Gorilla Love

 

 (imdb)

BRIDE OF THE GORILLA-1951-Somewhere along the Amazon, Klaas Van Gilder (Paul Cavanaugh) and his unhappy wife Dina (Barbara Payton) are having troubles. Their doctor Viet (Tom Conway) tries to help but foreman Barney Chavez (pre-Godzilla & Perry Mason Raymond Burr) lusts after Dina. After Barney is fired, he kills Van Gilder by having a snake bite him. With hubby out of the way, Barney and Dina plan to run away. Law officer Taro (Lon Chaney) investigates. After Barney is exonerated of the murder, he and Dina get married but Van Gilder's servant Al-Long (Gisela Werbisek) puts a curse on him and he turns into a gorilla. Woody Strode is a policeman.

 It's pretty bad with a lot of talk. One of 9 movies directed by Curt Siodmak, better known as a writer and novelist (Donovan's Brain). He and Chaney would work again on the TV series 13 Demon Street (and the movie made from it, THE DEVIL'S MESSENGER). Star Payton had several scandals connected to her and later had several brushes with the law. She died in 1967 at the age of 39.

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More Gore

 

 (imdb)

CANNIBAL FEROX-1981-NYC Police Lt. Rizzo (Robert Kerman aka porno star R. Bolla) and Sgt. Ross (Venantonio Venantini) investigate the murder of a junkie. Then three people Rudy (Danilo Mattei), Gloria (Lorraine De Selle) & Pat (Zora Korova) set out to the Amazon so Gloria can prove there is no such thing as cannibalism. After they have trouble with their jeep, they hike in the jungle and discover a decrepit man eating maggots. They meet cocaine traffickers Mike Logan (John Morghen aka Giovanni Radice) and his wounded pal Joe (Walter Lucchini) who were attacked by cannibals. Stupidly Logan kills an Indian girl and Joe reveals in flashback that Logan is lying. Looking for emeralds Logan tortured a young native to death. After Mike and Pat run out on Rudy & Gloria and the dying Joe, the story switches back to NYC for a bit as Lt. Rizzo still investigates the murder which Logan is attached to. Back in the Amazon, Joe dies and locals dine on his intestines. The natives capture all four and Logan is strung up and tortured. His…um…manhood is cut off and eaten. Then his wound is cauterized. Rudy is killed trying to escape. Gloria and Pat are put in a pit and sing "Red River Valley". Logan tries to escape and they cut off his hand. Then the movie's most infamous scene. Pat has hooks jabbed into her breasts and is left to die hanging on a pole. Then the top of Logan's head is lopped off and his brain is eaten. A sympathetic native helps Gloria escape. When he's impaled, Gloria considers suicide but is rescued. Back in NYC, she writes a book, receives her doctorate and still looks traumatized from her ordeal. 

Extreme gore and real animal killings make this real sick.

And why did the clowns who made this thing have the explorers/troublemakers being from America? Italian Umberto Lenzi wrote and directed it! 

Radice/Morghen was also in Antonio Margheriti's CANNIBALS IN THE STREETS and Lucio Fulci's THE CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (also with Venantini). I originally saw this in a theater (on 42 street) as MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY.

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“Killing is all they know. All they live for”.

JACARE’-1942-This documentary concerns animal handler Jim Dannalson, a protege’ of Frank “Bring 'em Back Alive” Buck. Director Charles E. Ford shot three weeks worth of footage along the Amazon while Dannalson collected and wrestled several animals including an anaconda. He admitted the caiman and jaguar he wrestled had their jaws wired shut. All the footage at least was shot for JACARE' and not stock from something else. Frank Buck narrates and audiences at the time probably thought it pretty shocking. 

This is Donnalson's only outing as an actor but he later provided animals, reptiles and insects for movies, including the snakes in THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1972). 

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Beast of The Amazon

CURUCU: BEAST OF THE AMAZON-1956-Rock Dean (John Bromfield), an American plantation owner in Brazil has all his native workers quit because they are afraid of a monster they say lives along the Amazon River. Dean reluctantly teams up with a female doctor Romar (Beverly Garland) who's looking for a potion the natives use to shrink heads to find out what's going on. The beast looks like a mutated version of Toucan Sam but with fangs. Later it turns out their guide (Tom Payne) is impersonating the monster because he's the leader of a group who want to stop “the white man” from invading. 

Filmed in parts of Brazil and Argentina this color production has lots of stock footage and bad SFX. It was written and directed by Curt Siodmak who'd seen better days when writing Universal horror movies (THE WOLFMAN, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN). 

Lead actor Bromfield had been in THE REVENGE OF THE CREATURE the year before and was later in the TV series SHERIFF OF COCHISE). Garland was in SWAMP WOMEN and IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, both for Roger Corman, the same year.

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Rima

GREEN MANSIONS-1959-Unusual love story set in The Amazon Jungle with Audrey Hepburn as the orphaned Rima who lives an isolated life in a "cursed jungle" with her grandfather (Lee J. Cobb) who holds a horrible secret. Anthony Perkins portrays a kind of explorer who falls in love with her. A nearby native tribe believes she is a demon and want her destroyed.

Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa portrays the chief and Henry Silva (from Brooklyn) is his son! Although the acting and direction are good Hepburn is slightly mis-cast. Just a tad too old to be playing a "jungle girl". But this was typical in movies before the sixties.

GM was directed by Hepburn's then husband actor Mel Ferrer (who would later produce WAIT UNTIL DARK). After they divorced he directed for TV and made appearances in many explotation movies including EATEN ALIVE BY CANNIBALS and CITY OF THE WALKING DEAD.

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