★ 3 / 10
At least they tried...
paul_m_haakonsen
Sure, I had never even heard about this 2018 movie titled "Amazon Hot Box" prior to stumbling upon it by sheer random chance here in 2025. And given the fact…
Sure, I had never even heard about this 2018 movie titled "Amazon Hot Box" prior to stumbling upon it by sheer random chance here in 2025. And given the fact it was a movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to check it out and give it a fair chance.The storyline in "Amazon Hot Box", as written by James Bickert - whom also directed the movie, turned out to be fair enough. I mean, it was simplistic and felt like a watered-down light version of a 1970s exploitation movie. Needless to say that you're not in for an evening of award-winning material here, should you opt to watch "Amazon Hot Box". But hey, at least the movie was made by someone with a love for exploitation movies.The movie actually did have some familiar faces on the cast list, yeah I watch way too many questionable movies, I know. I was familiar with Tristan Risk and Jordan Phipps of the entire cast ensemble. The acting performances were fair enough for a movie such as this. Again, you're not going to be in for anything extraordinary.The effects in the movie were actually better than you would expect for a movie such as this.It looked and felt like a rather ambitious home-movie project. But it was actually pulled off well enough. Though it was not even remotely close to taking place in the Amazones, nor in a jungle Hell-hole.It should be noted that the movie's cover was actually over-selling the movie by a landslide.My rating of writer and director James Bickert's 2018 movie "Amazon Hot Box" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.
★ 2 / 10
A successful effort to make a terrible movie. But why?
I_Ailurophile
So here's the thing. 'Amazon hot box' is an homage to, parody of, and successor to exploitation flicks of decades past, primarily of the "women in prison"…
So here's the thing. 'Amazon hot box' is an homage to, parody of, and successor to exploitation flicks of decades past, primarily of the "women in prison" variety. In that aim, it is both as over the top as it possibly can be, and as inauthentic as it possibly can be. This goes for dialogue, fight scenes, special effects, acting, hair, makeup, set design, filming locations ("South American prison? That looks like a US state park... Oh. No, it's actually a US national park."), scene writing, character writing, humor, costume design, music, editing, sequencing, pacing, internal continuity, plot reveals, overall narrative, and more. Every aspect of this movie is excruciating - not exciting, not funny, not stimulating, not genuine, not meaningful, not impactful, not satisfying. In the rare, fleeting instance that a good idea is briefly latched onto, that idea is taken a step too far and rendered inert. In the rare, fleeting instance that a modicum of value is discovered, it is not allowed to linger, neither in the film nor in our imaginations.
And yet every passing moment of this picture - however exaggerated, lackluster, seedy, or otherwise dubious - is 100% deliberate. The truly absolute tedium that 'Amazon hot box' represents is realized only with the greatest of effort - cast and crew alike obviously wanted to make this exactly the way it is. A job well done, I suppose; that goal was undeniably accomplished. But why? To what actual end? Does that foulest of cinematic intent mean that 'Amazon hot box' is actually perfect? That's a question of semantics, I suppose. But perfection means nothing if it fails to elicit anything that could be interpreted as a favorable response from a viewer.
Incredibly, this isn't the worst movie I've ever watched. Backwards as it may be, the passionate labor put into producing this passionless pablum shines through. That includes, for a prime example, performances that are astoundingly inelegant in their superficial overtness or deficiency. It takes a lot of work to ham it up this much, and though directed to a wholly unconventional end, I think the cast demonstrate their skill in the most perplexing way. And so it is for all other elements of 'Amazon hot box' - bizarrely capable as it bears fruit harvested only to rot. But that still doesn't make it any fun. That still doesn't make it worth watching. The purpose is clear; I just don't understand it. I suppose if one is an especial fan of someone in the cast, or direly curious, then there is an actual reason to watch this. For anyone else at all - most assuredly not.
80%
AUDIENCE
3.8/10
1.6K
