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Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: May 6th, 2014.
Director: Carlos Tobalina
Cast: Nina Fause, Bigg John, Hank Lardner, Chico, Annette Haven
Year: 1978
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The Movie:
Vinegar Syndrome, hot on the heels of their release of Marilyn And The Senator, once again offers up an entry from the filmography of director Carlos Tobalina. This time around he tosses aside attempts at political satire in favor of a Tarzan inspired sex romp seemingly shot (at least partially) on location in the jungles of South America complete with the cooperation of some native tribes.
The plot, such as it is, follows a group of explorer types who hop a plan to South America hoping to strike it rich in the South American jungle. The leaders? A blonde dude with a moustache named Hank (played by Hank Lardner) and a fetching blonde lass named Sylvia (Nina Fause). After their arrival in South America we're treated to a lot of travelogue footage and you have to wonder if Tobalina didn't just edit in a whole lot of his home movies into this feature to pad it out. Lots of shots of exotic animals, birds, snakes - stuff like that. At any rate, a bunch of white folk (one of whom is Annette Haven credited as Janette Haven) have an orgy with a foxy, curvy South American cutie. The movie cuts back to this orgy scene often throughout its running time.
Oh right, the plot. So yeah, these guys and gals all head into the jungle and meet up with some surprisingly authentic looking tribespeople and then eventually make the acquaintance of a jungle man named Evor (Bigg John - but not John Holmes, which has been reported once or twice over the years if memory serves correct). Evor is an instant hit with the ladies and he gets his knob polished a few times while his big gorilla pal (a dude, logic would dictate a black dude at that once he lets it all hang out, in a goofy costume) runs around the jungle a bit before getting it on with one of the ladies in his own inimitable way. Everyone appears to be having a good time until Sylvia and dastardly Hank show their true colors…
At seventy-nine minutes or so in length this is a fun, breezy watch. The story doesn't always deal in things like logic or sense and it would stand to reason that sometimes inserted bits of footage don't always jive with other bits of footage but it's hard not to snicker at this. Bigg John plays Evor pretty ham-fistedly, talking with a slightly stilted ton and doing his best Tarzan impersonation. He's in good shape so when he's running around in a loincloth hooting and hollering it really doesn't seem like such a stretch, at least not compared to other Tarzan types that have popped up over the years. Of course, the guy in the gorilla suit is obviously just that, but his sex scenes are pretty funny. Annette Haven isn't used all that well here, she's just sort of a background player getting it on in the group scene but it's definitely her hanging out on the couch going down and she's as pretty as every here. Nina Fause and Hank Lardner are amusing enough as the leads, though neither is really all that charismatic.
Pay attention to the opening and closing credits. The opening shots look like Tobalina just had a poster printed up and moved the camera around the bottom to show off the text indicating who did what. But then there are other titles generated in between those clips. It's very odd. During the end credits we learn which tribes were used in the movie - the director is kind enough to thank them for their work!
Video/Audio/Extras:
Scanned in 2k from its 35mm original camera negative, Jungle Blue arrives on DVD framed at 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen in a pretty impressive transfer from Vinegar Syndrome. Though there are a few vertical scratches here and there and a second or two of harsh damage, the vast majority of the film is in excellent condition. Colors are reproduced very nicely so the jungle looks lush and green and the tacky seventies fashions are as bold as you'd want them to be. Black levels are solid as well. Detail is as good as it's going to get on a standard definition offering and there are no noticeable issues with typical authoring quirks like noise reduction or compression artifacts.
The film gets the Dolby Digital Mono treatment, in English and without any optional language options or subtitles provided. Clarity of the mix is fine. The score sounds good here and the levels are properly balanced, as such, the dialogue is easy to understand. There is minor hiss in a few spots but it's not really a big deal.
Outside of a static menu and chapter selection, the only extra on the disc is the film's original theatrical trailer.
The Final Word:
Jungle Blue is quirky, goofy, sexy fun. The story is all over the place but there's enough inspired silliness going on here to make this an enjoyable eighty minutes of low rent jungle adventure smut! Vinegar Syndrome's DVD release is light on extras but it sounds decent and it looks great and the fact that Annette Haven is in it, however briefly, doesn't hurt things at all.
