JohnDoe
Bryn
Brenton
The Naked Prey (1966) - First 10 minutes Included
The Rise or Fall of a Civilized Man?
The Naked Prey - Criterion DVD available in the U.S.
Director: Cornel Wilde
Writer: Don peters and Clint Johnston
Starring; Cornel Wilde, gert Van Den Bergh, Ken Gampu, Bella Randles, Morrison Gampu
Considered one of the original American mountain men, “John Colter ’s Escape” from a tribe of territorial Blackfeet Indians in Montana 1908 is the true life inspiration for this savage adventure film. Transferring the production from the western wilderness to the jungles of Africa because of logistical costs, this is a savage pursuit through a brutal landscape.
Poster for The Naked Prey
A group of Ivory poachers on a hunting expedition are confronted by natives. Leading the group is Man #2 , (Kurt Van den Burg) an arrogant alcoholic who disrespects the customs of the tribe despite a warning from his more seasoned companion (Cornel Wilde).
Captured a short time later the group are all inventively tortured and killed except for “the Man”. Stripped naked and unarmed, a tribal warrior shoots an arrow to serve as a head start and then signals that the hunt has begun.
Start the engine Jacque..Little Indiana Jones humour there folks
John Doe says:
The Naked Prey is intensely realized through an unflinching lens. Immediately paced this survival story is a leanly executed chunk of meat, with all hindering fat eliminated. The minimalist script has little to no dialogue beyond the opening minutes. The cinematic medium is the teller of this yarn and it is up to the raw, brazen images to lure us into its primal lair.
We watch a civilized man reduced to the essential primordial imperatives. Unfaltering obedience to the genetic command that demands we stay alive. Fight or flee, the simplest of psychological programming dictating action.
An urgent tone of authentic danger looms, but never does the film slip into exploitation. Once you accept that a white man is able to outlast the indigenous inhabitants even for 5 minutes there is much to savour and digest within this economic concept.
Jungle drums drive the soundtrack with the same assured power as the unforgiving predatory truth of existence that’s shown through the stark cinematography and inserts hungry location shots of wildlife as punctuation.
“The man” feeds off the land pushing body and mind beyond the thresholds of pain and endurance. On camera “The man” gnaws a freshly slaughtered snake immediately after skinning it, forming a forced symbiosis with environment. Murder and law are dismissed. The morality of killing becomes a ‘him or me” spear driven combat scenario.
There is a respect for the tribal hunters who track “the man”. Embodying the full compliment of emotions beyond nobility, mourning and rage these are not typical transparent caricatures of “ignorant evil” that inhabited other Hollywood productions of the era.
Cornel Wilde (Beach Red, No Blade of Grass) was in his 50’s when he Directed The Naked Prey. Already a 20 year acting veteran whose Olympic level fencing skills saw him rise as a swashbuckling hero (At Swords Point)and also make his mark in the noir genre (Leave her to Heaven, The Big Combo). While on set he was struck with exhaustion from the demands of shooting and because of it his physical performance is all the more convincing. Even with his illness and age Cornel is still a fit figure against the adversarial backdrop.
This is a film that John Doe’s Dad would talk about and one that he could never find in Australia. Seeing it for the first time care of the Criterion DVD made for a superb, uncut experience. Living up to expectation, it has instantly become a personal favourite, if it is action and escapism you seek then this can be touted as a benchmark.
Criterion Collection DVD available in the US only
The Opening 10 minutes of The Naked Prey
Horrorphile
Film & TV on DVD
Watching this film it made me lament not having it be a part of my life growing up.
the footage of the elephants I believe is a cross cut with archival footage. It certainly looks real. Director/Actor Cornel Wilde was so intent on animals not being hurt during filming that he intervened in one predator against prey episode. The fight that Cornel tried to break up was between a Goanna type lizard and a boa constrictor. Supposedly he was bitten and had to fly to the UK for treatment of the wound.
They shot a lot of real life footage on location seeing lions bring down impala and native tribesmen gut an elephant by going inside the torso etc.
I don't think its available in Oz on DVD. You have to be careful that it isn't an edited version too....some quite disturbing deaths.
Horrorphile