Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 30, 2016

Joe D'Amato's "Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals" a.k.a. "Emanuelle e gli ultimi cannibali" (1977) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors 88 Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film and original Italian opening and closing credits. Also included with the release is a collectible poster artcard. In English or Italian, with optional English subtitles for the Italian track. Region-B "locked".

The beautiful reporter

After a bizarre event in an unnamed mental institution somewhere in New York City, the beautiful undercover reporter Emanuelle (Laura Gemser, Black Emanuelle, The Alcove) decides to travel to the Amazon jungle to find the last cannibal tribe. After she secures funding for her trip, Emanuelle convinces the handsome professor Mark Lester (Gabriele Tinti, Rider on the Rain, The Slave) to come with her.

Shortly after they arrive in the jungle, Emanuelle and the professor are joined by an ambitious young girl (Mónica Zanchi, Hitch-Hike), a nun (Annamaria Clementi), and a hunter (Donald O'Brien) and his wife (Nieves Navarro, Naked Violence) and their experienced black servant (Percy Hogan). The group then enters the jungle and begins looking for the cannibals.

The prolific Italian helmer Joe D’Amato directed this silly but rather enjoyable film in 1977, three years after Just Jaeckin completed the classic Emmanuelle with the late Sylvia Kristel. Excluding a few beautifully shot erotic sequences, however, the two films have virtually nothing in common.

The film was clearly scripted to appeal to two completely different groups of viewers. For the first group D’Amato unapologetically imitated everything that made Jaeckin’s film a hit but with a much more inexperienced cast. This quickly becomes obvious because the leads frequently look stiff and tend to struggle with their lines whenever they engage in meaningful conversations. Only during the erotic footage they relax and the movement of D’Amato’s camera becomes more convincing. For the second group D’Amato attempted to recreate the exotic atmosphere from Paolo Cavara and Gualtiero Jacopetti’s groundbreaking Mondo Cane and Umberto Lenzi’s daring Man from Deep River. The footage from the jungle, however, is mostly disappointing. More often than not it looks like it was shot by a young director who was well aware that he had a small budget to work with and as a result tried to do as much as possible in a very short period of time.

Admittedly, the roughness and the odd story give the film a special vibe that could be somewhat attractive. After all, the intent was not to produce a farce but an authentic exotic film. The inclusion of the graphic black-and-white footage with the cannibals that solidifies Emanuelle’s decision to travel to the jungle makes this perfectly clear. The final product, however, is a different type of exotic film. It is a bit like the special creation of an ambitious bartender -- it was done with the proper enthusiasm and from afar it looks promising, but the end result is something that can never be praised for its outstanding quality.

Gemser and Zanchi are the only actors who manage to leave a lasting impression. The two also appeared in Giuseppe Vari’s much more straightforward film Sister Emanuelle, which was also completed in 1977.

The film’s original soundtrack features Italian singer and composer Nico Fidenco’s hit “Make Love on the Wing”. Also included is an excellent instrumental version of the song. (A third, very good version also appears on the soundtrack Fidenco created for Marino Girolami's Zombi Holocaust).

Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC, and granted a 1080p transfer, Joe D'Amato's Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films.

The release is sourced from an old master which was most likely prepped during the DVD era. Somewhat predictably, the bulk of the film looks quite rough. Detail ranges from problematic to average; depth also isn't convincing. During the darker/nighttime footage, in particular, shadow definition can be very disappointing. There are traces of fading and other age-related anomalies that have affected the integrity of basic color tonalities. It is easy to tell that all sorts of nuances are missing as well. There are no traces of recent degraining and sharpening corrections, but the master has a fair share of inherited limitations. Some light grain is visible, but it is quite erratic. Also, there are traces of old filtering corrections that have been inherited from the master. Image stability is satisfactory, but there are select sequences where minor wobbling can be spotted. Minor dirt specks, fading marks, and small scratches can be seen as well. Ultimately, the film does look quite soft and shaky in high-definition, though I must say that I like the fact that no attempts have been made to repolish and resharpen it with powerful digital tools. In other words, the current master is quite weak, but the technical presentation is also preferable to the many overprocessed and boasting digital looks transfers that have been used for releases of various Italian genre films. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 and Italian LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the Italian track. The subtitles cannot be used on the English track.

I viewed the film with the original English track. It is obvious that it has not been recently remastered as there are some small noticeable fluctuations in terms of depth and clarity. However, you should keep in mind that the actors were redubbed, so many of the inconsistencies are in fact inherited. A new remastering job would have certainly rebalanced the dialog, but the current track is still fine as it is. Its biggest weakness is the fairly modest dynamic range and its lack of nuanced dynamics. The dialog is easy to follow, but there are some very small pops and light background hiss.

Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Alternate Credits - Italian opening and closing credits. (4 min).

• Trailer - original trailer for Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Trailer Reel - a collection of trailers for other 88 Films releases.

• Cover - reversible cover with original poster art.

• Collectible Poster Artcard - please see the screencaptures at the bottom of our review.

Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Laura Gemser appeared in a number of different Emanuelle films and the majority of them are a lot more interesting to view as time capsules rather than as excellent genre pictures. Many of them also have really good soundtracks, though they don't match the quality of the soundtracks Pierre Bachelet and Francis Lai created for the first two original Emmanuelle films with Sylvia Kristel. Joe D'Amato's Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals is an experimental project that was scripted to appeal to two completely different groups of viewers. I think that it is fine to see late at night, but you have to approach it with the right mindset. The film can look much better in high-definition, but at least unlike the various early Tinto Brass films that have transitioned to Blu-ray it is properly framed. Consider adding Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals to your collections if you can find it on sale. RECOMMENDED.