Massacre in Dinosaur Valley

Massacre in Dinosaur Valley

Genre: Cannibal, Adventure

Original title: Nudo e selvaggio

AKA: Cannibal Ferox 2

Director: Michele Massimo Tarantini

Year: 1985

A plane crashes in the Amazon jungle, and its passengers must battle their way through cannibals, slave traders, wild animals and murderous piranha fish to safety.

Released as Cannibal Ferox II in the UK, Massacre In Dinosaur Valley has little in common with the more savage, dirty & brutal Cannibal films that came before it. This is a toned down, less exploitive version of the Cannibal genre but it makes up for this by having more of an action film sensibility about it with a real sense of adventure. 

Michael Sopkiw ( 2019: After the Fall of New York) is actually quite impressive as the male lead/hero of the picture. The score (a synthy-rock kind of deal) was lifted from another film starring Sopkiw, Lamberto Bava's Blastfighter. Andy Silas gained his only acting credit with this picture which is surprising as he makes a pretty solid over the top kind of villain. Yes the characters are all a bit cliché but they add to the entertainment factor. 

With it's fast pace & a thrill a minute it is no surprise that the director Michele Massimo Tarantini had worked previously as Assistant director to Sergio Martino, who I consider the master of delivering fun & entertaining Italian genre flicks. I'd imagine the actors went through quite a rough experience filming this on location, especially the two female models who spend half the movie with barely any clothes on. 

For my money, it is a better film than it is given credit for. Yes it's down the pecking order in terms of the big Cannibal films, but it remains one which you can put on and have a good 90 minutes with.

Rating: ★★★

Quicksand, never fails to amuse me