The Jungle
The Jungle
| 30 June 2013 (USA)
The Jungle Trailers

A big cat conservationist and his filmmaker brother travel into the Indonesian jungle to find and document the rare and endangered Javan leopard. As they travel deeper and deeper into the jungle they come to the realisation that they are being stalked by a deadly predator.

Reviews
Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.
Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
andyp-01117 This was a horrible movie, 1h20 and you get to see the monster for 3 seconds at the end. An absolute waste of time! Hand-held shaky camera throughout, OK, so its a genre, but it needs to have a purpose and this film had none. Suspense? None. Some background into the history surrounding the monster would have helped, but no, just a couple natives talking about werewolves. Looked more like a big foot. Acting was OK, but again, no where near the terror that the characters brought to life in Blair Witch. There ought to be some regulatory body that prevents some movies from being made. This review will never get published because the only thing worse than this movie is trying to publish a review on this crappy web site. It says I must have 10 lines, but hey, I can only wine so much. Give it a rest IMDb, I'm sure you are full of yourselves. Goodbye, and oh yeah, you can kill my account, please.
lost-in-limbo I thought "Black Water" was excellently pitched eco-horror, while "The Reef" was a modest survival horror. So when it came to "The Jungle", I had some high hopes from Australian film-maker Andrew Traucki. Again very similar in formula to his previous films, but just a different threat. "The Jungle" is a simple story (ala "Blair Witch Project") that takes advantage of the found-footage market. Does it work? Yes and no. It's durable, but unexceptional in that we have been here before. Animal conversationalist Larry Black along with his brother head to Indonesia to track down and film a rare breed of leopard to get documented evidence of its existence in the jungle. However in the area where they would be searching are rumours of a black magic demon, which Larry considers just local superstitions? But his guides are not so convinced. I came away liking the taut situation and the overall build-up of it. It had me engaged (be it the characters and motivation behind the trek) and there was a grounded realism, but the pay-off was less than desirable. In what becomes a whirlwind of frustration, sudden camera movement and off-screen action in the last ten minutes. It's jerky in its execution, as the repetitiveness of certain actions started to become wearisome and the jump scenes simply erupted. You are kept pretty much kept in the dark, but that didn't bother me. Although the disappearance of a character in the final few seconds baffled me. It just I didn't feel like the back-end truly captured the suspense and horror of the situation as effectively as the lead up did. The tag less is more, is used very much here. Only glimpses (glowing eyes), noises (snarling and branches breaking), symbols (black sorcery), signs (prints, blood and remains) and the humidly suffocating environment help it come alive. A creepy superstitious back-story helps a lot too. Throughout sound effects were well used, as well as the eerie jungle backdrop in isolating the danger and uncertainness the characters found themselves in. Majority of the reliable tension is fuelled by the character interactions of the unknown, than that of the unsighted beast stalking its prey (although there's one scene involving it climbing down a tree where you only see its hands is fairly unnerving). Why this works is because the performances are appealing and they're well written giving them such weight to standout from each other. The acting led by Rupert Reid is hearty and intimate by all in style that only lends well to the story and chemistry. I can why some people might not like it, but for me it does have its moments beyond its wandering nature and not entirely seeing the creature wasn't a problem. You get a good enough look in the final shot. "The Jungle" starts off strong with its gripping slow-burn format to only go off the beaten track in standard clichés and a disappointingly frenetic close.
druidlord There is little that can be said about this film that others before me haven't already written. It is a terrible film that had so much potential but decided to through that off the mountain in favour of utter trash.The main character is someone who strolls of into the jungle and acts like he knows every inch of it. He totally ignores advise from the native peoples and regularly put others around him in danger. He is an arse and frankly, I would have shot him within the first day. To then disrespect other peoples beliefs just defies belief. This in its own right makes this film utter crass. If anything needed saving, its everyone else, from him! Strangely, the two "natives" are better acted than any of the others particularly the tracker.As to the "monster/demon" Don't make me laugh. I agree with another reviewer, it should have been a super sized leopard or beast or something along that line. Not seeing the creature involved properly works in some films but not in this one. It just leave you bored and utterly disappointed. Thank god I hadn't just bought this. It would have been an utter waste.My advice - go watch paint dry. Its far more entertaining and far more riveting. Gremlins was more believable than this.Rant over. Good luck to any of you that actually sit down and watch it. You've been warned!!!
sweed79 If you experience dizziness or nausea seeing videos shot by shaky hand held cameras, this is not a movie for you. Most people think that this idea of a movie is outdated and had been used in numerous films throughout the decades, directors and writers still found it amusing to use this method to break their storyline. For me, it was fine. So what if it got shaky camera all over it, this jungle still worth my time watching it. It's a similar genre to movies such as cannibal holocaust, the blair witch project, VHS and mostly most of movies nowadays produced by Hollywood but with less gore and some interesting scare factor in it. The expedition in this movie kinda give you the 'destination truth' feeling and I personally love the background that depicts indonesian villages and thick green khatulistiwa jungle much suited its title. I can't say it is great movie but it will do to pass your evening. The acting is OK and the effects is so so. I give it an eight out ten just to boost its rating.