The Cannibal in the Jungle

This fake documentary-drama was pretty entertaining and did a good job of capturing the feel of a "real" documentary. It provided just enough factual information to lay the ground work for an entertaining, if somewhat predictable, storyline, and it didn't become overly cheesy along the way. Tension was built up fairly well and it was believable that the characters could have been real people.

Unfortunately, it aired on Animal Planet, which is a horrible fit for a fictional story about "undiscovered primates." This should have been on SyFy or some other appropriate network, where viewers could clearly understand that it was fiction and just sit back and enjoy a decent attempt at suspense. For a network which is supposed to deal with real animals and real documentary material, Animal Planet seems to be following the path of History as it falls further and further from its original mission.

This movie deserves to be a cult classic on a slightly higher level than 'The Blair Witch Project'. It has a similar reality format, and a greater degree of believability. It really and truly makes you believe in what is happening. I think the movie was criticized by fans of Animal Planet because it is supposed to be a reality educational channel. However, if you are a fan of horror it is an excellent watch, and will not disappoint. It is hard to explain why I like the movie without spoilers, but I think it is well worth viewing and will not be a waste of your time. The filming style adds to the believability and leaves you with a sense that you have actually caught a glimpse into an almost alternate reality, yet something that could conceivably happen--and maybe, just maybe they really exist.

I usually give these types of 'films' a break if they as entertaining and a bit thrilling as this one was for me. Alas, when I see other reviewers throwing down 10's and defending the scientific veracity of a blatantly fabricated mockumentary I have to be a bit more ruthless with my review and my rating. When they present these farce's as documentaries they tend to completely fool the more gullible in our society. History and science already have enough distortion and lies floating around out there and we do not need these filmmakers actively trying to increase the disinformation. What's next? Found footage of Santa Claus in his natural environment???

With thousands of undiscovered species and unprecedented access to wildlife, I have no idea why Animal Planet continues to fabricate sensationalized garbage like this. This type of trash is the nature version of The Kardashians. What an extreme disappointment coming from the network that was once a reliable source of programming built around the fascinating natural world. I attend many film festivals and have seen outstanding, unique films about nature but unfortunately, they never get distribution. Hopefully, as Animal Planet abandons quality programming, some enterprising network will recognize the void they left when they departed from intellectual viewers and started catering to the less sophisticated audience.

I enjoyed this movie. I actually found it similar to The Blair Witch Project, but better overall. It presents the story of scientists in an Indonesian jungle, looking for a believed extinct species of bird, and stumbling onto something much more sinister. Yes, I understand the comments that "this isn't what I expect from Animal Planet" and maybe there's a better way for AP to let viewers know this is not a serious documentary about animals. But take it for what it is -- entertainment.