Wonderful character development!

Truly Dreadful Film

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I'm an avid fan of 'found footage' movies, be they horror or not. When done well, the genre packs a wicked punch as is the case with the likes of 'The Blair Witch Project', 'Zero Day', 'Exhibit A', 'REC', 'Trollhunter', etcetera. However, there comes a time when all interested explorers of the genre have to put their foot down and announce 'here there be garbage'. Not only is the story-line in 'WTTJ' unforgivably stupid (as if these four completely inexperienced idiots are going to succeed in finding the long-lost Michael Rockefeller on a sudden whim where countless others' well-funded, intensely researched and painstakingly planned expeditions into the un-mapped jungle-clad heart of New Guinea have failed), but the characters are uniformly detestable. Note to aspiring movie makers; all movies (and especially horror) are inestimably aided by having characters the audience likes. Just think of 'Jaws', 'The Evil Dead', 'La Cabina' or even 'Psycho', all of which boast engaging, well-written (and acted) characters whom we actually enjoy following through their tribulations. With 'WTTJ' we viewers are served up four lame-brains so monumentally repellent that we are all but cheering as they get bumped off. Add to this a couple of script howlers (the interior of New Guinea is apparently inhabited by one single cannibal tribe whose home territory stretches several kilometers down one river, and these chaps are in the habit of carrying their human repasts so unbelievably quickly through the thick jungle that our 'heroes' can travel for hours on a fast-moving raft and randomly disembark to miraculously discover their half-eaten companions staked out therein), and some tediously pedestrian direction and you have a one-star-wonder which only rates that because you can't go any lower. Avoid this beggar's banquet like you would a cannibal's barbecue.

Two young couples venture into the New Guinea wilderness in search of Michael Rockefeller, the heir to the Rockefeller fortune who disappeared back in 1961. Naturally, our group runs afoul of a hostile cannibal tribe. Writer/director Jonathan Hensleigh crucially fails to generate any essential tension or momentum while the now hackneyed found footage premise covers too familiar territory in a bland and uninspired way. Moreover, the ponderous build-up proves to be a rather tedious chore to endure, with a belated pay-off that doesn't deliver the gruesome goods abundantly enough to be worth all the effort to get to it. Worst of all, the four protagonists are remarkably irritating and unlikable; their constant bickering and idiotic antics get extremely tiresome super fast and make it impossible for the viewer to care about what happens to them. Sandy Gardiner, Callard Harris, Nick Richey, and Veronica Sywak all contribute credible naturalistic performances, but are unable to make their obnoxious characters even remotely interesting or sympathetic. Only some decent gore, the gorgeous tropical scenery, and the effective hand-held cinematography by Hensleigh and John Leonetti prevent this picture from being a total wash-out. A merely passable time-killer, but it could and should have been a lot better.

I thought this movie was gonna be good.It starts out at least looking a bit promising but then just when it finally gets to some good stuff it ends leaving you feeling unsatisfied and kind of mad.And let me add that this movie has absolutely nothing to do with Guns N Roses.2 couples set out to find the missing Michael Rockefeller ,who disappeared into the jungles of New Guinea in 1961 and was never heard from again.A rumor from a bush pilot sends the four out into the jungle to find Rockefeller and get rich and famous doing it.After one of the four steals some bones from a burial site the local natives get ticked off.But they might have anyway,who knows? This movie has nothing original to offer.We've seen the cannibal movies before and we've seen the shaky hand held movie documentary style filming before.My question with these supposed self shot movies is would a person really keep filming even after they realize their life is in danger ?Really? You gonna keep the camera light on out in the middle of the jungle at night with headhunters all around?I kinda think I'm gonna shut it off and hide like the sniveling coward I am.Anyway the movie goes along fine and then all of a sudden it's sort of wraps up all quick like and the credits roll.Did you boys run out of money or did you get tired of filming out in the hot jungle?It just abruptly quits before any good gore or terror gets going.Some night time quick glimpses of some gore is about it.No nudity at all even though you got 4 hot young folks out in the middle of nowhere taking swims and sunbathing and stuff like that.I can't recommend this movie ,it just never delivers on it's promise of terror and gore.

I sat down and watched this atrocity of a film the other day, and I was utterly disappointed. Many people have praised this movie, and when I watched it, all I could think of was "Cannibal Holocaust". Hell, from the opening scenes, the camcorder approach was identical, even before the guys and girls went into the jungle where the copy gets even more pronounced. I was especially perturbed by the impaled woman that was present in both films, but was used much more effectively in the 1970's Cannibal Holocaust than in this pile of crap.While the unfortunate use of live animals in Cannibal Holocaust is horrible and should never be repeated, the overall impact of that film cannot be denied. That film gets a 7 out of 10, while this one gets a generous 3. Save your money and buy Blue Underground's DVD of Cannibal Holocaust, that way you can watch the original with the animal bits removed instead of a mediocre re-make.