Human Animals (1983) Mondo Macabro

[DaylightsEnd]

Mondo really serves up a gorgeous transfer for this bizarre, forgotten gem. Human Animals feels like an arthouse amalgamation of The Quiet Earth and some warped Italian jungle adventure, sort of a Last Folks on Earth meets Tarzan vibe. There's a dreamy, ethereal quality to the proceedings. It is bolstered by the effective use of strong primaries in stark contrast to barren backscapes, and a primitive erotic element driven by imbalanced, almost deviant love, power and sex triangles between the scant few characters that grace its run time (including a large dog that refuses to sit on the sidelines when it's time to serve up the (human) booty, yup....) This flick is as visually striking as it is bizarre and intrinsically taboo/perverse. It certainly held my attention for its entire duration, and frankly, it is deserving of the top-notch treatment it has received on this excellent blu ray release from Mondo. It's undoubtedly one of the more interesting pieces in my film library. If you're tired of too much samey, paint-by-numbers American cinema, this may just be your huckleberry. So come on down, and meet the happiest stunt dog on Earth....

[cakefactory]

If you like watching endless rape scenes with limited connective tissue between them, this is definitely the movie for you. I will say the opening has some great surreal stuff going on when the Frank Zappa guy gives a loud air guitar solo on a beach. But yeah, ultimately it just turns into a seesaw of rapes and incest. The last act is certainly...memorable. I don't know that I'll ever watch it again but it's definitely recommended for students of truly weird cinema.

[DaylightsEnd]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

If you like watching endless rape scenes.....ultimately it just turns into a seesaw of rapes and incest

This might be a pretty unfair condemnation and gross mischaracterization of the film and some of the events that transpired in it, and is likely not its intent or message, either. This film is a far cry from 70 continuous minutes of I Spit on Your Grave and Last House on the Left. The interactions here are far more complex and nuanced. The female character in this film can be seen acquiescing and even participating in various of the scenes, but the internet is the last place to debate interpretations of the sex act in a public forum.

I'd add that it's only incest if she's somehow related to the dog...

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by DaylightsEnd

This might be a pretty unfair condemnation and gross mischaracterization of the film and some of the events that transpired in it, and is likely not its intent or message, either. This film is a far cry from 70 continuous minutes of I Spit on Your Grave and Last House on the Left. The interactions here are far more complex and nuanced. The female character in this film can be seen acquiescing and even participating in various of the scenes, but the internet is the last place to debate interpretations of the sex act in a public forum.

I'd add that it's only incest if she's somehow related to the dog...

The blonde guy is supposed to be her brother as far as stuff I read suggested. I don't think it's really suggested in the movie itself. Maybe he's not supposed to be?

[DaylightsEnd]

I got the sense from the

[Show spoiler] pictures they found of each other, that they were possibly a married couple before the "apocalypse" happened, and that the dark-haired character they awoke with was an interloper, physically superior and more assertive, so he commandeered the woman for himself.

I felt that the fading and disappearing of the photographs before their very eyes was demonstrative of the loss of all rules, laws, and social standards of civilization, which no longer applied or governed the relationships of the last three people on earth, dissolving old bonds, and making way for "survival of the fittest".

[Show spoiler] Later in the film, the woman returns to the blonde man, seemingly remorseful, guilty, and repentant, perhaps still having feelings for him, and chooses to have what seems like "pity sex" with him

. There are many interpretations one could draw from the content, but this is how it hit me on first viewing, having never seen the film, and going in with no background or context.

The

[Show spoiler] bestiality, though? That DID happen. Rin Tin Tin a/k/a the Red Rocket rides again.

The writer was clearly trying to express the sentiment, as reflected in the title of the film, that there is precious little difference between man and beast, once nearly every modicum of civilization is erased, and, without technology or rules, we are reduced to focusing on little else beyond our primal needs, wants, and instincts.

It should be mentioned that there is literally no dialogue in this film, and the primary storytelling is virtually all visual. It starts right off with characters waking up in a random, bizarre

[Show spoiler](post-nuclear?)

"situation" and we're never told any aspect of the where, what, how, when, or why. Yet, it is immediately engrossing, and remains visually arresting throughout its runtime, letting the viewer's imagination fill in an entire back story.

[Rayjg]

Man this film was wild. Somehow it works because it never betrays its own crazy, internal logic. Needless to say it's now my dog's favorite film.