SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

snicewanger Jungle Woman is the follow up Captive Wild Woman.Acquanetta returns as Paula the Ape Girl. This time scientist De Carl Fletcher played by J Carroll Nash has revived her as Cheela the Gorilla at his sanatorium but she morphs back into Paula without any surgical assistance.The doctor has a lovely daughter Joan >Lois Collier< who is his secretary. She is engaged to a nice looking young fellow Bob Whitney >Richard David<. When Paula meets the young man she finds her voice. She also sees the doctors daughter as a romantic rival who must be eliminated.Paula finding her voice is when this film is really torpedoed. Acquanetta made it through the first film because all that was required of her was to flash a threatening glare and occasionally show anger. Delivering dialog was definitely not her strong suit.The fact the the script is laughably bad certainly doesn't help. SPOILER: The film is show in flashback as Dr Fletcher is on trial for murder. Much of the action is from Captive Wild Woman. At first Fletcher will not reveal why he injected Paula with a drug to kill he. However, his supporters which include Fred Mason >Milburn Stone< and Beth Mason >Evelyn Ankers along with his daughter Joan and Bob reveal to the court Paula's to animistic nature. The prosecutor >Douglass Dumbrille< is dubious but when the judge >Samuel S Hinds< orders a re examination Paula's body the court finds that Paula has reverted to her half ape/half girl state. Dr Fletcher is vindicated and goes free.One of the worst of Universals WWII horror flicks, Jungle Woman is only to be watched as part of the Paula the Ape Girl series.

kevin olzak 1944's "Jungle Woman" was the first of two sequels to "Captive Wild Woman," to be quickly followed by a second, "The Jungle Captive," which ended the trilogy (producer Ben Pivar went on to do The Creeper series with Rondo Hatton). Unlike the other two, this title was never included in the SON OF SHOCK television package, receiving relatively little airplay over the years (Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater showed it only once, following 1952's "Mesa of Lost Women" on Sept 24 1977). Acquanetta may be back, but saddled with dialogue this time, gives a lackluster performance not helped by her risible lines (nowhere near as good as Kathleen Burke's Panther Woman from "Island of Lost Souls"). The entire film consists of wall to wall talk, awkwardly structured as a courtroom drama featuring a pointless love triangle and a couple murders. The opening 20 minutes (out of 60) are just a recap of "Captive Wild Woman," made up of footage shot for three different films; by the time the story proper begins, we're saddled with a simpleton character (Edward M. Hyans Jr.) who doesn't get bumped off soon enough (expediency appears to have been the studio's only motivation). The few attack scenes take place off screen, and Paula Dupree's fate is depicted in shadows. J. Carrol Naish, between Oscar-nominated roles in 1943's "Sahara" and 1945's "A Medal for Benny," is clearly marking time, following a similar turn in PRC's "The Monster Maker" ("House of Frankenstein" was just around the corner). "The Jungle Captive" could only have been better, even without Acquanetta, whose career quickly petered out after leaving Universal (following "Dead Man's Eyes").

JoeKarlosi Sequel to CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN is often said to be one of Universal's worst horror films, and with some good reason. For one thing the first 15 or 20 minutes agonizingly drone on and on with flashback sequences from the first movie, and has to be seen to be believed (it actually feels like you're watching 3 different films at times). Acquanetta returns as Paula the Ape Woman and it's hilarious to watch her terrible acting performance, especially the robotic way in which she delivers her lines! At least the original had her mute throughout; this one gives her a lot of dialogue she can't handle. Along with the unintended laughs to make things survivable, at least this one features the competent J. Carrol Naish as the latest scientist trying to experiment with Paula, and to its very slight credit director Reginald LeBorg directs a couple of scenes in a Val Lewtonesque manner (such as Paula's creepy attack on a row boat and her eerily stalking her victim through the woods). I've never understood why these films didn't take more advantage of using more of their Ape Woman woman in full makeup to keep things more lively. ** out of ****

jim riecken (youroldpaljim) Note this may contain a *SPOILER*Paula Dupree the ape woman was introduced in the film CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN. While CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN was an okay B horror film from Universal, its central character wasn't interesting enough to warrant two sequels. JUNGLE WOMAN confirms this. It's hard to believe that the top brass at Universal thought they had a potential new monster to ad to their ranks along with The Mummy, Dracula, Frankenstein Monster, etc. When this film was first released, it was part of the top half of a double bill with THE MUMMY'S GHOST, with JUNGLE WOMAN receiving the emphasis in the ads. Now, I don't think anyone would consider THE MUMMY'S GHOST an outstanding picture, but it provided the kind of escapist thrills war time matinee audiences expected from Universal. So those who sat through THE MUMMY'S GHOST, and then sat through JUNGLE WOMAN, must of felt a bit let down by this rather uneventful film.Also, many were probably mislead by the films ads that promised something more along the lines a female Tarzan type picture than a horror film.The film opens well, with a spooky nighttime sequence. Dr. Fletcher is searching the grounds of his sanatorium carry in a syringe. He is stalked and attacked (we see this as shadows on a wall) by a lithe female figure. Dr. Fletcher then plunges a syringe into the attacker. The film then cuts to a coroners hearing where we learn Dr. Fletcher is being questioned in the death of Paula Dupree. We learn Dr. Fletcher accidently injected too much of the sedative he hoped would only subdue her and she died as result of an overdose. Dr. Fletcher then recounts for the prosecutor the strange story of Paula Dupree.Universal pinched a lot of corners when making this film. A good ten mins. of footage from this film is repeated footage from the first film. During his testimony, Dr. Fletcher tells how he was able to revive the dying Cheela the ape and nurse it back to health. We see none of this. Then he tells us how Cheela the ape escaped one night. Once again we see none of this. Why? Because filming these scenes would mean calling back Ray Corrigan and his ape suit and they would have to pay him. The film really starts when searching for Cheela, Dr. Fletchers dumb witted house boy Willie discovers Paula wandering around the grounds. Willie regards finding Paula as like finding a lost puppy; he mutters things like "Doc! Look what I found!", "Isn't she beautiful" "Can I keep her?" "I found her first". Through out the rest of the film, the story meanders from one non-event to another. The director appears to be trying to ape (no pun intended) THE CAT PEOPLE by only showing Paula in her ape woman form either unseen or in shadows. Of course this makes no sense because the effect is ruined because early on we see flashbacks from CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN of in all her ape woman glory. He even blows a scene ripped from the CAT PEOPLE where Paula stalks Dr. Fletcher's daughter through the woods. Its atmospheric, but it is ruined by Paula walking with her head hunched in her shoulders, bug eyed, and walking stiffly like a wind up doll. The film even repeats the effective opening scene. I could go on and on but I have taken up to much space already. On the plus side; Acquanetta projects just the right animal sensuality for the role. J. Carrol Naish gives his customary professional performance. But as Willie says to Dr. Fletcher in a line often sighted by the films detractors: "Aw! Its a gyp!"