WILD BEASTS
Franco Prosperi, 1984
Review of Camera Obscura Region 2 DVD
By Rodney Perkins

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The success of films like Jaws initiated a wave of “nature strikes back” films during the 70s and 80s. Like most exploitation genres, writers and directors squeezed every last cialis professional drop of life out of the formula. Dogs to crocodiles to grizzly bears were transformed into Darwinistic killing machines with a taste cialis for order for human flesh. While many of these films slavishly imitated more well-funded studio efforts, some works veered off into strange directions. One such example is Franco Prosperi’s 1984 film Wild Beasts (Belve Feroci), which was recently released on Region 2 PAL DVD by the Camera Obscura label. Prosperi, along with his partner Gualtiero Jacopetti, invented the Mondo cialis levitra viagra compare genre.[1] In Wild Beasts, the infamous director integrates Mondo-style shock tactics with straight-up sleaze to create a uniquely odd eco-horror film.

Animals all over a German metropolis, which is only identified as “a northern european city”, are going crazy. Rats are eating cats. Dogs are eating their owners. Elephants are stampeding. Wildebeests and horses are destroying restaurants. A zoo veterinarian named Rupert Berner (John Aldrich) and a journalist named Laura Schwartz (Lorraine De Selle) get drawn into the chaos and must solve the mystery behind the animal revolt.

The reason for the crazed animal behavior in Wild Beasts is not much of a mystery. It is basically revealed in the opening scene—the details are filled in later. This seems to be an open acknowledgement of an important “nature strikes back” axiom. People aren’t really concerned about knowing why animals attack; they just want to see animals attack again and again and again.

The humans in Wild Beasts are really just a supporting cast for a seemingly endless battery of live lions, tigers, panthers, cheetahs, rats, cats, polar bears, pigs, horses, elephants, hyenas. Given the director’s pedigree as one of the creators of Mondo films, the extensive use of live animals as is not so surprising. Wild Beasts relies heavily on practical effects and tricky editing to make the kill scenes work. Animal footage was shot in various locations and cut together into completed scenes. Sometimes it is apparent that people and animals aren’t in the same shot or even the same location. A live tiger lunges at the camera. Then, the scene cuts to a blood soaked victim—is it even the same person that was in the previous shot?—struggling with an animal puppet. In another scene, a herd of real elephants is shown stomping on a car. An elephant trunk crashes through the window and wraps around a woman’s neck. She is dragged out of the car. A giant elephant foot crushes her head into a bloody pulp. Is it a fake foot or does an elephant really stomp on a fake head filled with red goo? Does it even matter? Maybe.

The film’s clever—and clumsy—mix of bogus and real material raises some interesting questions. In an interview featured on the Camera Obscura DVD release, Franco Prosperi talks at length about how the animal sequences were done. Animal trainers were intimately involved and there seems to have been much concern and care about the animals’ treatment. Regardless, no current film production in Europe or anywhere else could probably get away with scorching rats with flamethrowers or filming a hyena running wild in a slaughterhouse.

The use of live animals is only one of many vexing issues with Wild Beasts. The film, which was produced by the director’s nephew Federico, was originally based in Rhodesia. Political upheaval forced a move to South Africa. A lack of cooperation by the local film industry—and perhaps the government–forced another move.[2] The rest of the film was shot in Germany and Italy. The consequences of this constant upheaval are evident in the final film. Continuity is a mystery. Street signs and local landmarks indicate that the “northern european city” mentioned in the opening sequence is Frankfurt, Germany. However, most of the actors are obviously Italian. The lax continuity is amplified by an overall lack of coherence in writing. Experts authoritatively invoke chemistry, biology and the natural sciences but are unable to solve basic logical problems. The ending seems disconnected from the rest of the story. In fact, it undermines the film’s entire premise.

Wild Beasts is a vivid reminder of a lost era of pure exploitation cinema. The film is cheap and unpolished yet it is effective in its central mission: showing real animals ripping people (and other animals) to shreds. The film’s hazy blend of truth and fiction arguably crosses accepted ethical boundaries in a few instances. This disregard for standard rules is what makes Wild Beasts so much more interesting than  most cookie-cutter genre films.

About the author:

Rodney Perkins

Rodney Perkins is a lawyer and writer with interests in film, music, art and literature.