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The US Blu-ray from Severin was compared with the German VHS from VPH. Students Rika, Amri, and Tommy are crossing the jungle of eastern Indonesia in search of an undiscovered tribe of Stone Age people. During a boat trip, their raft capsizes in rapids, separating the group. Rika and Amri fall into the clutches of the dangerous tribe and are taken prisoner. Tommy wanders around injured until he accidentally stumbles upon the cave system where the tribe keeps its victims... A very amusing rip-off of various Italian cannibal films, drawing inspiration primarily from Last Cannibal World (aka Jungle Holocaust). Primitives relies on shock value, but fails to tell a halfway coherent story, which sometimes culminates in absurd dialogue. For example, Rika and Amri have just escaped from the Stone Age people and are seriously considering visiting the tribe again later. Indonesian exploitation at its best, but it slips heavily into trash territory. The film was released on Blu-ray in the US by Severin on September 29, 2020. They had access to a restored image source, but it was apparently not complete. The opening and closing credits are from a German theatrical print. In addition, the Severin Blu-ray has two notable omissions: First, at the beginning, when the raft crashes into the rocks, some scenes showing the group in the water are missing. Second, a passage in which Rika and Amri try to win the favor of the Stone Age women is missing - Rika offers to make beautiful clothes for the women. Part of the credits are also missing from the Blu-ray version. The scenes mentioned are all included in the German VHS release by VPH. This only has a few short missing scenes during role changes, but apart from that can be considered uncut. The picture quality of the US Blu-ray is very good, and the cuts are not too bad. Shamrock Media is currently working on a German Blu-ray release of the film. The HD transfer known from the Severin Blu-ray will be used as a basis, with the missing scenes inserted from a German theatrical copy. It can be assumed that the release will be uncut.
Image comparison: German VHS:
US Blu-ray:
Running times:
[00:00:20][00:00:03]
The US begins with three text inserts in Indonesian.
This is followed by the Rapi Films logo.
US: 25 sec. [00:18:22][00:19:14] When the raft crashes into the rocks, the VHS shows Rika in the water. Amri swims to her. Tommy continues to drift down the river.
VHS: 11 sec. [00:19:42][00:20:26] Short film break in the US: The group is seen earlier in the jungle.
VHS: 1 sec. [00:38:47][00:40:19] Short film break in the VHS: The Stone Age people are shown for longer. The next scene starts earlier.
US: 1 sec. [00:58:53][01:01:18] Film break in the VHS: The crocodile continues to be cut open. Rika and Amri are then seen earlier.
US: 2 sec. [01:02:47][01:05:25] Rika explains to the Stone Age women that she can make them wonderful clothes.
VHS: 21 sec. [01:19:30][01:22:30] Film tear in the VHS: The injured Stone Age man is shown for longer. Afterwards, Rika and Tommy flee through the jungle earlier.
US: 3 sec. [01:26:04][01:29:23] The camera zooms back from the dead Tommy.
DE: 3 sec. [01:26:23][01:29:37] In the VHS, the rest of the credits follow. The camera pans from the raft to the jungle.
The US version shows a black screen instead, with the music continuing to play.
VHS: 30 sec. US: 34 sec. |
