Massacre in Dinosaur Valley (Film Review)

With a title like”Massacre in Dinosaur Valley” you would expect to see cheap little Stop-motion dinosaurs grazing about….But no I have Michele Massimo Tarantini somewhat entertaining Action-Adventure film about people who crash land and must make their way back to civilization while avoiding such dangers as Wild-Animals… Cannibals… and of course Slave Traders.

Happily, this Italo-Brazilian co-production offers all the trappings of the cannibal/jungle adventure genre without any animal killings.

Michael Sopkiw hitches a ride to Brazil to dig up some dinosaur bones. Once in Brazil he gets in a few tangles with the locals and manages to secure a ride on a charter flight deep into Amazonia. All hell breaks loose as the plane crashes deep in the heart of the jungle, leaving Sopkiw, megalomaniac Soares, and a bunch of super models on their own to trek back to society. The group runs into cannibals, quick sand, murderous animals, and a renegade mine run by slave owners.

Well it’s okay and it has it’s moment I can admit that for a fact but it slows down and a lot near the end before it gets to the point. But overall it does prove to be a fairly great film (Just above average)…

The acting is okay we have Michael Sopkiw as our lead who would only go to star in 4 films in his career and this was his last. Though for those that would know…..More posters of him sold then any of his films in Japan, Korea, China and Malaysia (WOW). Like many he is one of my favourite actors and he was great in this.

The shooting location of the film is great! Some nice scenery and animals that tread right into the camera. The special effects are great though the plane crash looked kind of retarded but still cool… The music is great (kind of too techno sometimes) and the editing is good. Though the films of pace kind of kills it. The sets are good…

Here are some facts I found

The actor Samuka, who played the native chief, actually had to eat a raw pig heart when he eats the heart of another character.

Most of the native cannibals in the movie were played by Brazilian military men on shore leave.

The alternate title "Cannibal Ferox II" was made by an English distribution company called VIPCO (Video Instant Picture Company). They associated the movie with the more notorious Cannibal ferox in order to sell more copies.

The german DVD version, released by Dragon Video under the title "Amazonas" (although the title card on the movie itself maintains the english title "Massacre In Dinosaur Valley"), is the most complete available on the home video market.

The USA Shriek Show release under the title of Massacre in Dinosaur Valley is completely uncut and runs 88 minutes long.

Overall if you like Adventure films and good Italian flicks with decent great production values my final verdict I think is recommended. Though to me it’s just above average but I will see it again sometime down the road…

Jesse’s “Massacre in Dinosaur Valley” score 63-100%