Paradiso infernale (1988)

I didn't come into this movie with high expectations. I knew it was essentially a spoof of the cannibal genre, I knew there was no actual cannibalism, and I knew that the violence and action was incredibly low. Upon watching it, I realized that those missing elements were the only things that could have saved it. I couldn't believe what I was watching. I was more than disappointed; I was dumbfounded. Antonio Climati, a man notorious for Mondo cinema, which has some of the most disturbing and violent images ever put to celluloid, makes a movie that some high school kids could make. There's hardly any worthwhile action in this movie. It's not toned down; it's non-existent. I've seen more from a PG movie, let alone from the cannibal genre. Not to revel in the violence, but that's what you expect from these movies, and it at least makes for an entertaining movie experience. This, however, leaves you watching a movie with people rowing down the river, laughing, in no real danger (for the most part), strutting in Amazonia with the most clichéd plot and events. Even worse, Climati seems to be attacking Deodato, the same way Deodato attacked him with Cannibal Holocaust, by insulting him for his treatment of animals! That would make more sense if he wasn't a Mondo man!

The whole ordeal opens with Jemma getting Pete, Mark, and Fred to come down to the Amazon, because she has a good hunch that some Professor Korenz, who was believed dead, is still alive. They come down to this small town looking for a guide. When he refuses, they go on the search for gas instead. This is where Climati starts his awkward, "animals are our friends" stance. When Pete resuscitates a monkey for a monkey trapper, the trapper decides to give them gas if they get him monkeys. Pretty dumb, but I've seen worse in better movies. Well, once they catch some monkeys, the natives get ticked and decide to "torture" them by making them pretend like they're monkeys and see how it feels. So they offer the natives a tape recorder if they let them go (Cannibal Holocaust, anyone?). When they finally reach this native village they're looking for, they find that gold hunters have been through and tortured the natives for information about the Imas tribe and their treasure. Of course, they must put a stop to this. On the way, they meet a horny river fisherman and child smugglers until they finally face off against the treasure hunters when they find the professor and his tribe. They leave the jungle feeling proud, like they found really themselves in the whole adventure. How incredibly corny can you get?!

I'm not going to analyze the faulty animal rights and cannibal genre morality, as it's so self-evident that there's no more discussion needed. That said, if you come into this movie with any expectations at all, you're going to be horribly disappointed, because there is so little substance to this film. As already mentioned, the plot is very cliché, and it's easy to figure out the main characters make it through. What isn't cliché is the array of completely random and confusing events that show up throughout. Instead of sticking with the actual story, you get lost in unnecessary and extremely boring side plots of different struggles and sequences cropping up, and by the time it gets back on track, the movie's almost over! They seem to be looking for this professor, but all the while they encounter child smugglers, gold hunters, and other bad-boys ruining the natives' way of life. These random events makes there very little action at all, because every ten minutes there's something new to focus on. There's no time to gain any interest. As a result, it's a very boring movie experience. A corny one, too, as it has the same set up of an inspiring children's movie. Being the "good-guys," our group has to take a moral stand to stop the "bad-guys," following nothing but their conscience. They're personality consists of everything right, and whatever could be misconstrued as bad they completely avoid. It makes them the stereotypical, happy, and extremely annoying do-gooders just because they have to be (and they're all best friends, how nice). There's no character development or any attempt at twists or turns, and it leaves a very bland aftertaste.

Even if Climati was trying to take a jab at Deodato and his genre, he could have still done it by making a better movie. Besides, he'd be attacking Deodato by using the same tactics Deodato was condemning! This anti-animal cruelty act would make a lot more sense if he didn't make Mondo films that the highlight of the movies was animal violence. The only way this could insult Deodato is by associating his film with it by naming it Cannibal Holocaust II. Maybe that was the point: he was trying to make the cannibal films look so damn bad that it would destroy the genre, like Deodato was able to annihilate Climati's Mondo world with Cannibal Holocaust. In fact, this wrecks any adventure movie by forcing them to share a genre with it. Besides the technical problems in morality, the movie itself is awful, as there are no noteworthy aspects what-so-ever, and the plot couldn't get any sappier or cornier. What's most disappointing is that it's very obvious that this movie has great potential. New decisions, such as better actors and different events were needed to pull it off. You'll be bored to tears (and frustrated as hell) with Cannibal Holocaust II, so only see it if you're a cannibal completionist (though this isn't a cannibal movie, per-se) or are incredibly curious beyond belief.