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Welcome To The Jungle (2007) DVD Review
Welcome To The Jungle (2007) DVD Credits:
Welcome To The Jungle (2007) Directed by:
Jonathan Hensleigh
Welcome To The Jungle (2007) Written by:
Not available at this time
Welcome To The Jungle (2007) Cast:
Veronica Sywak, Nick Richey, Callard Harris, Sandy Gardiner
Welcome To The Jungle (2007) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Welcome To The Jungle (2007) DVD Release Date:
13th November 2007
Our Rating: Extras Rating:

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Welcome To The Jungle (2007) Synopsis:

Two young couples set out to explore the jungles of New Guinea in search of Michael Rockefeller, heir to the Rockefeller fortune, who went missing there over 40 years ago. But their hunt for a big payday turns them into the hunted, as the native cannibals track their every move and incomprehensible bloodshed awaits at the gory end.

Welcome To The Jungle (2007) DVD Review:

All of the elements look great on paper: a $200,000 budget, a cast of unknown actors, and a director who idolizes horror films of the 70s and 80s. With these facts alone, WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE could have been a welcome return to a bygone era of low budget horror filmmaking. Unfortunately, the resulting film is anything but.

Where does this film go wrong? Let’s start with the script. Actually, let’s start with the lack of one. When I first examined the DVD case, I was confused to find no writing credit listed on the back. I assumed it was an accidental omission, but having seen the movie, I now realize it was entirely accurate. There simply was no screenplay written for this film. The director, Jonathan Hensleigh, admits as much in his director’s commentary. He wrote fifteen pages of scenarios as a starting point and that was where the writing stopped. As a result, WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE consists of four untrained actors improvising their way through an 82 minute film, as we jump haphazardly from one scene to the next with little or no through line to hold everything together.

Now as a horror fan, I’ll be the first to admit that a strong screenplay is not one of the primary assets of most horror films. Honestly, all we horror fans need is a skeleton of a story to carry us tenuously from set piece to set piece. While WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE does indeed have that necessary skeleton, it turns out to be a real disappointment of a horror film. In fact, I would hardly label it as a horror film at all, despite the false marketing it has received. With a review calling it “the most terrifying film of the decade,” the Dimension Extreme logo, an unrated label, and a giant skull plastered across the DVD cover, the film is grossly misrepresented as a hardcore horror film. What do the horror film buffs out there get for their time? A scant few seconds of horror lifted straight from other movies that have already done it better.

Speaking of other films that have done it better, WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE steals primarily from two films in particular. Content wise, the plot is very similar to a gruesome cult classic by the name of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980). The threadbare plot points as well as the aforementioned horror scenes are all but lifted from that film. From a filmmaking standpoint, WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE is shot in the same fashion as THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999). Everything is shot from the video camera of the main characters, resulting in a filmmaking conceit that adds nothing to the film as well as an upset stomach for the viewer due to watching a handheld camera flail about for an hour and a half.

I myself wasn’t a big fan of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, but at least it was original in what it was trying to do. The personal video camera approach had never been seen before, and it helped sell the marketing hoax that the events in the film were real. WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE doesn’t have any of these things going for it, making one wonder why this style of filmmaking was utilized at all. The filmmaking conceit also raises more questions than it should. For instance, half the time the camera takes on the handheld motion of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, while the other half the time it seems as if the camera was “accidentally” placed to produced a nicely composed frame. Director Jonathan Hensleigh can’t seem to decide whether he wants to make a traditionally shot film or a cinema verite “you are there” style of film. The even bigger issue one starts to ponder as the film carries on is why these characters continue to take the time to film everything that’s happening around them even as they face unspeakable horrors.

As far as comparisons to CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST go, there simply is no comparison. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST is a horrifying, sickening, and enthralling piece of filmmaking that holds a notorious place in horror film history. WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE bastardizes virtually all of the elements that made CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST something special (for better or for worse) and adds nothing new. The closest comparison I can draw is that WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE feels like an incredibly watered down version of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST for the reality TV show crowd. In fact, throughout my viewing of WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE I was constantly reminded of reality TV shows like THE REAL WORLD and SURVIVOR. As such, WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE is perhaps best viewed as a horror film for people who don’t like horror films. As for the real horror fans out there, steer clear of this one. You’ll be horrified, but not in the way you might hope.

In watching the special features for WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, it becomes clear that the intentions behind the project are much more interesting than the project itself. You can skip over the deleted scene seeing as it’s as forgettable as the rest of the film. However, you’ll definitely want to check out the other extras though. In both the fifteen minute featurette and the audio commentary, the director expounds upon what he was trying to achieve in making the film, making for an interesting comparison between an idea’s creation and its execution. The director points out the obvious comparisons to films I’ve already mentioned, but he unfortunately disregards them as superficial and nothing more. Nonetheless, he is full of worthwhile insights that at least help the viewer in gaining an understanding of the admirable intentions behind the project, even if it ultimately doesn’t make the film any better.

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Welcome To The Jungle (2007) DVD review written by: Anthony Berk

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