BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Sam Panico Legend has it that David Cronenberg for the idea for the torture TV channel that lends its name to his opus Videodrome from this Joe D'Amoto film, which is also known as Trap Them and Kill Them. Think of this - a film that upset Cronenberg for its mash-up of snuff, cannibalism and sex. Take it from me. This one totally lives up to its promise. Or lives down. You almost have to appreciate it for how lurid it is, as if it just screams at you, "I am the kind of movie you should feel ashamed for watching."First, a history lesson. This film isn't about the French film Emmanuelle, which starred Sylvia Kristel and had an extra "m" in the title. Nope, that series was made to cash in on the trend and features Laura Gemser, an Indonesian-Dutch actress who is more dark brown than black. But why quibble? This is exploitation filmmaking, after all. The Black Emanuelle films follow the formula of the original, all about a young woman discovering her sexual identity. But I have no idea how they morphed into a series where she becomes an investigative journalist who increasingly discovers more and more depraved behavior. Is there a thin line between swingers clubs and cannibals in the jungle? I would hope that there is. After five increasingly batshit Joe D'Amoto vehicles, Gemser teamed with Bruno Mattei for two women in prison movies starring the titular heroine.It's really Emanuelle in America that sets up the craziness of these films, as D'Amoto sets her up as a journalist that goes from learning how the rich and famous have sex to seeking out a snuff film conspiracy to giving up on journalism altogether when her story gets, well, snuffed.Somewhere in between that picture and this one, our heroine has had a change of heart and is back in the yellow journalism game.We start in a New York City mental hospital, where Emanuelle is undercover, looking for a lesbian nurse who is abusing her patients. Her idea of undercover is wearing lots of makeup and carrying around a stuffed animal. And how does she get her info? Well, once she learns about a girl who was raised by the Apiaca, a tribe of cannibals thought to be lost, she meets the girl and has sex with her. We realize this girl is a cannibal where she bites a girl's nipples off within the first minute of screen time. Yes, she makes out with a girl who just ate someone.Again - I'm warning you. You're in for some real scum here.She contacts Professor Mark Lester (Gabriele Tinti, husband of Gemser who also appeared in Enter the Devil and Lisa and the Devil), a curator at the National History Museum, and gets him to join her on a visit to the Amazon. How does she convince him? Well, she has sex with him. Come on. Get with the program.They're also joined by several others, including Isabel, MacKenzie (Donald O'Brien, Dr. Butcher, M.D.), Sister Angela and Maggie (Nieves Navarro, All the Colors of the Dark).The film alternates between Emanuelle in danger and Emanuelle having sex. There's a scene that defies logic with Emanuelle and Isabel making out while a monkey steals their cigarettes, lights one up and watches. Yes. A real, honest to goodness monkey.Look - if there's one thing I've learned from watching cannibal films. most of the white folks aren't on the straight and narrow. MacKenzie is really after some diamonds and his wife, Maggie, is just here to sleep with the natives.Soon, much like Shakespeare - if the bard had dared to make a film that combines a Cinemax After Dark film and an Italian gutmuncher - everyone dies except Isobel, Lester and our girl. She covers her body with tattoos - pay attention, Dr. Butcher, M.D. - and convinces the natives that she is a goddess. Everyone escapes on a rubber raft and gets over it, surely after plenty more sex.Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals isn't a sexy film. Nor is it a particularly good cannibal film. It's merely interesting by the fact that a movie this strange exists.

Kaliyugaforkix *1/2 One of Joe D'amato's infamous blends of sexploitation and horror, though faaar from his best,TRAP THEM & KILL THEM/EMANUELLE & THE LAST CANNIBALS could've been far trashier had the director had the slightest interest in his material. Instead we're left with a tedious leaden vehicle that's sluggish and dull more than titillating & gross, not coming a snail's width to comparing to his mind-boggling masterpiece of sleaze: EMANUELLE IN America, which REALLY displays the sleaze ethic in spades, as irredeemably vile as a soiled toilet paper landfill.Photo journalist Emmanuel embarks on a jungle trek to uncover a hidden cannibal tribe, enthusiastically boffing her brains out every chance she and the other meager characters get, before messily dispatched in a painfully perfunctory fashion.Stilted and lifeless except when centering on the coital antics of the cast, the sheer boredom of the director permeates the entire affair, reaching its apex, ironically, when the title flesh-eaters arrive amid a sparse assembly of awkward gore FX that could've redeemed the film had they been approached in an over-the-top fashion, instead of the "Lets-Get-It-Over-with" mentality that remains. Inspired moments of exploitation inanity, throwaway elements that would appear ludicrous & alien in other films but only add to the fun-house texture of a Z-film (like the chain-smoking chimpanzee, or photo-snapping teddy bear) are sadly lacking. The flick is only watchable due to its premise: Soft-core porn meets sadistic jungle savagery. When you think of all the missed opportunities such a ripe premise passes by (committing the unforgivable sin of stifling boredom)it almost brings a tear to the eye. For a more inspired glimpse of skinematic shenanigans and breathtaking surroundings, you'd do better with Joe's EROTIC NIGHTS OF THE LIVING DEAD which at least is pretty to look at and is interesting in that joyous, sublimely horrendous kind of way.Ole Joe was capable of livelier stuff in his less hack-y moments, we could've had a mini-trash classic that predated either grandaddies of the subgenre (FEROX & HOLOCAUST) instead of this tepid time waster.

