An odd entry in the cannibal subgenre that was so big in the 70's and 80's, Amazonia aka The Catherine Miles Story isn't quite sure what it wants to be, but in the end it's clear that it's really nothing more than 120% exploitation. The story of a young girl taking a break from her schooling in England and visiting with her parents in the Amazon is a real corker of a sleaze epic in just about every sense. Without giving too much away, the story of Catharine Miles is told in flashback as the young woman is put on trial for murder. Whose murder, we're not quite sure of until the story fully unfolds. Even though it's not that hard to figure out, the sneaky storyline of retribution tries to trick the viewer along the way. The best part of all, the producers want us to believe that this is all based on true events.

Upon her arrival to the Amazon, Catherine (Elvire Audray) partakes in a boat ride with her parents, her Aunt and her Uncle. Amazons attack the boat (natch) and Catherine's parents are immediately killed and beheaded. Catherine herself is poisoned, but it's not enough to kill her so she's carted away to the Amazons home base. It's here that she's sold, stripped naked (she remains nearly naked, or at least topless for about 1/3 of the film) humiliated, raped and eventually welcomed into their society. With little hope of escape, Catherine tries to fit in as best she can, but it's her parent's death that pushes her forward. Their severed heads hang nearby as a constant reminder to Catherine that someone must pay dearly for their death.

Amazonia is a film that's just not at the top of its game. This however, does not lessen the enjoyment that it delivers. It's a hell of a companion piece to the umpteen number of films like it, but it certainly can't hold a candle to the films that are often considered to be 'classics' (for lack of a better term) of the subgenre (Cannibal Holocaust, Make Them Die Slowly etc.). Italian cannibal completists will most likely want to dive in, while newcomers are bound to leave the experience disgusted (possibly not even realizing that there are far more disgusting options out there). Despite its nastiness, there's very little here than can be taken seriously, including the treacherous dub job.

Bewteen the comical dubbing and all of the silliness on display, the viewer is brought right back down to reality feeling virtually no threat, other than the fact that they may be going to hell for watching this. The courtroom scenes/narration are completely laughable and while it shouldn't be funny, I can't help but chuckle when I think about Catherine playing her (homemade no less) flute to pass the time. There's even a scene in which Amazon children follow her as she plays a tune marching around the village. That is until the pied piper stops by the shed where her parent's heads are on display and naturally flips out on the half naked children quickly shooing them away. Scenes like these really need to be seen to be believed as no description can do them justice.

Note to animal lovers. For some strange reason, cruelty to animals was a huge part of these films, nearly each and every one of these cannibal films was guilty of this crime. Amazonia is no exception. There is no physical cruelty directly from man, however there are a few scenes of animal on animal violence. It's unsure whether or not this footage was captured naturally or if the animals were provoked into attacking, as often is the case in these films.

The widescreen anamorphic image looks pretty good here. There is some minor print damage on occasion (most often on what appears to be stock footage scenes) and some of the darker scenes are just that.... dark. But overall, the transfer is quite pleasing. The mono audio is really low and the English dub is atrocious. Crank up the volume and 'up' your tolerance for crappy dub jobs and you should be OK. It's worth mentioning that the entertaining score sounds like a cheap rip off of both Cannibal Holocaust and Make Them Die Slowly combined. Should prove to be quite entertaining to aficionados of this type of film. Extras are limited to a still gallery, trailers for a few other Shriek Show releases and a hidden feature that you'd think they would've wanted to advertise considering the slim pickins' here. It's not too difficult to locate.

Also note that the disc is flawed and will not play properly on a 4:3 non-anamorphic screen. If you do not have a widescreen set, the film will not play widescreen; instead you'll get a squished full frame image. For some reason the anamorphic image will NOT play properly on full frame sets. This is definitely a flaw of the disc, not your hardware, so be warned. On the upside, those of us with widescreen sets are treated to a pretty decent anamorphic image.

Easily recommendable to those looking to complete their cannibal/jungle/Amazon/rapist adventure films collection. I can't imagine somebody picking this title up on a whim at their local Best Buy, but then again, I'm sure stranger things have happened. Keep in mind however, that this DVD will NOT display properly on a 4:3 TV. So if your set isn't widescreen, this film just ain't gonna look right.