Gimme back the necklace, whitey.

September 18, 2005 6:23 PM

Help me identify this late-70s or early-80s American television movie, please.

Aired on ABC during the era of "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island".

Several attractive white twentysomethings vacationing on a Polynesian island day-trek into the mountain wilderness. An unhappy encounter with a jungle-dwelling native leads to the death of the native, the theft of his tribal necklace and our fair protagonists fleeing through the forest from the dead man's angered relatives. In the ensuing complications at least one of the hikers dies, the result of falling over a waterfall.

The story climaxes with the exhausted hikers cornered by an angry tribesman. Wielding his deadly spear, the man approaches, intent upon, we expect, grisly vengeance. But a twist! The noble native, in a move which makes us question just who the "savages" may be, opts not to spill more blood, reclaims with his spear the stolen necklace and solemnly sends the survivors away. The final shot reveals that the hikers were only a few hundred yards from the safety of their beach resort.

Anyone have any ideas of the name of this flick?

posted by soiled cowboy to media & arts (6 comments total)

A Vacation in Hell?
posted by cerebus19 at 7:02 PM on September 18, 2005

Damn, you're good.
posted by solid-one-love at 7:19 PM on September 18, 2005

Bingo! Thanks for that, and what solid-one-love on said.
posted by soiled cowboy at 7:50 PM on September 18, 2005

Cerebus, did you just happen to know this or did you look it up somehow? I couldn't find any combination of words by which to Google the title up.
posted by soiled cowboy at 7:52 PM on September 18, 2005

I'd never heard of it before. I went to IMDb, and did a keyword search on "island" and "native." It was #16 on that list, and was the only one on the list that was a TV movie, and was made in 1979, which fit the bill. The details quickly confirmed that it was the right movie.
posted by cerebus19 at 8:20 PM on September 18, 2005

I didn't realize IMDb had a keyword search. Thank you for pointing that out.
posted by soiled cowboy at 8:46 PM on September 18, 2005