Primitif

The first we hear of Gatot Sudarto's music is a song over the opening credits that sounds like something Daft Punk might have composed; in addition to tribal percussion, some subsequent themes bring Tangerine Dream to mind, among others. (And don't miss a later theme that's simply lifted outright.) Leo Fioole's cinematography, often excitable, seems to indicate right off the bat that he's just here to have a good time. For as straightforward as the premise is I'm sure everyone had to find their own way to spice things up a bit. That includes scene writing that even within the first ten minutes or so shifts from arguably celebrating indigenous cultures (at least in a broad, amorphous sense), to definitely exploiting them for cheap kicks (i.e., "Gee golly, would you look at that!"). Thereafter it's not long before the adventure begins, and we know the horror won't be too far behind. Falling right in line with many other titles that have been made about cannibals, it's safe to say that 'Primitif' isn't breaking any new ground, and it's no exemplar of film-making or storytelling. It's still suitably well made and enjoyable on its own merits, though - whatever one may think of the dubious nature of the concept - and good enough for something relatively uninvolved to check out on a quiet day.

Reasonable questions abound. Did Sisworo Gautama Putra intend from the start to make total schlock, and gleefully embrace tropes in the process, or was the intent wholly earnest and the rest manifested naturally? What impact did the production have on the local environment and wildlife? What safety precautions, if any, were in place for the more dangerous scenes and stuntwork? More esoterically, what balance (if any) is there in this feature about cannibalistic indigenous people between tawdrily feeding into appalling prejudices and exploitation, and real-life mistreatment of such populations, versus just having violent cinematic fun that in no way reflects reality? I don't have the answers to these questions, nor others that may come to mind. Some things are certain, however, and chief among them is that it seems like the cast was having a blast, even the extras; especially in the more action-oriented moments they definitely went all-in. Those stunts that are employed look great, not to mention practical effects including blood and gore; everything from makeup, to art direction, to props is terrific, and the filming locations are gorgeous.

Some instances of dialogue, scene writing, acting, and direction come off better than others, both in terms of quality generally and, specifically, how the indigenous people are depicted - usually, not with anything remotely resembling respect or integrity. With that said, I absolutely think this would have been better had it been produced as a silent film, excising dialogue outright. Overall Putra's direction is fine, at least when it comes to fundamental arrangement of shots and scenes, and the filmmaker loved a spectacle. I plainly hate the animal cruelty, though in fairness, different cultures have different sensibilities about such matters; the use of some stock footage to pad out scenes is a little gauche. The story at large is workable, at least on paper; in practice there are issues here of pacing insofar there is notable lag between major beats, and some portions of the length just kind of trundle along. This probably could have been a smidgen shorter. Above all, despite the strength 'Primitif' bears at its best, and in some unexpected ways (that music is catchy!), it's not so striking as to be wholly riveting. It's appreciable, but never altogether thrilling, and given how highly questionable some of the writing is, there are major upper limits on the potential here.

You could do better, and you could do worse. It's very troubled, certainly, above all in regards to portraying the natives but even in the weaker parts of various aspects. One way or another, though, the movie only wanted to be a genre romp, and I can't say it didn't achieve its goal - and with more success than not, surely. There hardly any need to watch this, but it's passably worthwhile if you happen to come across it; I would just offer the caveat that you really should know what you're getting into before you give it a try.

In the era where Jungle/Cannibal movies are crowned, Indonesia filmmaker didn't waste the potential. The result is Primitive, a monetized thriller that supposed to be scary. The movie is about a group of college student to do some research upon some primitive tribes in the jungle. Unbeknown, they drifts to wrong site of the jungle and met this cannibalistic peoples. And this began the carnage toward them.

Due the budget, there's seem a limitation in creativity and vision. The movie meant to be serious, but unbelievable that there's a lot comedic situation, despite still left some good scare.

Primitive starred by Barry Prima, prior his Film-Silat (Period Action) era. He is very popular in the 80's. Unbelievable (again!) that he ever played a role in this kind of movies (actually, there's also has 'Serigala', a blatant copy of 'Friday The13th'), before he's got exploits in the 80's.

Even though look cheap in every aspects (f/x, gore, costumes, setting, etch), actually this movie is still an enjoyable flick. Watch this if you have chance, and you will believe everything I've said.

6/10

An atrociously made, acted and dubbed cannibal movie that is also very tame in terms of violence (except for a scene where a crocodile is skinned alive) and nudity (it must have been on the female lead's contract not to have a single nude scene). The "highlights" of the film's stupidity include:

A: The poorly integrated stock footage of animals killing each other.

B: The lamest attempted-rape sequence you'll ever see.

C: A scene of the cannibals having circled around the hero and then attacking him one-at-a-time, and him defending himself with karate moves!

D: A silly conversation about whether the cannibals have any chances of "adapting to our civilization" ("Well, it's gonna take quite some time"!).

E: The already-mentioned axe-boomerang scene, and a terribly edited spear-throwing scene a few seconds earlier.

The on-location filming is the only thing that forces me to give this film one star, instead of none. Only for the desperately curious.

Primitives is an extremely rare cannibal film filmed in Indonesia, and although it is a blatant take on cannibal ferox, it is unique in odd ways. The soundtrack is stolen Kraftwerk! Yes, I kid ye not, the film actually opens to "We are the robots"!

The "heroes" are Scooby-doo esque students that venture into the jungle to gain some hands-on experience with primitive culture to aid them in writing their thesis, and decide to go for gold by venturing even deeper into savage territory, in order to bring back experience they can really write about, and that they do. They take a raft down river, and when it hits a rock, their guide is killed and they are separated. Lost, they encounter hostile savages, who capture two of the students, while the other wanders around looking for them. The rest writes itself.

Primitives is generally a dull watch, but has its moments. In one scene for instance, a kiddie savage pee's on a captive student (Robert) from a height of 20 feet while a laughs! In one combat scene, A savage throws an axe at Robert, and he misses. The axe then boomerangs and strikes the savage in the throat, killing him! There are also some interesting animal combat scenes, like a leopard versus two crocodiles, and a huge snake versus a huge reptile.

Like other cannibal films, it has some token animal killing scenes, although they are mostly faked I'd say (but still yuk). It is also pretty gory in spots, the most notable being a scene where a savage gives birth, and licks the bloody baby clean! (Eskimos do this too, by the way, and they don't use diapers...) There's also an excellent spike trap scene which will make you howl laughing.

Still, unless you can't get enough of cannibal films, you may not appreciate it, but it may act as a good introduction to cannibal film to the uninitiated. (Though poor nonetheless)

Cannibal holocaust lite!

I obtained this on the VideoAsia "Tales of Voodoo 2" label. No voodoo to be seen, although the eponymous natives were reasonably uncivilised.

What do you get from your average cannibal movie and how does it match up?

Well I would venture to list and suggest the following:

Soggy jungle scenes: present; Offensive animal cruelty: present; Woeful acting: present++; Poor camera-work: present+++ Nudity: not a jot; Gore: present; Plot: the usual.

Lawd! This film is desperate. A downmarket Cannibal Holocaust meets Cannibal God. The Indonesians haven't a clue. Watch something else....