Review of Female Jungle

Introduction

Why this potboiler of a b-movie should be entitled `Female Jungle` is anyone`s guess. I guess it precedes the trade descriptions act, as there`s no sign of jungle vegetation anywhere. Females on the other hand are plentiful in this short, low-budget mid-60`s schlock-buster.

The movie kicks off with the dramatic strangulation of a young actress outside the `Club Can Can`. The plot quickly thickens as a drunk, off duty cop (Lawrence Tierney) joins the investigative team at the scene of the crime and then discovers that he himself was seen leaving the club with a `blonde`. As he probes the investigation further great chunks of a `lost evening` are played back to him, putting him firmly in the spotlight as prime suspect. His investigations take him into increasingly darker territory.

John Carridine is superb as a creepy, older gentleman who seems to have an unhealthy interest in a caricaturist`s wife, turning up on their doorstep at 2 am to commission a drawing. The caricaturist is also slightly unhinged, and is placed at the scene of the crime offering sketches drawn on the night of the murder as evidence in this complex case. His wife is played a little over-earnestly by Kathleen Crowley, and his lover by Jayne Mansfield who doesn`t make an appearance until halfway through the movie. It`s at precisely this point that the screen lights up and the mood lifts. She sure was pretty, and this appearance represents her first ever on celluloid. It`s easy to see why it wasn`t to be her last. Here she is the very definition of blonde bombshell.

Like a lot of budget productions there is a predominance of stagy long-shots, with very little cutting. This saved on stock - in the late `50`s a significant part of a movie`s budget. The picture is very dark and moody and it gives the film a sinister air. Where lighting is used it`s often a single 5KW shone into the darkest corner of an alleyway, shadows be damned.


As a point of disturbing interest, watch the opening credits. They`ve got Fred West listed as 2nd Unit Cameraman!

Video

This is offered up in standard 4:3 and is a very fine print with little signs of wear and tear, despite being nearly 50 years old. The moody, high contrast black and white makes definition a little difficult at times but then this is low-budget b-movie stuff so is par for the course.

Audio

This picture is certainly not going to get any accolades for it`s audio. The sound is often muddy, and the wide shot sound is thin and echoey, often barely comprehensible. There are also some synch problems too - probably a feature of the original print as the synch drops back in. The music score is good though. Moody and jazzy orchestral work that really adds to the films off kilter atmosphere.

Features

In common with other movies in the collection, there is a 50-minute audio only interview with Producer Samuel Z. Arkoff. There are also a number of drive-in style trailers for other drive-in style movies in the collection. Strangely the only subtitles on offer are Dutch.

Conclusion

`Female Jungle` is another in the extensive Arkoff Film Library release programme. With sister volumes including titles like `Teenage Caveman`, `Dragstrip Girl` and `Daddy-O` it`s a genre that finds it`s appeal in kitsch and nostalgia, and there`s no doubt that on that yard-stick `Female Jungle` delivers the goods. It`s an entertaining and sinister movie with a pervading sense of evil unease throughout.
The plot unfolds with twists and turns that wouldn`t be out of place in an episode of Twin Peaks, and some fine performances are marred by some particularly poor supporting roles. (Check out the barman and the cleaner. Their performances are amongst the most wooden I`ve ever seen). But Jayne Mansfield is pure dynamite, and John Carradine is superbly cast as one of many suspect `chokers`. I won`t spoil the twists and turns that make the movie such fun to watch; suffice it to say that the red herring strand to the tale sticks out a mile, though the shock ending is still pretty powerful stuff.