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Released by: VCI Entertainment
Released on: 4/14/2005
Director: Rene Cardona Jr.
Cast: Donald Pleasance, Stuart Whitman, Bradford Dillman, Sonia Infante
Year: 1985
The Movie:
If Lucio Fulci had made a jungle adventure/cannibal film, odds are pretty good that it would have turned out reasonably close to Rene Carona Jr.'s Treasure Of The Amazon. Low on plot or originality but high on gore and camp appeal, it's a fun, if slightly overlong, exploitation film that provides enough senseless violence, wanton nudity, and hamfisted dialogue to keep things interesting and fun.
In a nutshell, Stuart Whitman plays Gringo, an adventurer who is heading into the deep heart of the Amazon with a couple of other guys in search of some treasure. At the same time, a former Nazi named Klaus von Blantz (Donald Pleasance of Halloween) and his topless Amazonian bride have got the same idea. While the two parties are individually trying to beat one another to the prize, a team of archeologists made up of two guys and a girl with a bad southern accent (“Aw do declayuh!â€) find an assload of diamonds in the jungle and figure they're going to strike it rich in a big, big way.
When all three of the groups start stepping on one another's toes, however, things get a little more complicated and to make matters worse, there's a tribe of cannibals running around knocking people off with blow guns. Who will make it out with the booty? Who will make it out alive? Who will be eaten alive by a roving pack of amazonian cave dwelling crabs? How often will Donald Pleasance slip in and out of bad German accent mode? Is he really channeling the spirit of Colonel Klink like it sounds?
At just over a hundred minutes in length, Treasure Of The Amazon is a little bit padded feeling but when it's on, baby it's on. Aside from the aforementioned death by crabs scene (which very closely resembles the death by spiders scene in The Beyond) a man is eaten alive by pirahnas, another is eaten by a crocodile, and one unfortunate cast member is hung in a tree with a giant fish hook through his tongue. The cannibal tribe running around has a tendency to decapitate anyone and everyone who gets in their way, and numerous people get shot throughout the film.
The movie moves along reasonably well aside from one or two slow spots towards the middle of the film, and Cardona's camera does a nice job of capturing the jungle and making it appear as harsh and savage as any of the characters wandering through it. The gore effects are sufficiently grisley even if they are obviously low budget, and the performances, while not good in the technical sense of the word, suit the movie nicely despite their shortcomings.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer on this DVD is surprisingly clean and sharp. While there is some minor print damage there aren't any problems with mpeg compression and edge enhancement is mild when it does appear. The colors look quite nice, especially the reds and greens so prevelant throughout the movie, and flesh tones look natural and lifelike.
The English language Dolby Digital Stereo soundtrack might as well be mono as I didn't notice any channel seperation at all. The dialogue sounds rather flat but at least you can more or less hear everything that's being said without much trouble. The background music and sound effects are properly mixed into the track and they don't overpower any of the actors during playback.
VCI has included the original theatrical trailer for Treasure of the Amazon and trailers for a few other of their catalogue releases.
The Final Word:
Treasure Of The Amazon is a really goofy jungle adventure/horror movie hybrid that should definitely appeal to cult movie fans. Although it's a little overlong it's got plenty of gore set pieces and wacky characters that make for an entertaing, if really silly, viewing experience.