Customer Reviews

Piranha Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death [VHS]

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is one of my all time favorite movies. It's a hilarious spoof on Heart of Darkness, and a B-movie all the way, down to the classically stereotyped characters and the low budget settings. It pokes fun at feminism, academia, and stereotypical gender roles.

The basic plot line is that the whole eastern part of Southern California is a vast avocado jungle, inhabited by cannibalistic feminist "natives" who eat men with guacamole dip. The US government claims to want to protect the "free world's last avocado source" by retaking the avocado jungle. They recruit a feminist scholar from Spitzer College (actually set at UC Riverside) to make contact with the cannibal women. On her mission she takes along a stereotyped "girly" girl, Bunny (who wears all pink, takes a curling iron, and has fantasies about being tied up with red licorice) and a bigoted but bumbling male chauvinist. The result is a hilarious romp. Academic types will love all the academic jokes: "Your methodology is shabby!"

I agree with the other reviewers that the picture and sound quality is not great. I've personally never been able to find a high quality version of this movie. I think it just doesn't exist. This is not the Matrix or some other high budget DVD. In some ways, though, the sound and picture quality is kind of classic. It very much goes along with the whole "feel" of the movie. A B-movie through and through.

Warning: there's a short scene with nudity at the beginning, for those who would be disturbed by this.

In my humble opinion this is the greatest movie ever made. Karen Mistal's portarayal of Bunny, the Bimbo was so perfect that her career was ended by the belief that she WAS a bimbo. Such a cruel fate for an actress whose talents single handedly carried "Return of the Killer Tomatoes." Another 'feature of this movie is that it is the only movie I have seen where Shannon Tweed keeps her clothes on. There is the usually sterling performance by Adrienne Barbeau, and Bill Maher demonstrates that long before he was "Politically Incorrect," he was just generally incorrect. I could go on and on about this movie, but it is too tedious typing in my straightjacket in the dark.

Cannibal Women in the avocado jungle of death is very, very funny. The basic idea is that the USA is running short of avocados and they need to make a deal with the Piranha Women to increase the free world's supply (it turns out that the Reds have started to beat us in the avocado race). So Shannon Tweed (Hot Dog), with the help of a guide played by Bill Maher (Politically Incorrect) and her student Bunny played by Karen Mistal (Return Of The Killer Tomatoes) must go into the jungle of death. Luckily Bill has a copy of the guide book.
Starring Adrienne Barbeau (Escape From New York) as the leader of the Piranha Women the film is a hoot. The movie is soaking in humor. For example the savages are said to speak a primitive language. French, in other words. And the jungle boat ride is compared to the Disney one (even with a hippo attack).
From Shannon collecting all she needs for the journey, selecting her notepads to deciding which bullets to take, to Bill trying to teach a tribe of Donahues how to be REAL MEN, with a beer scene right out of 2001, there is no limit to the funniness and a few adult jokes are placed here and there. The fight between Shannon and Barbeau COULD have been better - they don't know how to fence at all.
There is a message buried inside the silliness, about male and female relationships, but that's not allowed to screw up the comedy. To counter the weak serious theme there is some brief nudity, at the beginning, when the amazons are having a swim in the river and both Tweed and Mistal look good in the tight skins the Piranha women wear. Mistal does wear a lot of pink outfits, mostly what look like swimsuits, which is a pleasure to see. So it's all good, clean, adult fun! Great for a 90 minute flick. Get it used or new.

Ok; I remember this movie fondly. I still love it...and have the poster on my wall at home. But the DVD...I'm so disappointed. The quality is incredibly poor. The picture is grainy, and tends to have the 'cross-hatching' artifacts of over compression. The print itself had scratches that have been preserved for all time....how very sad. Frankly the quality is comparable to a 2nd generation VHS copy...even the one at your local rental store is likely to be better. Oh; and I recall someone else mentioning that the DVD is Mono! He explains that far better than I can. Well, all in all: Do Not Buy The DVD! If the studio doesn't care enough to put some resources into releasing the DVD of this flick, why should they reap any further profit from it?

If you like 80's B movies, this is right up your alley. Shannon Tweed does keep her clothes on to the disappointment of many, but the laughs are worth a watch. Seriously, this flick is fun and funny.

I was thrilled to get this movie on DVD. I was disappointed, however, that the DVD was in mono. I contacted Full Moon and they explained that the stereo master, which they had, was damaged, and they had to use the mono master. They said going back to the elements to recreate a new stereo soundtrack would not be profitable since it's a niche movie to begin with. I guess I understand, but the sword fight in stereo was fun!

Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle ...It's a long cheesy title on a movie with an equally cheesy premise. That's what makes this movie so much fun to watch. I have a soft spot for B-movies. The strong effort by the actors often makes them superior to the "A" movies Hollywood produces.
Cannibal Women Features Shannon Tweed as a professor of feminist studies enlisted by the government to go into the "Avocado Jungle" to deal with the Cannibal women so the United States can have a steady supply of Avocados. It seems the army has sent in soldiers and all was left of them were their dog tags. The women with tore the men into strips and ate them with guacamole dip! Accompanying the professor on this dangerous mission is valley girl Bunny and a sexist guide who can't read a map played by Bill Maher Before he became a talk show host on "Politically Incorrect". On their journey in the Avocado jungle the professor debates feminist theory with the sexist guide. These arguments are hilarious! In the jungle they run into some sensitive guys who Maher tries to "man up" with disastrous results. Afterward they're captured by the Cannibal women who have had their tribe taken over by a radical feminist. Adrienne Barbeau is a hoot as the Feminist professor who takes over the tribe and puts our group of explorers in peril. I won't give the rest away the climax of this movie is TOO good to be spoiled.
The plot is ridiculous, and the actors know it. They play it straight anyway and their excellent performances make this movie so good. In the face of a cheesy script poor production values, a low budget and skimpy costumes they make it work. I highly recommend you get this movie and a bowl of popcorn on Saturday night. Cannibal Women is a B-movie that scores all A's with me.

I love this movie. The comedy may be getting a little dated these days, but 'tis still great. I had been trying to get a copy on videotape for years, but now that it is available on DVD I was super pleased!

The actual DVD however is kind of a let down. It's great to see the trailer. And the menus are nice. But I suppose I was looking for a little bit more in regards to a wider screen, but it's just set to normal full screen. Still a great classic for the collection if you like these kinds of flicks.

More fun to watch now than it was when it first came out. The movie is very well done. The premise of the movie is that a feminist studies professor is sent into the Avocado Jungle of Death to try to negotiate with the savage, cannibal women that live there to secure avocados to prevent a U.S.S.R. / U.S. avocado gap.

The professor is joined by Bunny, who is contemplating changing her major for home economics to feminine studies and their male guide (played by Bill Maher).

The movie is fantastically "over the top" and funny.

The "Swordfight of the Century" between Shannon & Adrienne near the end of feature is worth the price of admission alone! Slapping at each others weapons (obviously not choriographed) while delivering the corniest lines of the movie. You'll laugh so hard you'll almost forget the how hard you were laughing before this scene! All you'll have left to do is decide whether to have clam dip or guacamole dip while you watch it again! And all the rest of us need are some really good feminists cooking classes!
After some non-sexual gratuitous nudity during the opening credits, this movie becomes a simple comedy poking fun at both women and men! Don't be afraid to share this gem with your wife/girlfriend!!