LA ESCLAVA BLANCA

LA ESCLAVA BLANCA Cast: YVONNE MANUEL, JOSÉ LLAMAS, MABEL ESCAÑO, JOSE MIGUEL GARCIA MARFA, AUGUSTÎN GIL, LINA ROMAY, CONCHI MONTÉS, JAMES TALL; Manacoa Films--Santiago Moncada Prod. NOTE: This was my first Internet published review (1998) of a Jess Franco film, written when I was the US associate editor of the DARK WATERS website. It has since been updated.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------- Jess Franco enjoyed everything pulp. He loved comic books, comic strips, pulpy television, pulp culture, pulp fiction (but not the QT film). What's more Pulp than an adventure set in a jungle involving a young couple tricked by corrupt guides into going on a honeymoon safari which results in the bride being sold as a sacrifice to a stone age tribe's lizard god? White slave trade is a familiar trope in the history of cult movies. Even Black Emanuelle (Laura Gemser) got involved, courtesy of Joe D'Amato. Then there's the plot of Franco's 1978 JE BRULE DE PARTOUT, previously reviewed here and out on an attractive Blu-ray. Don't forget the white slavers busted by Lina Romay in TWO FEMALE SPIES IN FLOWERED PANTIES. So, this was already an oft treaded Jess Franco trail by 1985. This time he mounted an ethnographic/antropological variant and placed it within his cine-comic format.

The 1980s were busy years of abrupt aesthetic and commericial transition for Jess Franco. Of the eight films Franco released (exluding several incompleted projects) in 1985, half of them hardcore porno features, this very low budget jungle adventure stands out because of an entertaining, multi-layered scenario by the estimable Spanish screenwriter Santiago Moncada. Beside writing such outstanding films as Mario Bava's HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON (1969), THE BELL FROM HELL (1973) and THE CORRUPTION OF CHRIS MILLER (1972), Moncada had written screenplays for a variety of European genre directors (Manuel Cano's THE SWAMP OF THE RAVENS, TARZAN'S GREATEST CHALLENGE, and VOODOO BLACK EXORCIST were all based on Moncada scripts). LA ESCLAVA BLANCA started out as a programmer conceived very much in the Saturday morning serial mode.

Santiago Moncada-- In LA ESCLAVA BLANCA, Moncada gives us three separate stories that gradually interweave and come together in third act. The first story can be described as a variation on Macbeth. A weak-willed jungle guide is manipulated by his domineering wife into committing a series of crimes. During a safari, he leads a honeymoon couple (José Llamas and Conchi Montés) into a trap laid by the Tobongas, a Stone Age tribe which worships a giant lizard god. The bride is tied to a sacrificial altar for later sacrifice. The guides are piad by the Tobanga with diamonds.

牋牋 The second story starts out in the city, where a karate student (Lina Romay) and two of her instructors accidentally discover the secret of the Tobonga. The instructors decide to attempt to steal the tribe's diamonds. In the third story, two separate expeditions make their way back to the remote Tobonga camp. Sprawling yet minimalist this is a true absurdity, yet somehow a wholesome entertainment. Talky parrots crack jokes overhead as the action progresses into Tobonga hell. One of these groups includes the original guide, who has been abducted by the karate instructors (they have also killed his wife). The other consists of the husband of the abducted woman and the female karate student who has split off from the school. During the long trip back, the guide has a change of heart and decides to repent, turning against his captors and helping the people he originally betrayed.

牋 The climax of the film, rather expertly shot and edited despite the severe budgetary restrictions, may remind some viewers of a miniature version of the final scene in THE WILD BUNCH. The very last scene, in which the Tobonga gold is discarded, echoes THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE. Franco's film, of course, is a lot less ambitious than those two classics, but maybe that's why it works so well. The massacre at the Tobonga camp, the abduction scene, and the opening safari are as well-staged as anything Franco has ever done. It's all done on such a miniature scale that the action fits together like a children's board game. There's also an amusing dose of voodoo dancing thrown in for good measure. Daniel White's pulsating drum and vocal score (Carlos Franco does his familiar voodoo chanting) is familiar from some of Franco's other jungle adventures, but this is by far the best of the lot. Miguel Ross (Marfa) and Mabel Escaño are both very effective as the safari guides from hell. With its karate scenes, voodoo rituals, adventure story, literary and film references, LA ESCLAVA BLANCA seems like a kind of compendium of Franco's 1980's output (minus the XXX sex material). And if one can get past his other standard jungle/cannibal fare, this one is most definitely worth seeking out. This delightful entertainment still lacks an official North American, English friendly DVD or HD release.

(C) Robert Monell: New Version, 2023