Emanuelle and the Last CannibalsEuro-sleaze merchant Joe D'Amato probably thought he was bringing something new to the exploitation field by fusing elements of the long-running softcore Emmanuelle series with the cannibal subgenre foisted on the viewing public by such directors as D'Amato and
Umberto Lenzi, among others. The end product is merely excruciating tedium punctuated by occasional kinky sex in the first half of the film and cheap, gag-inducing special effects in the second. The threadbare plot involves the investigations of a glamorous journalist (
Laura Gemser, then-current star of the Emmanuelle series, though not actually playing that character here) into the cannibal proclivities of a certain Amazon tribe. After viewing documentary footage of cannibals torturing, executing and devouring their enemies, she apparently still wants to learn about such behavior firsthand and journeys down the Amazon with a research team to find the tribe in question. Naturally, the entire group falls into the cannibals' clutches, leading to endless messy scenes of people being carved up, impaled, disemboweled, split in half and (of course) eaten. Too gory for softcore fans and too dull for gorehounds, this is basically a film with no target audience whatsoever. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
