Cheap Prehistoric Women (1950) (Video) (Gregg C. Tallas) Price

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Customer Reviews of Prehistoric Women (1950)

Learn How Being Chased By An Elephant Can Spark Creativity
This film is relentless. Not only is it badly scripted and acted, but also it has some of the worst production values ever. The print used for the DVD transfer is choppy and grainy, and while the movie claims to be in color, I count really only two colors in the film: gray, and slightly darker gray. In fairness when fire is depicted on screen you can see a hint of orange cast, but that's about it. Parts of the print are so dark it is very difficult to see what is actually going on, but enough about the film's good points. <
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>This is a kind of primitive story of indentured servitude, rebellion, and revenge, and boils down to men versus women. In the beginning of the film we are introduced to the cast by an anonymous narrator, who unfortunately drones on and on through most of the film. We see that the heroine of the film, Tigri, and other women have to dance under the spell of a full moon and they just don't know why. (A village elder explains that they need men.) Through a few intergenerational flashbacks we understand that the women fled from the men after a woman threw a rock at a man. Since that time opposite gender contact has been strictly forbidden on both sides. <
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>The male lead, Engor, enters the picture in a big way: he goes tiger hunting using sticks and a pit. He slays the tiger and later the girl's pet panther (which is obviously a very young and small cat.) Remember in 1950 that animal cruelty laws did not exist as they do today. The way they actually treat these cats is reprehensible by today's standards (although some of the panther wrestling is quite bogus.) Ultimately, Engor gets hurt by the panther and the women vow vengeance. <
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>I could go on about the plot twists, but suffice it to say that both sides take prisoners, Engor discovers fire, Tigri explains how levers work (really), and all of this is an indirect result of the hilarious scene where Engor gets chased through the jungle by a bull elephant. There is a fight with a python, a fight with a big hairy ogre, and many episodes of infighting within the groups. They also learn rudimentary barbecuing skills. <
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>The sole reason that I gave this film two stars (I had originally considered only one) is due to the scene where Tigri is attacked by a flying dragon, which is described by the narrator as "the scourge of the skies," but in fact looks a lot like "The Giant Claw" from the movie of the same name (if you have not seen "The Giant Claw" go and order a copy now!) I am not sure what this flying creature was (the focus and clarity of the film make it hard to examine), whether it was a model made of plaster and cardboard, or was a duck with a snood and beak taped on, but either way, this is one of the most unintentionally hilarious scenes in film history. You will be pleased immensely by the comic resolution of the flying dragon crisis. <
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>As an added annoyance, the soundtrack features a lot of drum (bongo) music playing at every opportunity. There are several pointless scenes where women dance to this music, including a very poor ceremonial wedding dance, and overall the percussive effect is much like being at an Allman Brothers concert. There are no bonus points for guessing how the film will end: it ends exactly as you would expect, with a midnight mass marriage ceremony involving (you guessed it) a lot of dancing and some stupid customs. <
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>This movie is really terrible, but does have a few fun moments. It is pure camp, and in the right mindset it can be quite enjoyable. This is inoffensive (feline torment aside) dumb fun, and is a prime example of the genre of bad caveman films that were so popular in the 1950s.

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A Re-imagined Ancient History
I have to give this movie credit for creativity in imagining a human past that never happened. We see a group of cave people make fire, learn how to cook food, use levers, and apparently invent the curling iron and makeup. In between all this excitement, prehistoric women defend themselves from evil men, a giant, and various critters, including what appears to be a duck masquerading as a pterodactyl. <
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>We learn that a group of women, their little girls and the Wise One (Janet Scott in her third, and next-to-last, role) are making their way from the men who have mistreated them. The nine foot tall giant Guadi kills the women for food, leaving the children and the Wise One. <
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>The little girls grow up, as little girls tend to do, turning into hot jungle babes. The hot jungle babes discover men in their woods and capture them, treating them like scum. The men, apparently having been Cave Scouts, make fire and threaten the women with it, taking over. There happens to be a coincidental attack by a giant flying thing that sometimes looks like a pterodactyl and sometimes like a duck with a weird head dress. Unfortunately, based on what we currently know, pterodactyls did not exist at the same time as man. No matter, perhaps scientific thought is wrong and this movie is right. Perhaps it is another example of intelligent design. <
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>Soon after the men take over for the women, one of the men accidentally discovers cooking after he throws some meat on the fire. This same guy also discovers burned food, thus establishing a dinner tradition. <
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>One of the hot jungle babes is Tigri (Laurette Luiz, who was in more unnoticeable movies until the musical "Flower Drum Song" in 1961) starts falling for one of the jungle guys, Engor (Allan Nixon, who later had a role in that great classic of bad music, "Mesa of Lost Women"). There is hanky panky going on between the other jungle babes and the other men that the women had previously captured. <
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>Eventually, the jungle guys decide that it is time for everyone to go to their home in the mountains. Fortunately, the guys have fallen for the hot jungle babes, and the babes convince the men to stay in the jungle, with its friendly kitties (tigers and leopards), giants and ducks disguised as pterodactyls. The rest is, as they say history, and maybe a shot gun wedding (only shot guns had yet to be invented, so perhaps there were "spear" weddings). <
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>Some of the jungle babes and guys did have other, greater roles. Lotee (Joan Shawlee) became a regular on television, and had roles in "Willard," "Irma La Douce," and "The Reluctant Astronaut," among dozens of other appearances. Kama (Dennis Dengate) made his final appearance in the Clint Eastwood movie "Hang `Em High." <
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>The real difficulty with this movie is the point of the movie. I am unable to understand why the movie was made. There is no dialogue because the characters speak Cavemanish (a rare dialect of the French language, but about as understandable), so the movie is narrated from beginning to end. I think I would have liked the movie better except for the appearance of the non-contemporary pterodactyl and the discovery of how to cook and burn food. I neglected to mention that earlier in the movie one of the hot jungle babes shows the muscular, and stupid, cavemen how to move a rock with a lever. Archimedes would have been proud. I also neglected to mention that the women had nice hair that appeared to have been permed and curled, which seems a bit strange in prehistoric times. The women also wore makeup, though that was easier to accept given that most movies use makeup regardless of the era. <
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>Essentially, this movie is about a past that never existed. The acting is generally silly, and the plot matches. I recommend this movie only if you are a connoisseur of bad films, and preferably a connoisseur of bad films about prehistoric people. Good luck! <
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My Dream Come True!...
OK, some cave-babes are treated as nothing more than slave labor for the men in their tribe. This leads them to rise up and flee. The women are happy and free in the wilderness. Then, the day comes when the wise old woman of the bunch tells them they need to track down some males or face extinction. Enter the dashing young he-men of the story! The gals take them by force, enslaving and emasculating the poor saps. Then, the men get the upper hand by slaying the "dragon" (sort of a big pelican) and the roles are reversed. Now, the men subjugate the women once more. Along comes the giant Gwaddi (a big hairy guy w/ more beard than face), and the group must battle together for survival. Gwaddi is slain and peace and harmony reign. PREHISTORIC WOMEN isn't quite as good as WILD WOMEN OF WONGO, but it is enoyable. We get to see how both fire and the use of levers started! Watch and learn...