Original subtitles

I decided to begin making cannibal movies because

I've always worked for an organization

whose main purpose is to make successful movies.

I went from westerns to horrors to 'gialli'

then to the 'cannibal genre,' as some called it.

In those days, there were already some movies

which had achieved international success.

This film is actually part of a trilogy which I made back then,

a series of films that depicted

exotic adventure.

I made three of them:

Mountain of the Cannibal God

The Island of the Fishmen

and the third one, which was called Great Alligator River.

At that time, we were working in the 'imitation' genre,

mimicking successful American genre films

...at ten times less cost.

We shot in Sri Lanka and in Malaysia.

In Malaysia there was 99% humidity

and this is the type of movie where you had to be physically fit to survive...

I remember that reaching the grotto location where we shot most of the film

was disastrous because every day some people were not able to

climb the 1600 foot ascent.

So you can imagine, with a constant temperature of 96 degrees

and all the accumulated exhaustion...

those poor people who had to carry all the equipment.

I always said, "I carry the responsibility,

you carry the cameras!"

Initially, we feared a very uncomfortable situation there.

But we also had a great life experience, which I remember to this day.

We saw crocodiles and many other animals.

I also took time to observe the life of the natives

where I discovered that the women are the ones who work

While the men in the shade and get stoned.

Sri Lanka is definitely a very agreeable country.

Weather-wise, it was the right season to film and so it was very pleasant.

We shot at the Kandy Botanical Gardens.

The Kandy Botanical Gardens is really an extraordinary place

where you can find a true concentration of jungle.

We also shot some scenes in the real jungle

but logistically that was extremely difficult to do

whereas in this garden there are streets

where you can park the cast and crew trailers

and there are these little collections of forests that are completely wonderful,

where the vegetation and leaves are well cared for.

I remember where we had some wonderful shots

like Stacy Keach cutting his way through with a machete.

Those scenes, for example, were shot there.

Obviously, the caretakers were concerned

about the vegetation, but anyway...

He was an actor - like all American actors - who was very professional.

Excellent actor.

He was somewhat disappointed at the end of the movie

because a certain scene had been cut out of the film.

It was a scene that he strongly wanted when he agreed to make the film.

But it wasn't a betrayal. In reality, it didn't fit in the story.

Basically, it was a choice that was made for the good of the film.

This was the only part of our relationship

that wasn't completely positive.

Otherwise we remained good friends.

Ursula Andress is an actress who has absolutely no fear when it comes to

her relationship with nature.

She is a woman who had explored Africa,

perhaps during her relationship with Belmondo

who is also a very adventurous person.

For example, letting the python wrap around her -

although the python's head was held by someone off-camera

to prevent it from getting a tighter grip,

that's something I would have never done.

But she was a natural, she had fun with it and was not afraid

to have this violent contact with nature.

In this sense, I remember her as a very courageous woman.

Claudio Cassinelli was an extraordinary actor,

full of enthusiasm.

I think that the misfortune of dying so tragically as a fairly young man

- I believe that he was 47 years old when he died -

is that today he probably would be a very popular actor

in the thriving business of Italian television dramas.

He was an actor with great appeal and was a person whom I considered

to be extraordinary on a human level.

I am very sad that he is no longer with us.

Cinema is a very beautiful profession

because it always makes you feel young.

There is often this campus-like atmosphere

of people working together.

But when you are confronted with such tragedies, you are thrown into

a harsh reality.

What offended me was one famous critic

whose name I won't mention

who wrote, "This is the movie in which Claudio Cassinelli died.

It wasn't worth it."

And I wonder: For what movie, even by the greatest director

in the history of cinema, would be worth dying for?

The film definitely focused on some images of violence

that at times were meant to have a documentary quality.

There is the famous scene with the monkey being eaten by the python

that I believe has been used in other films

because it was so effective.

It was an unfortunate scene.

There was this 23-foot python that followed us around for part of the film.

It was like a supporting actor.

And we tried to wake him up by having a monkey walk up in front of it.

Suddenly, the snake launched, grabbing that poor animal.

Now, the camera was already in position and so we shot the scene

which looks so very violent, so very cruel.

Actually, I am a little embarrassed remembering that episode

because we didn't do anything for that animal

although there was not much we could do

since pythons may look like animals you can confront

but they have teeth worse than a moray eel.

Well... the person in charge of the animals was

- I remember the scene being shot in Malaysia - was very close,

but the few moments of hesitation were enough to make it impossible

to avoid the inevitable outcome.

Maybe it was cruel of us to film that scene,

but I remember many people asking me over time how we shot it.

It was a chance opportunity. It was not planned.

And I say this not to shed any responsibility.

Maybe this movie is a little too violent.

I blame myself a little now, because movies this violent are

counter-educational.

But in those days, to tell the truth,

there were other movies made earlier that are

worse in that respect.

We were protested by the local puritans who were devout Muslims.

They wrote in a newspaper that the film contained nude scenes.

Well yes, it did, but they were scenes of natives.

Then by the end of production,

there were people screaming out of their windows,

"Italians go home!"

Because God knows what kind of movie they thought we were making.

In reality, the movie didn't have any erotic or pornographic content...

I have a kind of love-hate relationship with the movies I make

because of the stress that you have when there are limited budget and time.

Therefore, while you are making them you are under a lot of pressure

especially when shooting in foreign countries

because the point of reference are different

and as a result, at the time, I suffered.

Now, as time passes, what I remember is that

- besides the fact that I was 20 years younger, which was nice -

is the fact that

this movie had a dimension of realism

in the eyes of its audience.

That's the best thing about this movie.

The great thing about those days was that

producers would always take my calls.

I was always welcomed because

the projects I proposed, or the ones I made,

with only a few exceptions, as you always have in someone's career,

always made money.

People always made money with my movies.

I, on the other hand, didn't make as much money.

Fortunately, I recently discovered an Internet site called

"How to Make Money as a Director!"