Man-Eater of Kumaon

I don’t think there’s any redeeming qualities about this disappointing film. This is a jungle adventure starring Sabu going up against man-eating tigers! At the very least, there should have been some major camp value to this thing, but there’s not. In fact, Sabu is barely a presence here, as the main star of the film is Wendell Corey as a disillusioned American doctor looking for meaning in India, during which time he overcomes his inherent racism and kills the titular jungle cat. That’s right, this is a movie in which a white hero goes into the jungle to learn about his place in the world through the lens of people of color, proving that he’s a better hero than these mystical-leaning hippies. Man-Eater of Kumaon is just too depressing to even talk about. The only half-way decent thing is the footage of the tiger stalking around the very fake jungle sets. If a few more coins had been spent to make those matte paintings and plywood sets more convincing, these sequences would have been elevated to the level of merely competent. This whole thing is a wash.