Horror Safari should be the title of a movie about Christmas shopping, but no such luck—it’s a jungle safari movie, alright. You see an Italian poster above, and an alternate version at bottom. It was released in Italy this month in 1982 with an English title, but was renamed Invaders of the Lost Gold for its international release in an attempt to channel Raiders of the Lost Ark. You’re worried already, no? You should be. We became intrigued by the film because we discovered it features softcore icon Laura Gemser, who we saw recently in Violenza in un carcere femminile. Her skin flicks are terrible, but here she’s featured in an ostensibly non-erotic role, so we had to take a flyer on it.
In a prologue segment, a Japanese platoon carrying twelve cases of gold through the Philippine jungle at the end of World War II is attacked by tribesmen. They’re decimated, but the three survivors hide the cases. Thirty-six years later a hard-bitten fortune hunter catches wind of a treasure map, and procures it through violent means. He assembles an expedition peopled by the likes of Stuart Whitman, Glynis Barber, Woody Strode, and about ten others. The producers might as well have put that last group in t-shirts with the words “body count” stenciled across the front, because the horror part of the safari has to do with the fact that the tribe from earlier is cannibalistic.
Gemser has dealt with cannibals before (in the amazingly bad but still somewhat entertaining Emanuelle e gli ultimi cannibali), but we must say she isn’t nearly as clever this time around. Nor is the movie itself. Though she’s down the cast list a bit Gemser gets plenty of screen time, which is nice, and those minutes include a skinny-dip (so much for non-erotic), but sadly, she’s a weak actress whether her clothes are on or off, and cannibals apparently don’t know the difference between flesh that gives pleasure and flesh that gives sustenance. We’ve done our duty, though, giving Gemser a chance in a non-sexploitation role. All we can say in conclusion is bring on the skin.
