Human Animals – Mondo Macabro (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Spain, 1983
Director: Eligio Herrero
Writer: Eligio Herrero
Cast: Carole Kirkham, Geir Indvard, José Yepes

Release Date: November 9th, 2021
Approximate running time: 97 Minutes 22 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC & 4:3 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"Set in the aftermath of a cataclysmic nuclear war that has destroyed most of the world's population, HUMAN ANIMALS tells of three survivors - one woman and two men - who wake up on a strange, deserted landscape with no memory of their past lives and without the ability to even speak. The woman and one of the men appear to be brother and sister and are both dressed in formal party clothes. The other man is very different - a mustachioed, leather-jacketed macho type.

The trio set off to explore their new home and find a rocky beach where they come under attack from a huge army of crabs. The macho man fights off the crabs, crushing them with rocks before eating their soft flesh. He then turns his attention to the woman and makes violent love to her while her brother looks on, powerless to stop them.

A huge dog appears and leads them over the mountains to a lush jungle paradise. They build a hut and learn to make fire and hunt for food. But soon violence, jealousy and above all sex, rear their ugly heads. The men fight one another for possession of the woman. But then, to their horror they discover that the large and now vicious dog has also set his sights on her. Soon there really is trouble in paradise." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “Brand new 4k transfer from film negative."

Human Animals comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 34 GB

Feature: 25.9 GB

The source used for this transfer looks excellent. That said, there’s stock footage that does not look as good as the bulk of the transfer. Colors are nicely saturated, details look crisp and black levels look solid. 

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix. There’s no spoken dialog in this film. The audio sounds clean, clear and robust. Included with this release are removable English subtitles for the title card and some writing that occurs briefly in the opening moments.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a Mondo Macabro preview reel and an interview with screenwriter/director Eligio Herrero (50 minutes 55 seconds, LPCM stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles).

Summary:

It's safe to say that Human Animals is in a genre unto their own. Human Animals is best described as a post-apocalyptic softcore eortica film. It has a simple narrative that revolves around three humans who’ve survived nuclear fallout. Also, there’s no dialog, only grunts, body language and facial expressions.

Needless to say, a film without dialog has its challenges. And though humans interact with most of them, There are a few areas that are not fully fleshed out. Like why the human survivors lost their ability to speak? Also, it appears that the nuclear fallout has regressed the human survivors back to their caveman roots.

Though there are many elements in Human Animals that are associated with exploitation cinema, Most notably, softcore sex sequences and a lot of full frontal female nudity. There’s no denying that Human Animals have arthouse ambitions.

Human Animals is a unique cinema experience that proves that it's anything remotely conventional. And though there are an abundance of unusual things that occur in Human Animals, The strangest thing is a woman who’s the object of desire of two men (one who’s her brother) and a dog.   

From a production standpoint, the premise is well-executed and the narrative does a good job of moving things forward despite the lack of dialog. The visuals are very good and they take full advantage of the island location. Also, the performances exceed expectations, especially Carole Kirkham (Panic Beats) in the role of the woman. Ultimately, Human Animals is an odd fusion of exploitation and arthouse cinema.

Human Animals makes its way to Blu-ray via a release from Mondo Macabro that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and it comes with an insightful interview with the director, recommended.

 Written by Michael Den Boer