Forbidden Adventure/Forbidden Women [Special Edition]

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Crazed antics in the jungle have long been a staple of exploitation filmmaking, and this double-bill DVD from Something Weird Video offers plenty of guys in gorilla suits, topless "native" women and intrepid explorers treating their aborigine hosts like idiots. Both Forbidden Adventure (aka Forbidden Adventure In Angkor) and Forbidden Women have been transferred to disc in their original full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Much of the footage in Forbidden Adventure was salvaged from old silent travelogues which were in less than pristine condition from the start, so a truly accurate evaluation of the source print used here (which looks pockmarked but still watchable) is all but impossible, but Forbidden Women looks clear and crisp, and has been taken from a fine quality print. Both films are in English, with no multiple language options or subtitles included. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Stereo, maintaining the original monophonic audio mixes, and the quality is as good as the source materials permit. As a bonus, Something Weird have included the British release version of Forbidden Adventure (which is shorter but boasts more nudity, which is clumsily censored by overlays of jungle plant life in the American print!), as well as a bit of exotic dancing featured in some but not all U.S. prints of Forbidden Women. In addition, this package includes trailers for Forbidden Adventure and three other jungle-themed sleaze epics, and a slideshow of stills and ad artwork for vintage "girl and gorilla" pictures. If you're looking for good times amidst the jungle underbrush, this package is just what you need, and is great fun of enthusiasts of oddball cinema. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide