Did you people see the same film I saw?

Best movie ever!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Another example of cheap exploitation, this should be of interest to cult movies fans due to the fact that a) it's Italian and b) it's a jungle-set adventure featuring cannibals. However, those expecting another CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST will be in for a bit of a disappointment with this sometimes-amateurish effort which adopts the style of what I like to call a "schlockumentary" - ie. the events that occur in the film all claim to be true, and the movie even goes so far as to incorporate supposedly real crime scene footage of a mortician holding up a severed head - it's so blatantly fake that I find it hard to believe that anyone could have been taken in by this. In any case, although a tribe of cannibals are mentioned, there's no gut-chewing in this movie. Instead, throughout the typical jungle antics, we get repeated cuts to courtroom footage where the lead character Katherine Miles is on trial for the slaughter of her uncle and aunt. This adds an original, if unconvincing, framework to what is basically another exploitational blood-and-skin jungle shocker.The lead is played by the otherwise unknown Elvire Audray, a young and nubile blonde who spends the entirety of the film topless - an authentic facet of the movie, of course, and not an excuse to show some naked female flesh. The setting, the native tribe, the music and the style of filming all make for an authentic feel to the movie, ironically only ruined by the intrusion of the badly-acted courtroom sequences which pop up periodically. At least the framework of the movie gives it a structured plot, so that you actually feel that it's going somewhere instead of middling along aimlessly like some of these jungle shockers do. Although pretty, Audray can't act very well, and the cast are generally wooden or ham actors. The only exception is Alvaro Gonzales, whose tribesman Umakai is a genuinely noble and heroic figure thanks to his strong, almost mute performance.The movie is pretty gory as a whole so it comes as no surprise that it has been cut in its UK release. Nonetheless, bits of gruesomeness remaining that the film has to offer include bloody deaths by blowpipe darts; heads being chopped from corpses (ironically, this is cut when it happens, but left in during a later flashback to the event); real-life animal violence; forced rape; a man having his face eaten off by ants, flies and worms; a man being eaten by a crocodile and the culminating double axe murder with Katherine as the culprit. Rotting severed heads also play a bit part in the film's narrative. There's also one of those lovely grub-eating interludes which Lenzi saw fit to include in his influential CANNIBAL FEROX film. Exploitation fans might get a kick out of this sometimes sleepy expose of jungle life thanks to the atmosphere and scenic setting it offers, but there's no real horror here - only some shoddy gore effects.

White Slave starts off looking like it's going to be a really lame pastiche of Cannibal Holocaust, what with an opening montage of the Amazon set to ho-hum music imitating Riz Ortolani's famous score for that other film. And actually it stays lame for a fair while - but then it gets good! Amazon headhunters ambush the boat of some well-to-do white landowners and their daughter, who's back fresh from studying in London. They remove the heads of the parents and drag the daughter back to their village, where gradually (and after much gnashing of teeth by all concerned) she's absorbed into their tribal lifestyle - which never seems to involve any more headhunting for the rest of the film, but don't dwell on that.The film makes sure to include a little bit from all of the major food groups of this horror subgenre: gore, hazardous jungle treks, badly graded stock footage of wildlife, animals stupidly killing each other for real, tribal warfare, cruel and probably entirely fictitious tribal customs and punishments meted out left, right and centre, and plenty of nudity. Interestingly, there's no cannibalism at all. While the first third of the film really seems to be going through the motions with these things, there's a whole bunch of plot from then onwards and dare I say a good degree of human warmth. Once Catherine is fully ensconced in the tribe, she deals with character rivalries, tribal customs and conflicting loyalties and emotions. There's some honour and romance at stake, plus a minor mystery to be dealt with and revenge to be had. White Slave mobilises from being an extremely by-the-numbers exploitation film to one with an involving story and human qualities you can get into. You still have to put up with one of the silliest court trials in the world (it's used as a framing device), but overall, I found this film to be a pleasant surprise.

WHITE SLAVE has some decent elements and originality going for it. The story is about a girl who's lost in the jungle after her boat is attacked and her parents are killed. She ends up becoming part of a tribe because she has no choice and can't escape. One of the tribesman takes her as his wife, and he ends up being a pretty decent guy, as savage tribesman go...But she's having no parts of it because she believes it's his fault for the death of her parents. As she learns the tribal language, and her "husband" learns English, the lines of communication open up, and the death of her parents may not be what they seem... Definitely not as memorable as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST or even CANNIBAL FEROX - but the twist in the story is a welcome change to an otherwise rather straight-forward genre. Not nearly heavy enough on the red stuff for most "gorehounds" tastes, but still worth a look. 7/10

This Italian film with once again more alternative titles than actual dialogue is a mid-80's exploitation attempt by enthusiast director Mario Gariazzo, who obviously was deeply impressed by the work of his fellow Italian filmmakers Rugero Deodato and Umberto Lenzi. It's a supposedly true story (yeah…sure) about an 18-year-old girl who visits her parents' plantation in the middle of the Amazon jungle. Shortly after her arrival, her parents are brutally murdered and beheaded during a boat ride. The poor cutie is taken prisoner by a savage and primitive tribe. During two years, she's has to take part in traditional and barbaric rites of this tribe. She's sold to the richest man in town (price = one goat and a chicken), has to work and, eventually, she escapes with the head warrior she has fallen in love with. Now, 'Amazonia' isn't a bad little flick but it tries to be so much bigger than it actually is. The entire production seems to shout out: 'Look, we're as good as Cannibal Holocaust!!!' The opening sequences, in which the beautiful jungle is shown guided by a great score, is an exact copy of Deodato's film and throughout the whole film, the same documentary style is used. The film could have done without these pretentious aspects. At his best, Amazonia is like a fairly reasonable crossover between Cannibal Holocaust and Umberto Lenzi's 'Deep River Savages' (in which an Englishman spends years among a primitive tribe in New-Guinea). It's not nearly as memorable as the majority of Italian sleaze classics and that's merely due to the atrocious acting of Elvire Audrey. There's some great gore and terrific authentic sleaze to enjoy, though.