Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Human Animals Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 7, 2021

Eligio Herrero's "Human Animals" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro. The only bonus feature on the release is a long program with the director. With music and optional English subtitles. Region-Free.

It is there a scenario that could establish a legit connection between Eligio Herrero’s Human Animals and Luc Besson’s The Last Battle (Le Dernier Combat)? At the moment, I can’t think of one. And yet, it very much looks and feels like the inspiration for these films emerged from the same blueprint and at exactly the same time. Just a coincidence? I am going to mention a few interesting facts about these films below and let you decide.

Herrero and Besson went to work with complete scripts in 1983, both describing some rather wild adventures in a world destroyed by a nuclear conflict. Both screenplays were dialog-free. (In The Last Battle two words are uttered, but they are predictably meaningless). Both films can easily be described as minimalistic, too. What does this mean exactly? Well, they are filled with visuals of barren landscapes and utilize only a couple of actors. In other words, the post-apocalyptic world that is revealed in them isn’t the post-apocalyptic world from Mad Max: The Road Warrior. One last thing. In both films there is an attractive female character that functions as a very important litmus test.

Herrero worked with a much smaller budget and apparently a simpler script, which is arguably why his vision of the post-apocalyptic world is less exciting. His film follows closely three survivors who have retained all but one of their human skills – the ability to talk. Two are healthy young men (Jose Yepes, Geir Indvard) and one is a healthy young woman (Carole Kirkham). After they recover from what appears to be some sort of a nuclear concussion on a desolated beach, the three begin wandering around and soon after reach a secluded villa where it quickly dawns on them that they will need to be a lot more creative if they are to remain alive. Their biggest problem? Finding edible food. Thankfully, a stray dog befriends them and eventually teaches them how to begin providing for themselves in the absence of fully stocked supermarkets and functioning refrigerators. I’d rather not reveal what happens next because it is part of the all-important litmus test that was mentioned earlier.

Besson’s film tells a story about survival as well, but the troubles and journey of its characters are different. Also, the main message that emerges from it is that human beings are always striving for progress, even when they have endured a great deal of suffering and have been pushed on the verge of extinction, which isn’t the message of Herrero’s film. Admittedly, there is a similar dose of cynicism in both films which gradually exposes the same human flaws that make it awfully easy to argue that human beings are not the undisputed intellectually superior creatures on this planet, but when all is said and done Besson’s film definitely emerges as the more optimistic one.

The other key difference is that Besson’s film boasts superior artistry as well. Although it was shot with a smaller than usual budget too, it utilizes some very unique, often very beautifully lensed sets that become essential pieces of a striking concept. Herrero’s film leaves the impression that it is an organic project that routinely relies on Mother Nature to help it build up its atmosphere, which ultimately ends up being its greatest strength. It is not edited particularly well either.

Herrero and veteran cinematographer Manuel Rojas shot the entire film on location in beautiful Lanzarote, the northernmost of the Canary Islands, which is frequently described as “the volcano island." The footage with the red fiddlers emerging from the island’s wet sands has to be seen to be believed.

Human Animals Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Human Animals arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro.

The release is sourced from a very, very beautiful recent 4K master. There is a small note from Mondo Macabro about some slight jitter in a couple of sequences that is apparently inherited, but even though I was able to spot it, I think that it is completely harmless. Indeed, on my system the entire film looked simply gorgeous, though it is actually quite easy to tell that it was shot with a very small budget which is why large portions of it tend to look like extracts from a documentary feature. During daylight and nighttime footage, for instance, delineation and depth are always striking, and background nuances are about as good as they can appear in 1080p. Clarity is impressive too, especially during well-lit close-ups. Grain is very healthy, tight, and evenly exposed, which is why the overall fluidity of the visuals is outstanding as well. The entire master is beautifully graded, too. In fact, saturation levels and balance are so good and so convincing that at the moment I would argue that Human Animals is the best looking release to emerge from Mondo Macabro in 2021. There are a few minor white specks, but they will not distract you. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Human Animals Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Music LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided, but they are useful only during the opening credits of the film.

The film does not have a conventional dialog. There are various organic sounds and noises that are blended with a pretty interesting electronic/symphonic rock soundtrack. Rather predictably, the dynamic contrasts are fairly modest. I did not encounter any age-related imperfections or digital anomalies to report in our review.

Human Animals Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Director Eligio Herrero - in this program, Eligio Herrero discusses his early work as a film distributor and some of the famous cult films he managed, the general state of the Spanish film industry and specifically the evolution of genre films, and his work on Human Animals. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (51 min).

• Mondo Macabro Reel - a collection of trailers for other films released by Mondo Macabro.

Human Animals Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I find it pretty odd that Human Animals and The Last Battle were completed at the exact same time because both tell stories about survivors in a post-apocalyptic world without any conventional dialog. There are other smaller but not meaningless similarities between them as well, so there was definitely something in the water -- or wine -- their creators were drinking at the time. The latter is clearly a superior film, so if you do not have it in your library yet, I would recommend picking it up first. Then, if you enjoyed it and feel adventurous, you can experiment with this release, which is sourced from an outstanding recent 4K master. RECOMMENDED, but only to folks that occasionally like to roll the dice on low-budget genre films.