7/10
Classic movie about a thrilling story , being subsequently very copied and imitated
1 March 2019
This tale was efficiently developed in this first of several versions using Richard Connell's famed novel , one of the most anthologized short stories of all time . The picture gets adventure , noisy action , a love story , thriller , exciting pursuits with numerous odds , risks and perils and results to be pretty entertaining . After their luxury cabin cruiser crashes on a reef, and sinking itself , Bob Rainsford (Joel McCrea) finds himself washed ashore on a far island . He finds a remote fortress-like house and the owner , Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks film debut) who seems to be quite welcoming . While their host is initially hospitable, he quickly reveals his true purpose : to hunt down and kill each of his visitors , as he has done with everyone unlucky enough to set foot on his island . Apart from Zaroff's servant "Ivan the Cossack" (Noble Johnson, a multi-talented African-American actor) , the only other people present are Eve (Fay Wray) and her brother Martin (Robert Armstrong) , also survivors of their own shipwreck . As the crazed hunter Zaroff kidnaps people and turns them loose on his private estate , where he hunts them for sport . Bob along with the stirring heroine in distress who's threaten by the nutty villain go out throughout the lush jungle . Maniac Hunts Humans . In A Jungle Hell! ...Defenseless against the deadly hunter . Hunting Humans Was His Favorite Game He hunted humans for the sheer sport of killing ... and made his island paradise into a Hell on Earth! The foulest passion of them all! A race for life in a chase against death¡ How far will you go to Stay Alive?

This is a classic of the horror genre with spellbinding direction by Ernest B. Schoedsack , dealing with Count Zaroff kidnaps people and releases them into his jungle island and then hunts them down . The movie contains terror , adventure , action , moving pursuits with an "outdoor chess" game and a deep disquisition about human nature . The yarn is compellingly paced in this first of a great number of adaptations based on Richard Connell notorious novel . This film and "King Kong" were filmed at the same time, though "Kong" was released later probably due to the special effects required for it . The sets are perfectly atmospheric and production uses most of actors , scenary , set design , exteriors and some of the screams of the sailors as the ship sinks are the same as the screams of the sailors from ¨King Kong¨ (1933) . Most of the standing sets and jungle scenes were also used for simultaneous shooting of jungle scenes in King Kong . Thus , here appears same King Kong's actors : Fay Wray , Robert Armstrong , composer Max Steiner and filmmaker Ernest B. Schoedsack who usually shot with Merian C. Cooper. The flick will appeal to terror fans and adventure cinema-goers . The movie all still holds up after more than 70 years . Rating : Good , if you haven't seen it , you don't miss the chance the next time .

It has been remade several times , as the reboots of Richard Connell's famous short story, "The Most Dangerous Game," about a madman who hunts human prey on his personal island habitat are the following ones : ¨A Game of Death¨(1945) by Robert Wise with John Loder , Audrey Long , Edgar Barrier, Russell Wade . ¨Run for the sun¨ by John Boulting with Richard Widmark , Jane Greer , Trevor Howard . ¨Bloodlust!¨(1961) by Ralph Brook . ¨The Suckers¨(1972) by Stu Segall . An erotic rendition titled ¨La comtesse perverse¨ (1974) by Jesús Franco with Robert Woods , Alice Arno , Lina Romay . ¨Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity¨ (1987) by Ken Dixon . ¨Surviving the Game¨ (1994) by Ernest Dickerson with Ice T , Charles S. Dutton , F. Murray Abraham , Gary Busey and Rutger Hauer that is more violent and noisy than preceding ones .
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