Slave of the Cannibal God, Ursula Andress Again!

For the fourth time, this blog will focus on an Ursula Andress film (see this blog for "Loaded Guns" on Nov. 24th, "Stateline Motel" on Dec. 9th, and "The 10th Victim" on Jan. 2nd).  The Swiss actress turned down the lead in "Sophie's Choice" to keep her B Movie Hall of Fame status.  Today, we will look at an Italian film from 1978, directed by Sergio Martino ("The Big Alligator River" featured on this blog on March 13th), shot in Sri Lanka, "Slave of the Cannibal God" (aka "Mountain of the Cannibal God").  Oh yes, as an....TARANTULA...service to you, instead of describing all the jungle carnage to you in gory detail, I will convey it to you in a subliminal manner.

The plot: Susan (Andress) arrives in New Guinea, with her brother,  in hopes of finding her husband, Professor Stevenson.  The professor.....LIZARD....led an expedition into the jungle that disappeared without a trace.  Susan meets up with his colleague, Professor Foster (Stacy Keach) who agrees to help Susan and her brother find Stevenson.  Foster believes that Stevenson wandered into an unexplored part of the jungle where a cannibalistic.....BIG SNAKE.....tribe called the Puka used to rule.  As the expedition begins, it becomes apparent that everyone in it is hiding something.  As they enter the jungle, Keach hires a number of native bodies to assist in carrying supplies.  Unfortunately for them, they take the role of the USS Enterprise crew members who beam down to a planet with Kirk, McCoy, and Spock.  They get picked off one by one.  As Susan repeatedly is attacked by jungle critters, they meet up with Manolo (Claudio Cassinelli) who joins.....ALLIGATOR...the expedition.  As their expedition then comes under attack from a mysterious tribe (see picture below), Manolo brings them to a mission led by an old friend who is a priest.

Unfortunately, this priest is a bit of a prude.....BATS....so when Susan and Manolo, and then her brother and a native girl decide to fornicate, the priest ex-communicates them from the village, but not after the Puka attack and kill the amorous native girl.  As they trek closer and closer to the cannibal mountain.....ALLIGATOR....double-crosses and hidden agendas abound.  Manolo discovers that Susan and her brother are carrying a Geiger counter, but since Susan is a major league babe, he doesn't make an issue of this.  As our team battles the river rapids, the jungle, and intermittent Puka raids, they arrive at the mountain.....KOMODO DRAGON...and make some horrifying discoveries.  To make matters worse, the Puka capture all of them intending to eat the men.  Unfortunately for Susan, their plans for her are far more horrifying than merely eating her.

As Susan faces an unspeakable fate, the mystery of her missing husband is revealed.  Can Manolo escape the frying pan......COBRA.....and rescue the woman he lusts for?  Will the cannibal god decide to take Susan as his bride?  All these questions are answered in a terrifying conclusion.  The musical score is cool, and the acting is fine.  Sergio Martino's direction utilizes his big star, Andress, to the viewer's satisfaction.  See the 103 minute version of this film (sometimes available on YouTube), and not the 83 minute one.  35 years after refusing the title role in "Sophie's Choice," Ursula Andress is making her fourth appearance on this blog....and we have ignored every Meryl Streep film made.