DbcultAccessing Vault...
4.6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 4.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Lost Jungle remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have seventy minutes to spare and want to see a man in ridiculously tight pants whip a bunch of confused lions on a fake island, then yes, The Lost Jungle is absolutely worth your time tonight.
People who love old-school, zero-budget adventure serials will have a blast. But if you cannot stand terrible green screen, obvious toy models, and animal footage that clearly doesn't match the background, you will probably hate this with a passion.
The movie starts with Clyde Beatty playing... well, himself. He is a famous animal trainer who decides the best way to find his missing girlfriend is to charter a giant dirigible.
The blimp crash is maybe my favorite part of the whole thing. They use a toy blimp that looks like it was made of paper mache, and when it hits the 'jungle' (which is clearly a few potted ferns in a studio), it just sort of crumples. Nobody seems particularly hurt, they just climb out looking slightly dusty.
Also, a very young Mickey Rooney is on this blimp as a cabin boy. He has about three lines but he screams them with the energy of a kid who had way too much sugar before the cameras rolled.
Once they get to the island, the movie forgets about the plot for long stretches. Instead, we get what feels like Clyde's vacation home videos of him wrestling big cats.
This island makes absolutely no sense. There are African lions, Bengal tigers, and American black bears all hanging out in the same bushes. I am pretty sure I saw a llama at one point too.
The film treats this like a totally normal ecosystem. It is like the writers just went to the local zoo, pointed at every cage, and said 'Yeah, put them all on the island.'
'Keep back, Ruth! That tiger looks hungry!' - Clyde, seconds before doing absolutely nothing to help.
There is this one shot that made me laugh out loud. A lion is supposedly stalking Ruth, but the footage of the lion is clearly shot in a completely different location with different lighting. The lion looks bored, honestly. It looks like it wants a nap, not a snack.
Eventually some greedy gold hunters show up to give the movie an actual conflict. They are lead by these guys who wear matching sailor hats and look like they got lost on their way to a different movie.
They want to find some lost treasure, but they mostly just stand around arguing in very thick Brooklyn accents. It feels incredibly out of place next to the jungle aesthetic.
If you want a more polished early 30s flick, you might want to check out Girls Demand Excitement instead. But if you want pure, unadulterated nonsense, stay right here.
It's not a masterpiece, obviously. But there is a weird charm to how cheap and earnest the whole thing is.
IMDb —
1931
Community
Log in to comment.
