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In 1961, Michael Rockefeller, the great-grandson of John D. Rockefeller, disappeared off the coast of New Guinea after his catamaran capsized. Despite protest from his companion, Michael decided to swim to shore five miles away. He was never heard from again, and his companion was rescued only nine hours later. Some believe that Rockefeller drowned in the treacherous water; others believe the cannibals ate him. And there are those who believe he’s still alive somewhere in the jungles of New Guinea, living among the cannibals.
On a whim, four friends decide to search for Rockefeller, hoping to capture him on video and sell it for a million dollars. But they’re in no way prepared for the horrors that await them in the jungle.
Bijou (Veronica Sywak) and Mikey (Nickolas Richey) spend most of the trip drinking, having sex, and taking drugs. Nothing is sacred or serious to them—not a good thing when in cannibal country. I quickly lost all respect (not that there was much to begin with) for Mikey when he disturbed a tribal burial ground because he thought it was funny to do so.
Mandi (Sandi Gardiner) and Colby (Callard Harris), however, are a little more mature and sensible about the trip. Colby is always aware of the danger they could get themselves into if they aren’t careful—and he might have been better off going alone.
Welcome to the Jungle could have been a truly interesting movie, if not for the irritating characters. Sometimes they got on my nerves so much with their constant bickering and stupidity that I couldn’t wait for the cannibals to eat them. Colby is the only character that I even came close to caring enough about to want him to get the footage of Michael Rockefeller and make it out of the jungle alive. If Mandi hadn’t done something incredibly stupid by ignoring one of the items on the tourist warnings list and almost getting them killed before their trip even began, I might have cared what happened to her, too.
The whole movie is shot like someone making a home video, à la The Blair Witch Project. Though this one is well done, I still don’t care for that type of filming. It’s distracting, and it keeps me from getting fully into the story.
Because it spends too much time on the characters and their differences and not enough time on the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Michael Rockefeller—or the horror aspects of the jungle inhabited by cannibalistic tribes—Welcome to the Jungle falls far short of its potential to be a great horror film. I recommend skipping this one.
