Movie Review: Jungle Woman (1944)

by StevenHelmer

A review of the 1944 science fiction movie starring Acquanetta and Evelyn Ankers.

Synopsis: When he discovers a mysterious woman on the grounds of his sanitarium, a friendly doctor, believing she is a patient, takes her in. Unbeknownst to him, she was the subject of a scientific experiment that turned an ape into a woman and her jealousy and animal-like instincts will put people, including his daughter, in danger. The movie is a sequel to the film "Captive Wild Woman."

Review

My oldest daughter and I had this movie on our "to watch" list and decided to finally watch it last night while playing a board game with her younger sister. Unfortunately, as we quickly learned, the board game was much more exciting than this movie was.

This film is a sequel to the movie "Captive Wild Woman." My daughter and I watched that movie some time ago and thought it was OK but not great. And, as is the case with most sequels, this film was a step backwards from that film.

There are a couple things, in particular, we weren't impressed by when it came to this film. The first was the generous use of material from the original film. It's not unusual for a sequel to reference the movie that preceded it. But, in this case, it seemed like at least half the film consisted of selected clips from "Captive Wild Woman." In fact, there were times when we felt like we were watching the first movie again.

On top of it, when the movie does have original material, there's nothing that really stands out about it. The entire movie is a series of flashbacks and, because it reveals the ending within the first few minutes, is very predictable. As a result of this, it is kind of hard to watch it because it's not difficult to figure out what is going to happen next, making it pretty dull.

Also, as my daughter was quick to point out, the overall plot had quite a few weaknesses. For example, the doctor (Naish) didn't really need to tell the full (and unbelievable) story to defend himself of murder charges. All he had to do was say, truthfully, Paula Dupree (Acquanetta) attacked him and it was self defense.

Not to mention, for the second movie in a row, an ape goes missing and nobody seems to care. You would think that would draw a bit more concern, at least until they learn the truth. While this, admittedly, may be overthinking things a bit, plot holes like this do hurt this movie considerably.

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Final Opinion

I'm glad we ended up playing a board game while watching this movie. Otherwise, it would have been a wasted evening. Don't waste your time with this one.

My Grade: F

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Updated: 11/01/2018, StevenHelmer
 
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DerdriuMarriner on 03/24/2022

StevenHelmer, Thank you for practical information, pretty pictures and product lines.
The library system here does not have Captive Wild Woman or Jungle Woman among its Blu-ray and DVD collections. It's no surprise considering what you bring up in your review.

Was there anyone else famous -- apart J. Carroll Naish -- in the film?

What board game were you and your daughter playing that you both could do well and follow the film?

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