Review: Love Slaves of the Amazons (1957)

From Curt Siodmak, the man behind the screenplays of many 1940s Universal monster movies ( The Invisible Man Returns and The Wolf Man, to name just two) comes this spectacularly-silly jungle picture that feels as if it's been ripped from the pulpy pages of a men's adventure magazine. From the very first frames of the film when we meet a jungle girl (Brazilian actress/singer Yara Lex in her debut) painted in green as she looks at the viewer and sings wordless soprano notes over a menacing score, we know what we're in for: this is the world of exotica , where danger and beauty and intrigue coexist. It's a Martin Denny album come to life. The ritual of the savage awaits! The plot, thin though it may be, concerns an expedition into the far reaches of the Amazon in search of a secret tribe of mighty women who are told to guard untold riches in gold and jewels. One man, the aged and alcoholic Dr. Crespi (Eduardo Ciannelli), has seen the women and touched their treasures, bu...