| Cover Art |
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| Credits |
Director: Roy Garret (Mario Gariazzo)
Starring: Elvire Audray, Will Gonzales, Dick Campbell, Andrea Coppola
Screenplay: Franco Prosperi
Country: Italy
AKA: Schiave Bianche: Violenza in Amazzonia; Amazonia: The Catherine Miles Story |
This late entry in the 'jungle' cycle of Italian
horror films claims to be based on a true story.
The film is often called The Catherine Miles
Story and tells of the titular character
who, for her 18th birthday, travels from London
to the Amazon to spend it with her wealthy parents.
Once there she and her parents take a trip down
the Orinoco River with her Aunt and Uncle in tow.
Things are going nicely until they are unexpectedly
ambushed by local natives of the Guanira headhunter
tribe who fire poisonous darts at them, which
causes paralysis. Whilst immobile the natives
decapitate the parents and carry Catherine back
to their tribe. They also take along the heads
of her parents as trophies of their conquest.
Back at the village she becomes the property
of one of the tribesmen, which doesn't make Umukai
(another tribesman who has taken a liking to Catherine
) very happy. The two fight in a ritualistic tribal
battle and Umukai emerges the victor and so Catherine
is passed to him instead. Umukai treats her well,
but she will not accept any kindnesses from him
because she holds him responsible for the murder
of her parents. Time passes and Catherine and
Umukai, with the help of a young girl who can
speak limited English, learn to communicate with
each other. Catherine soon learns that the Guanira
were paid by her Aunt and Uncle to kill her parents
and ensure that she herself never returned so
that the inheritance would pass onto them. Understandably
angered by this, she coerces Umukai to take her
to the family home. He is reluctant, but agrees
nonetheless. Upon arriving she discovers that
her Aunt and Uncle have moved in and taken control
of the family estate. With calculated rage she
bursts in upon them as they sleep and fires the
paralysing darts at them and then bloodily removes
their heads with an axe.
Throughout the film there are flashes forward
to Catherine's trial for the murder of her Aunt
and Uncle and at this point the film again returns
to this and reaches its conclusion.
Roy Garret's (Mario Gariazzo) film isn't really
the best that the genre has to offer. His handling
of the subject matter seems rather clumsy and
a bit muddled. It seems that he can't decide whether
it's to be an exploitational jungle movie, action
adventure or serious drama. There are just too
many conflicting directorial styles at work here,
which does not serve the story well. He his certainly
nowhere as adept with this material as Deodato
or Lenzi would have been.
The crime-scene footage, which was supposedly
real, is obviously fake, and this is just one
of many moments in the film where Garret flounders.
The gore, though plentiful in places, is just
too unconvincing to provide any real shocks and
Garret proves himself incapable of delivering
what is required to make this an effective slice
of horror cinema.
An interesting story but ultimately disappointing. |
