Creatures the World Forgot [VHS] [1971]

It's great to finally have this Hammer prehistoric theme movie given a proper release on DVD. The previous offerings were limited to full frame versions and were pretty fuzzy transfers. This pressing preserves the original widescreen aspect ratio and is nice and sharp. 'Creatures the World Forgot' is a pretty obvious attempt by Hammer to cash in on the success of it's earlier effort 'One Million Years BC' and it's got a lot of the same elements in the plot department. What it doesn't have, of course, is any Ray Harryhausen (or even Jim Danforth) dinosaurs to provide a menacing foil for the wandering prehistoric protagonists (gotta keep that budget under control!). It sort of 'makes up' for this lack by presenting a lot more nudity in the female cast (something we all might have wished for in the aforementioned stop-motion dino/caveman epics). The plot actually follows a couple of generations of the prehistoric tribe as they meander over some very attractive (if inhospitable) landscape, chronicling the internal power struggles of two brothers to rule the tribe, win the girl, and find food to eat - on the way to discover a more fertile place to live. For most male viewers it would doubtless be the many topless cavegrrrls that make this, otherwise, rather lack-lustre effort worth sitting through - for the 'feminists' in the audience there is (besides a lot of semi-naked males) an interesting sub text of the female shamaness who is actually the 'power' behind the throne' - sort of a presage to the whole 'Clan of the Cave Bear' phenomenon of later years. Julie Ege IS gorgeous as the kidnapped trophy prize girl who gloms onto the 'blond' brother and her final scene tied, splayed out, on some handy dead tree branches while the 'brothers' enact their climatic battle high atop a rocky spire is worth the price of the disc alone! Personally, I'll always opt for a little less 'authenticity' in my caveman epics in order to have a few dinosaurs in there to liven things up - but this is one of the better 'serious' prehistoric pictures out there!

Sony's burn-on-demand DVD-R of CREATURES THE WORLD FORGOT (1971) is a sharp transfer of an unrestored, original dye-transfer 35mm negative. It is widescreen, anamorphic, in rich color, uncut and uncensored.

On the surface CREATURES THE WORLD FORGOT is pure exploitation. Savage cavemen hunt food, eat raw meat, fight over women, kill each other, deliver babies, observe rituals, and compete for leadership. The violence is constant, brutal, and bloody. In the absence of dinosaurs, the abundance of beautiful women and female nudity is sufficient reason to watch, but as the primitive society begins to take shape, and the two tribes start to barter, and the two brothers start fighting over the woman, it should become apparent there is more going on than mere titillation. This is a realistic story about primitives learning to govern their passions and violent instincts, to overcome their superstitions, and to mix with each other, so that they can survive in a relentlessly harsh environment. After an earthquake, the two tribes need each other to find a more hospitable place to live. They rely on the female shaman to guide them. It may not be the most sophisticated or well-informed treatise on early man, and the rituals depicted may not be grounded in historical reality, but the premise is viable, the conflicts are metaphorically interesting, the character interaction is well thought-out and reasonably well-acted, and the sight of all that bruised and bloodied flesh crossing hardscrabble landscapes tells us everything we need to know about the vulnerability of humans thousands of years before Christ. Indeed, CREATURES THE WORLD FORGOT invests the caveman society with an Old Testament quality.

While it's true the Brits will come up with any excuse to run around naked on a desert island or a wilderness park, writer-producer Michael Carreras was on to something with his interest in making this kind of film. His depiction of the life of early man -- and woman -- is the forerunner to QUEST FOR FIRE (1983), CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR novels and all those History Channel docudramas. There is no narration, no contrived language, just grunts and groans. This is a legitimate drama, and director Don Chaffey works hard to tell it without dialogue. Chaffey's opening shots include what I presume are authentic rock paintings of wild antelope being hunted. He dissolves from the rock paintings into an actual antelope pursued by hunters with spears. When a hunter is gored, his companions bury him, while a hyena waits in the brush to dig him up again. Chaffey is particularly adept at composition, using the sky and landscapes of North Africa to good effect. His group shots and singles help us keep track of characters without names. He tries to make the rituals believable, and spends time to get the hunting sequences right. The animals are chosen so that they fit in with the story. The volcanic eruption and earthquake are effectively accomplished with old-fashioned opticals, which are no less unconvincing than modern-day CGI. The rhythmic percussion music by Mario Nascimbene serves the film extremely well.

CREATURES THE WORLD FORGOT failed to make money for Hammer Films and Columbia in 1971. Blame it on the title. The title promises dinosaurs, or at least creatures, but they have nothing to do with the story being told here. The poster promises titillation which the film delivers, but it does not encourage viewers to look for the subtext underneath. With a more sensible title and a different poster, audiences would have gone in with realistic expectations and received the film differently. But under the title it's still saddled with, most viewers will merely assume, as audiences did in 1971, that Hammer was too cheap to pay for stop-motion dinosaurs. Nothing could be further from the point. A pity these burn-on-demand DVD-R's don't accommodate extras, because a commentary by someone who appreciates the film would serve to open it up to the majority of viewers who don't get it.

Besides, where else can you see Rosalie Crutchley -- the unforgettably creepy housekeeper from THE HAUNTING (1963) -- play a cave-woman shaman?

This Hammer Studio extravaganza is fantastic fun. Of course the reviewers love to dismiss it but if you like plenty of gorgeous male and female bodies, most of them wearing almost nothing, ravishing scenery (this was filled in the Canary Islands), this should be a definite addition to your movie shelf. The story is about two brothers, one good, one evil,(Tony Bonner and Robert John) who both lust after the same girl (Julie Ege). The scenery is a knockout with everything filmed in beautiful, Technicolor saturated colors, photographed by Vincent Cox. The version you see on American Movie Classics had been edited from the first frame to the last. The original version, which had an X-rating, seems to be lost. The TV version is still amazingly hot--showing all those sun-bronzed bodies in nearly the all-together. One can only imagine the good times enjoyed by all during the long shoot, beneath the blazing sun, and the lucky costume designer and make-up people whose jobs couldn't have been that difficult--when you had so many beautiful people to prepare.