A disappointingly routine jungle romp, packaged as an exploitation movie but with little exploitation values to actually recommend it to the pulp crowd. Instead this is a cheap, cheap rush job, with little in the way of action, and some really boring, pedestrian direction by Alan Birkinshaw (who delivered the delightful KILLER'S MOON a few years previously to this). Even though the Italians financed this, don't expect a Lenzi movie. It's nothing like that and could probably be rated PG today. The story is lightweight and it seems most of the budget was spent on the admittedly enjoyable opening scene. It involves Japanese soldiers battling Filipino headhunters, involving lots of shooting, grenade explosions, and heads on sticks. There's even a guy who falls into a spike trap, great stuff. After this the film goes downhill as it reaches the present day.
The smarmy, always unlikable Edmund Purdom visits the ex-soldiers and asks them to come with him to find the gold. One is shot dead, another commits hari-kiri, and the third one agrees, mainly because he is Harold Sakata, aka Oddjob from GOLDFINGER, and he's one of this film's major draws. Then a huge group of old actors and cheap Filipino extras join in and off they all go in a boat. But not before has-been Stuart Whitman has decided to join in on the expedition, and that takes him about half an hour. From here on in, we get a series of uninteresting deaths by snake, falling off a rope bridge, crocodile etc. but there's no gore and each death is staged in a ridiculous slow-motion style that stops you seeing what happened; Birkinshaw is no Castellari, that's for sure.
Along with routine scripting and obvious double-crosses, this film really is a tease: offering you tons of gore and nudity throughout, and never providing them. There's a strip show in a filthy nightclub but the girls on view won't provoke much interest. So the only possible reason to watch this film? It's gotta be the great casting. Purdom chews the scenery with relish, and Whitman convinces us all too well with his portrayal of a washed-up drunk. Glynis Barber (BLAKE'S 7) is on hand as the appealing young blonde love interest but her acting isn't up to much. Then there's the aforementioned Harold Sakata. I like him here. He laughs a lot. I've got a feeling he was a charismatic guy, from the little we get to see of his screen presence. Laura Gemser also shows up to strip off, and her death scene is still the film's biggest puzzle (just what happened exactly?). And finally there's good old Woody Strode, as hard as ever, beating up a bunch of guys in a bar and looking muscular, but his death scene is a real disappointment and a real downer. So, there we have it, a diverse group of actors trapped in a boring film, not what I expected, but still pretty funny to watch.
The smarmy, always unlikable Edmund Purdom visits the ex-soldiers and asks them to come with him to find the gold. One is shot dead, another commits hari-kiri, and the third one agrees, mainly because he is Harold Sakata, aka Oddjob from GOLDFINGER, and he's one of this film's major draws. Then a huge group of old actors and cheap Filipino extras join in and off they all go in a boat. But not before has-been Stuart Whitman has decided to join in on the expedition, and that takes him about half an hour. From here on in, we get a series of uninteresting deaths by snake, falling off a rope bridge, crocodile etc. but there's no gore and each death is staged in a ridiculous slow-motion style that stops you seeing what happened; Birkinshaw is no Castellari, that's for sure.
Along with routine scripting and obvious double-crosses, this film really is a tease: offering you tons of gore and nudity throughout, and never providing them. There's a strip show in a filthy nightclub but the girls on view won't provoke much interest. So the only possible reason to watch this film? It's gotta be the great casting. Purdom chews the scenery with relish, and Whitman convinces us all too well with his portrayal of a washed-up drunk. Glynis Barber (BLAKE'S 7) is on hand as the appealing young blonde love interest but her acting isn't up to much. Then there's the aforementioned Harold Sakata. I like him here. He laughs a lot. I've got a feeling he was a charismatic guy, from the little we get to see of his screen presence. Laura Gemser also shows up to strip off, and her death scene is still the film's biggest puzzle (just what happened exactly?). And finally there's good old Woody Strode, as hard as ever, beating up a bunch of guys in a bar and looking muscular, but his death scene is a real disappointment and a real downer. So, there we have it, a diverse group of actors trapped in a boring film, not what I expected, but still pretty funny to watch.