One of the factors that led to my sad existence as a bad movie fan was watching Johnny Wiessmuller's Tarzan flicks when they actually used to show such films on the television. From Tarzan clearly swinging through the jungle on a trapeze swing to fighting a rubber crocodile, from Cheetah going from a live chimp to a hairy rag doll when thrown across the jungle floor, it was a constant source of hilarity for me and my family.
So it was that within about ten minutes of Gungala I realised that I was getting Tarzan: Only With Boobs and Less Laughs. I didn't realise that before resorting to slaughtering animals in real life to provide entertainment (with Cannibal Holocaust and Last Cannibal World), Ruggero Deodato had made this film, a jungle action flick that begins nice enough with the pretty Kitty Swan running about the jungle in the buff to a nice theme tune. Sadly, the first thing she seems to learn from the modern women is how to cover up!
You see Gungala is the long lost heiress to a huge fortune who vanished when a plane in crashed in the jungle some years before. An expedition is sent either by her family or an insurance company (and I've now resorted to having to translate Spanish on the fly, as well as Italian, so forgive me if I'm a bit choppy with the plot), and of course not everyone involved in the expedition is entirely trustworthy.
Julie I think works for the company, as does her colleague Johnny. The blonde guy I think was perhaps a relative of Gungalas. Of course there's an evil foreign guy working independently with the local cannibals we have to look out for too, as well as a drunken mage-like man. But first, as with the Wiessmuller films, all the black porters must be slaughtered by the natives about ten seconds after everyone sets foot in the jungle, but don't worry - our white heroes are safe behind their suitcase barricade, with their long-range rifles.
It's not long of course before Gungala turns up with her pet panther and starts acting like a cat and making Julie jealous (women, eh?), but then I think Johnny started hitting it off with Gungala and we get a very lengthy sequence where Gungala imitates various animals while Johnny tries to figure out what 'Can I mash your paps' is animal talk. Also, the foreign guy keeps trying to kill everyone and those nasty cannibal types are overdue for a jungle chase, so how is the plot going to fit in the quicksand sequence, the tribal drumming sequence, the topless native girl sequence, the topless cannibal tribeswoman sequence, the Gungala and the chimp versus the cannibal tribesman sequence before we get to the big escape part with Gungala calling in her elephant friends?
All of that was par for the course with those Johnny Wiessmuller films, so why am I complaining about this one? It's just a bit dry and serious I guess, but then, would you rather have a bunch of actors tear apart a turtle for real? For shame, Ruggero.
Gungala did learn one thing I guess - all men are jerks.
