A couple of days ago I told you that Ruggero Deodato, infamous director of Cannibal Holocaust, was making a cameo in Eli Roth’s Hostel: Part 2. Now comes word that Deodato’s film has essentially been remade… by Jonathan “Punisher” Hensleigh and Gale Anne Hurd. What a weird coincidence.
Ryan “Rotten” Turek over at Fangoria reports on the film, Welcome to the Jungle, which is actually done, even though no one had even heard of it before this week. There’s no listing for the film on IMDB, but Ryan managed to catch a screening of it at the American Film Market, where he learned that it’s for sale to international distributors, but that someone has already purchased the US rights. He offers a mixed-bag look at the film here, saying that the gore doesn’t kick in until after the hour mark, but that Hensleigh does recreate the wonderful “woman impaled on a pole in her vagina or anus and coming out of her mouth” moment.
Ryan doesn’t mention if the film is credited as a remake of Cannibal Holocaust, but it seems to be one right down to the “this is the last known footage” element, which Deodato pioneered long before anybody thought of looking for a Blair Witch. It’s the standard cannibal story – young people filming themselves as they go into the jungles and get et up. Ryan does mention that the film has the Guns ‘n Roses song Welcome to the Jungle playing over the end credits, which sucks.
I won’t mind if the film doesn’t acknowledge itself as a remake – there’s nothing more grindhouse than ripping off another movie wholesale, and the whole Italian cannibal genre was one rip-off after another. (Which doesn’t mean I don’t love them!) I’m mostly curious if Hensleigh re-uses his most potent moment from The Punisher, and has the cannibals trick the group by putting a fire hydrant in front of their canoe. That wiley Frank Castle!