"Jungle Woman" is a B-movie from Universal. And, with so many of Universal's monster films, this one often completely contradicts the previous film, "Captive Wild Woman"...so much so that it's hard to say that "Jungle Woman" is a sequel exactly...though the half-ape woman, Paula Dupree (Acquanetta) is in each. But instead of being the product of the evil Dr. Walters (John Carradine), she's the result of more benign experiments by Dr. Fletcher (J. Carrol Naish).

The film begins with Dr. Fletcher killing Paula in silhouette (a cheap technique in order to not have to use make-up to make Acquanetta look like an ape). At the inquest, he's hesitant to explain why he did this but eventually he tells...and you see a lengthy flashback which last the rest of the film.

Dr. Fletcher rescued a dying ape...healing it and somehow using glands to make the ape look like a hot woman with an inexplicable accent*. She is beautiful and intelligent but one thing she still lacks is a conscience. Because of this, when she inexplicably falls for Paul, she's determined to kill his girlfriend. And, she also kills the hospital's attendant, Willie, because he was so annoying! Then, she kills chickens and a German Shepherd...but in all these cases you see none of this...again all apparently to save money or, perhaps, because Acquanetta wasn't exactly a great thespian and she was used very sparingly throughout the movie.

So is this any good? Well, the mood is good but the film really could have used some ape/human make-up...something other the tiny scene at the end where she appears to be sporting wolfman make-up! I think they were trying for the Val Lewton experience where you never see the creature...but it just didn't work as well here. Not a terrible film, however, just one that could have been a lot better. For fans of B-horror films, it's worth seeing...most others will find it all a bit silly.

A sad portion appeared to have been taken from "Captive Wild Woman" that bothered me. You see a tiger and lion fighting each other...ostensible for the audience's amusement. Pretty sick and cruel stuff.



*Despite her exotic name and Universal marketing her as 'The Venezuelan Volcano', Acquanetta was from Wyoming....and her exotic accent a phony.

Universal Pictures must have had some contract commitments they were trying to fill or the budget was real tight. What I can't believe is that there was much of a demand for a sequel to Captive Wild Women which introduced us to Paula the Ape woman who went from beautiful Acquanetta to a guy in a gorilla suit.

We thought she was done for at the end of Captive Wild Women, but she's back now and living at J. Carrol Naish's asylum. She doesn't revert to being an ape any more, but Acquanetta is still a Jungle Woman and reverts to animal behavior when someone poaches on what she stakes out.

A lot of the same cast members of the previous film testify at a coroner's inquest presided over by a most embarrassed Samuel S. Hinds and Douglass Dumbrille. Now Acquanetta sets her jealous eyes once all the flashbacks are over which account for about half the film on poor Lois Collier who has a man the Jungle Woman wants.

Thank God Universal didn't inflict a third film on the movie-going public.

Acquanetta pretty much just stands around, looking like a zombie, recites a few lines then stares back into space again. This follow-up to "Captive Wild Woman" has her as a transformed ape who falls in love with hero Milburne Stone, hating his fiancée Evelyn Ankers, aka "the scream queen" and obviously out to kill her. Shadowy photography is more interesting than Acquanetta's lack of a performance, added onto with a mentally retarded man who appears to be imitating Lon Chaney Jr's brilliant performance in "Of Mice and Men". There really aren't any chills because it all seems so phony, told in flashback and poorly written. Even attempts to give it a psychological background comes up empty. This is one that ranks among the worst of the dogs of cinema and nothing other than two robots and an unseen man making wisecracks while it is playing could make this any more watchable.