Tromafreak Well, I'll tell ya one thing. Considering it's only 1976, these ain't the last cannibals, by any means. However, the legendary Emanuelle, along with her love scenes are present and ready for anything these bloodthirsty primitives throw at her! I've always been a fan of the films of Joe D'amato. Films like Beyond The Darkness and Anthropophagus are some of the most disturbing, and all around best that vintage Italian Exploitation has to offer. But I didn't realize until recently that D'amato's body of work extends to yet another sub-genre. Anyway, welcome back to the jungle.Emanuelle, Journalist/nympho, is working undercover in a hospital. She comes across a girl who was evidently raised by a tribe of Amazonian cannibals. Emanuelle and pals somehow end up in the Amazon. As if that's gonna help anything. As usual, they end up regretting their adventurous nature. And I'd just love to tell you that Emanuelle And The Last Cannibals is some kind of a gruesome, gory bloodbath, which includes mutilations and castrations like its counterparts, but sorry, not today. And not the usual trapped/hopeless/nightmarish vibe, either. This one is about the love scenes.Yet, the movie is still semi-gory. So, ultimately, everyone wins... Ya know what? I take that back. And here's why. It just occurred to me that Joe D'amato has thrown xxx love scenes in a number of his films. Not to mention he's made a lot of gore flicks that would put this particular one to shame.So, tell me, what exactly stopped the man from making Emanuelle And The Last Cannibals a gore-drenched Jungle-Porno... The cannibal masterpiece! But no! Wasn't meant to be. I was ready to give this one an 8/10, but I guess that wasn't meant to be, either. So, 7 it is!Now,don't think I'm not recommending this, as 7 is still respectable, but it just happens to be lacking in the obvious jungle gore qualities. But, see it!. By all means, definitely see it! Just make sure you see the others, too. Jungle Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox would be a good start. But if it's the love scenes that you're all about, then you might be happy to know that there's an actual Emanuelle series. Emanuelle In America, Emanuelle In Bangkok, Women's Prison Massacre. So, if you're looking for Sexploitation, only. There you go. Otherwise, the last cannibals are waiting! 7/10

Bezenby Famously made during the great underwear shortage of 1977, Emmanuelle and the Last Cannibals demonstrates all the concrete rules of softcore films. 1) No two women can be left alone for more than three seconds without touching each other and 2) No woman can be left alone for more than three seconds without indulging in a bit of invisible banjo playing, if you know what I'm saying.Laura Gesmer is Emmanuelle, and we first see her in New York (of course), pretending to be crazy in order to get the scoop on some kinds of going on in a loony bin. After a nurse gets bitten by a patient found in the jungle (or something), Emmanuelle endears herself to the audience by molesting the patient while she's tied to a bed. Works for all journalists! Just ask Alan Wicker! So, barely adequate reason for going to the jungle established, Emmanuelle get her crew together, including a hunky professor (love interest), a young jungle expert (love interest), and a nun. Along the way they hook up with Donald Obrien (vouyer), his wife and a hunky African man. Various couplings, gusset typings, and chugging-in-the-bushes ensues. For the entire first hour.There's cannibals in the title, but where's the cannibals? Well, thankfully, they manage to put in an appearance that saves the film. They waste most of the cast in various ways, sedate one of the girls, and lead us to what is a great exploitation scene, the likes of which Tarantino could never dream of: A naked laura gesmer, firing a pump action shotgun from the back of a speedboat while being pursued by cannibals.I could have done with more action and less scenes of Donald O'Brien grinning while trying to molest people, to be honest, but as cannibal films go, it's not too bad. At least D'Amato doesn't resort to killing animals to pad out his film. Good soundtrack too.