Eligio Herrero’s 1983 film Human Animals is set in a world where the bombs have finally dropped, and the end of the world has arrived. Into this nuclear apocalypse are 3 individuals 2 men and one woman who awaken seemingly in the middle of a desert environment. One of the men and the woman appear to be related as brother and sister, the other is more disheveled, none of them can talk aside from the most rudimentary sounds.

The trio begin to explore the new world, and find it a very difficult place to survive including the search for food, which they do find in killer crabs. Their collective luck begins to turn around when they meet a dog who leads them to a safer more habitable location. The three plus the dog begin to get closer, but once the initial issues begin to subside, jealously begins to find its way into the group.

This is truly a bizarre film, a mix of 80’s post apocalyptic cinema with an arthouse flair. It takes the apocalypse down to such a small level with just 3 people and a dog, and as such it felt infinitely more personal. The film itself is gorgeous, and comes alive with excellent use of its tropical locations and through excellent cinematography. The performances are solid across the board, but it feels most of the film is on the shoulders of Carole Kirkham the sole female character. I’ll say the decision to not feature dialogue makes this one a big more difficult to relate to, but overall it makes an interesting experience.

Human Animals is presented by Mondo Macabro in its native 1:85:1 with a 1080p transfer, aside from the bomb dropping footage at the beginning everything here looks great. The soundtrack is an English track in LPCM 2.0, which works for the limited audio here. Extras include a 55 minute interview with the director that is in depth and fascinating. The limited version of the film includes a 24 page booklet of liner notes on late 70’s and early 80’s Spanish softcore cinema, that is entirely fantastic and well worth the read. RECOMMENDED.