DbcultAccessing Vault...
4.6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 4.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Kid 'in' Africa remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, only if you are a film historian or a glutton for punishment. It’s a relic of a time when Hollywood thought it was funny to put children in wildly inappropriate situations. If you get offended easily, skip it. If you like seeing how weirdly insensitive old movies can get, maybe give it a look.
The whole premise is just deeply uncomfortable. Shirley Temple is running around the jungle like she’s on a playground, completely oblivious to the fact that she’s supposedly in grave danger. It feels less like a movie and more like a fever dream directed by someone who had never actually seen a real jungle.
There’s this one sequence where the pacing just dies. It’s supposed to be a tense moment involving a cooking pot, but it drags on so long I started checking my phone. The editing feels like someone was just throwing clips at a wall to see what stuck.
Danny Boone Jr. is doing his best, but he’s stuck in a script that doesn’t know if it wants to be a musical or a horror movie. It’s got that same odd energy you find in The Dream Lady, where everything feels slightly off-kilter and disconnected from reality. 🎥
Sometimes the movie tries to be lighthearted and cute, and it just feels jarring against the backdrop of the plot. It reminded me a bit of the chaos in Home Scouts, just without any of the charm. You can tell they were trying to lean into Temple’s brand, but it doesn't fit the setting at all.
It’s not a good film. It’s not even a 'so-bad-it’s-good' film. It’s just… strange. It’s a tiny, weird piece of history that makes you wonder what the hell the studio was thinking. Don't go in expecting anything resembling a coherent story. Just watch it for the weird factor and move on. 🤷♂️