The first thirty minutes of Indigenous are the same as any number of uninspired horror films from the last twenty years. The last thirty rip off only one film.
But if you must shamelessly steal from something, make it a modern classic.
Now stop me if you’ve heard this before; six fit and fulsome young adults from all over the globe venture into uncharted territory despite the sincere warnings of locals. Once there, deep in the inhospitable jungle, they indulge in the things young people indulge in, swimming, snuggling and awkwardly scripted banter, but their idyllic hideaway isn’t quite as uninhabited as they first thought.
Indigenous ignores boring stuff like logic and plausibility to fast track to The Descent theft – they even close the film with a black and white photo of the six tourists that fades to the credits. Somehow while the humans can walk through the jungle with nary a rustle, the so-called ‘natives’ can’t move a muscle without a large startling CRACK.
Not that the prey are much better, you’ve never seen a tight and united group with a common goal separate into six individuals so quickly, often within the space of fifty steps. And for all the screaming and shrieking going on, there is seldom any aiding and assisting; ‘oh Kevin is being grabbed right in front of me? Well I’ll yell a bit before gradually backing away…’
Despite all these missteps, Indigenous is a reasonable enough Descent replica to kill eighty minutes. The young folk might be witless but they aren’t as aggressively unlikeable as many in these films – and a young woman named Carmen spends quite a bit of time testing the elastic powers of a blue bikini…
You can’t possibly admire Indigenous, but for an hour and a half you can indulge it.
Final Rating – 6.5 / 10. A dumbed down The Descent clone with diluted violence and… not much else actually.