I don't know what Bruno Mattei got for Christmas in 2002, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if I found out that he received a bumper collection of jungle movie screenplays, and if he did receive that then he certainly put it to good use in 2003 as he filmed two jungle rip-off movies back to back! His other 2003 film 'Land of Death' was a shameful splicing together of cannibals and every key scene from John McTiernan's masterpiece 'Predator', while this film, which is known in some circles as 'Cannibal Holocaust: The Beginning' is a direct rip-off of Ruggero Deodato's masterpiece 'Cannibal Holocaust'. It's been a while since I saw Cannibal Holocaust so I can't say whether or not this is a frame for frame remake...but I can remember enough to say that this film is pretty similar! This film focuses on Grace Forsyte; a reporter for a TV channel that wants to make money by showing human suffering, which apparently is popular after the coverage of the Iraq war. So they set off into the jungle to film some real life cannibals.
This film was shot back to back with Land of the Dead, and that's not hard to believe; as while the films don't feature the same plots, they are very similar in content and feature most of the same cast members. Given Mattei's track record, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that some of the exact same footage has made it into both films. I would definitely say that this one is the better film; it seems to have more focus and the blatant ripping off isn't quite so cheeky as to rip out scenes in their entirety a la the pig scene from Land of Death (...and Predator). Naturally, most people going into this film will want some gore; and Mattei does deliver on that front. There's a fair amount of cannibalism and surprisingly it actually doesn't look too bad, which is to the film's credit. Mondo Cannibale is also fairly well made and the cinematography isn't too bad either. If you've seen Cannibal Holocaust, you will surely know exactly where the film is going and there are no surprises there either. It could be said that the film is a commentary on society; but it could also be said that it's a direct rip-off of a film that is commentary on society, and the latter is more true.
Bruno Mattei died just four years after the release of this film, but that didn't stop him making no less than nine films in-between. I haven't been able to find much info on the films he made after this one; but I'm hoping he delved into that book of jungle screenplays and at least made a cannibalised (and featuring cannibals) version of some classics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai and Apocalypse Now
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