Naked in the jungle

The expeditionary squad of adventurer Payton falls into the hands of a tribe of natives in the deep jungles of Africa, who defend their territory with all their strength. Rescue is provided by the half-naked girl Liana, who saves Payton from being massacred. Back in civilization, Payton tries to finance a new expedition together with his friend Pereira. They hope that Lady de Winter will provide them with the necessary financial means, because many years ago her husband and daughter disappeared in a plane crash in the jungle. Payton suspects that Liana is the missing daughter. Lady de Winter's brother Matthew and his lover Lita join the expedition with the intention of preventing Liana from returning, otherwise they would no longer be entitled to the inheritance. The adventurer Rofo, who is supposed to lead the squad through the jungle, also joins the expedition. During the expedition through the jungle, many dangers lurk until they finally land in the village of the natives and meet Liana and her father. A large diamond treasure is found in the tribal area, which arouses the greed of some of the expedition members.

By purely objective standards, Diamonds of Kilimandjaro cannot be awarded a particularly good recommendation. The coherent, albeit worn out, plot framework around a girl lost in the jungle and the greed for diamonds from an expedition squad in search of her is not sufficiently realized by the probably low budget. Stock footage was used to depict the magnificent and threatening animal world of Africa, logic was sacrificed for a sexualization of the film because there is no other way to explain the fact that Lita, in tight shorts and a revealing top, is taking part in an expedition with the wrong shoes and the half-naked Katja Bienert is allowed to swing clumsily along lianas. On the other hand, the film has the pleasantly relaxed Jess Franco vibe, which lures you in with the interesting plot at its core and draws you in more and more with the relaxed camera zooms. Various German releases try to sell the film as the fourth part of the Mondo Cannibale franchise, which doesn't make sense, since the film has nothing to do with the supposedly other parts, moreover, there are no cannibals anywhere.

The US Blu-ray by Mvd is a catastrophic screw-up

As with some Jess Franco films, the situation with the versions is a bit confusing. There is a a longer cut which was released in the US by Media Blasters on DVD and in Germany by Condor Entertainment on VHS. This version starts directly with the plane crash. A special case is the US Blu-ray by Mvd Classics, which is basically based on the US DVD, but the transfer apparently had a few flaws, which were concealed by recycling senseless footage from other parts of the film. The peak of the studio's incompetence is shown in the crocodile attack, which can be seen twice in a shortened form. We can therefore only advise against buying this release, even if the picture quality is excellent.

Runtimes:

US DVD: 95:34 min.
US BD: 95:29 min.

The US Blu-ray by Mvd was compared to the US DVD by Media Blasters/Shriek Show.

[00:00:00][00:00:00]

At the beginning, the BD shows the title "Diamonds for Kilimandjaro".

No time difference.


[00:01:20][00:01:19]

The US DVD has another cut to the natives as they watch the plane crash.

DVD: 3 sec.


[00:01:34][00:01:38]

The BD repeats the scene where the natives get up.

BD: 4 sec.


[00:25:24][00:26:42]

On the DVD, Lita lights her cigarette.

The BD here shows the shot of a rhinoceros in a completely senseless way. The same scene comes again later.

DVD: 10 sec.
BD: 10 sec.


[00:29:24][00:30:53]

The DVD shows how the expedition team runs down into the gorge.

The BD cuts on flamingos instead.

DVD: 4 sec.
BD: 4 sec.


[00:36:16][00:38:00]

The DVD shows Pereira lighting a cigarette. Diana watches him do it.

Matthew lies unconscious in the tent, when Lita decides to go swimming.

Lita undresses and jumps into the water. Diana watches everything.

The BD starts only when the crocodile goes into the water.

DVD: 3:06 min.


[00:39:53][00:38:32]

The DVD shows the carriers running into the water, followed by a cut to the crocodile.

DVD: 4 sec.


[00:40:07][00:38:43]

The DVD features another shot of the crocodile.

DVD: 2 sec.


[00:41:00][00:39:30]

Now it gets strange. After the crocodile attack, the US BD shows a part of the scenes where Lita goes into the water and then the attack again.

BD: 3:18 min.


[01:02:10][01:02:09]

The DVD shows the jungle a little longer.

DVD: 2 sec.


[01:34:26][01:34:27]

The DVD is missing the first text of the credits.

No time difference.