaustgallery and the English trailer, plus a bonus one for Slave of the Cannibal God.

In 2025, Severin Films issued the film on 4K UHD and Blu-ray as a three-disc set centered around a wonderful 4K restoration of the film from Minerva Pictures overseen by Lamberto Bava and presented by Nicolas Winding Refn at the Venice Film Festival(!) in 2023. Color-wise this is the best of the bunch (with the UHD coming out on top Jungle Holocaustthanks to the HDR10 color grading) with the most consistent and natural skin tones, while also retaining the familiar earthy color scheme without a few bits of cranked-up saturation on the Code Red (see below). The English and Italian tracks are both included and sound great in DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono presentations with English translated or SDH subtitles. A commentary by Deodato recorded before his death with Freak-O-Rama's Federico Caddeo is as good as his other tracks with excellent recall for the location shooting, the wrangling of local cast members, some curious variations between the home video and theatrical versions including a silly imposition by the producer on some Italian prints, the "actual cannibals" he encountered but didn't put in the film, and the natural lighting tricks used to bring the incredible settings to life including that impressive real boulder.

A trailer under the title Carnivorous is included on both discs, and the rest of the video extras are present on the Blu-ray beginning with Lamberto Bava in "Jungle Fever" (10m15s) recalling his work with Deodato in different capacities on multiple projects and his memories of these often challenging, intense shoots in inhospitable conditions that were still mostly fun. In "The Queen of the Cannibals" (17m6s), Me Me Lai looks back at her progression to doing Italian cannibal films after extensive feature and TV work in the U.K. and having to encounter a wide variety of hostile wildlife while working for Lenzi and Deodato. The very extensive "Man Eat Man" (43m24s) is a much longer chat with Foschi about his role that he thinks got him the part, his agreeability to doing physically demanding and revealing roles, the types of lodgings they had depending on the locale, and his positive response to the final result. The archival Rassimov interview from the DVD is ported over here, and a U.S. TV spot is included. The third disc is a Blu-ray devoted to the 88-minute U.S. version, obviously in lesser quality but still fine and preserving those alternate takes for posterity; it's in English (DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono) with optional SDH subtitles, and an English Last Cannibal World trailer is included. The limited edition package sold directly by the label also includes a booklet with an essay by Claire Donner about the film's place in this once very disreputable subgenre and the value it has as an example of Deodato at the peak of his dangerous powers.

SEVERIN (Blu-ray)

Jungle Holocaust Jungle Holocaust Jungle Holocaust Jungle Holocaust Jungle Holocaust

CODE RED (Blu-ray)

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MEDIA BLASTERS (DVD)

Jungle Holocaust Jungle Holocaust Jungle Holocuast Jungle Holocaust Jungle Holocaust

Updated review on March 31, 2025