Zindy the Swamp Boy (1973) User Reviews

It's a Cardona family reunion

[bensonmum2 · 2/10 · 5 March 2017]

Zindy (Rene Cardona III) lives in the swamp with his grandfather (Rene Cardona). They have a great life full of adventures - catching turkey's, fighting crocodiles, swimming in the river, and hunting a puma to name just a few. But it's not the life the grandfather would have chosen for Zindy. But because he's wanted for murder (justified), he's forced to raise his grandson in seclusion On a trip to the nearest village for supplies, grandfather doesn't return and Zindy is left on his own. His only companion is his Chimp, Toribio. Can he survive?

Before I bash Zindy, the Swamp-Boy, let's get one thing clear - I'm as big a fan of Rene Cardona, Jr's work as you'll likely find. Movies like Treasure of the Amazon, Guyana: Cult of the Damned, Cyclone, The Bermuda Triangle, and the trashy Tintorera: Killer Shark all have something I enjoy. None of them are particularly "good" by most standards, but I generally like them. So, I was excited to see a "new" Rene Cardona Jr movie. Was I ever let down.

Zindy, the Swamp-Boy is a disaster. The action is quite often silly and unrealistic, the English-translated dialogue is ridiculous, the plot is illogical, the ending is beyond depressing, and the music is uber-annoying. But the most egregious aspect of Zindy is the padding. The movie would have been about half as long as it is if it weren't for endless scenes of wandering through the jungle or padding down the river. It's one of the most tiresome movies I've seen. I will say that the acting was serviceable enough. Grandfather and grandson Cardona are okay - not great, but they're not horrible. And I think's it's pretty cool that three generations of Cardona's worked together on Zindy. It's just too bad the end result is almost unwatchable.

The Tragedy of Zindy

[cpeter133 · 3/10 · 4 February 2017]

Zindy and his grandfather live in the swamp because Gramps killed a mobster and he's wanted by the law. Zindy's parents are also dead. Also, it's more jungle than swamp, and major characters include an African chimp and a North American puma. Finally, Gramps (spoiler) kicks off, leaving little Zindy to survive on his own. He meets a girl whose coach overturns--yes, a coach in the jungle/swamp--and just when you think it's entering Blue Lagoon territory, everything hits the fan.

The performances aren't horrendous, although whoever dubbed the kids' voices evidently were competing to see who could whine more. Be prepared for a lot of boat-rowing and random animal shots.

Remember kids...pumas are bullet proof!

[Aaron1375 · 3/10 · 18 May 2021]

I watched this film, not sure what to expect and as the film was doing its thing with excessive padding and such I was sure of one thing, that Zindy would reach civilization and not get torn apart by a puma at the end. Boy, I feel silly! Yes, you read that right, after everything that happens in this film, all of it is for naught as the main child character who has to endure is wiped out by the thing he so wish to kill!

The story, a grandfather lives in the swamp with his grandson, due to the grandfather killing the child's parents' murderer...or something, I was not clear what happened. Still, the grandfather is a fugitive and instead of facing judgment, he has raised his grandson to live in horrible conditions and to sleep naked with a chimp. Someone call the authorities! Well, grandpa dies, as he stumbles and plunges into the very place he told Zindy not to go, the quicksand! Which does not engulf a human and suck them under, but rather suspends them so they die of exposure or such, but this is the old days when quicksand sucked you up! Now Zindy is by himself until a little girl comes to visit! It looks like Zindy is headed for a happy ending as Zindy finally goes into town and the boy's godfather figures out who he is and is excited, but Zindy's grandfather told Zindy the townspeople are bad and wish to do him harm so Zindy hightails it back into the swamp where he is butchered by the puma he so hated and the credits roll...seriously, that is how is ends!

The ending is definitely surprising, I will give it that. I kept expecting someone to show up and shoot the puma, but nope. I am a bit perplexed though as Zindy was able to kill an uninjured crocodile in the water, on the crocodile's terms with no help, but is unable to take out a puma that has been hit a few times with bullets. The kid acted like using the rifle as a club was not an option! Suffice to say, I think the overall message of this film was girls are nothing but trouble...

Seriously, the film is depressing and overly padded! Not sure why they needed to show so much paddling down the river in this thing, but it was super overdone! In the end though, the whole movie is a bit of a pointless endeavor as the whole thing ends with Zindy dying. This may as well happened at any point in the film rather than torturing the kid making him watch his grandpa die and then remembering what his grandpa told him, do not trust the townspeople! At the end, Zindy mumbles we did it grandpa, referring to the puma, but I do believe the puma got away Zindy, you died for nothing. Makes the non ending in Bermuda Triangle film make more sense as it was made by the same director. Guess he likes to leave you stupefied!

Cardonas unite!

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 31 March 2021]

The entire Cardona movie must have come together on this one, because Sr. Directed it (you may have seen his movies Night of the Bloody Apes, Santa Claus and Las Mujeres Panteras - at least I hope you have!), Jr. Wrote it (you totally should see his movies Tintorera, Guyana: Cult of the Damned and The Bermuda Triangle) and III stars in it as Zindy. Our young friend would go on to make Vacaciones de Terror and show up in Cemetery of Terror, ensuring that his family's history of bizarre movies would continue into the 21st century.

Sr. Also plays Abuelo, a fugitive* who lives in the swamp with his grandson Zindy, who has a chimp named Toribio. He's played by Chucho-Chucho, who was a trained animal who still lives in a zoo. You can also see him in The Holy Mountain, Las Tarántulas and Chanoc contra El Tigre y El Vampiro.

If you're tuning in for a feel-good family film, let me warn you. Grandpa drowns - in quicksand no less, a fate I was sure I'd have to deal with in my youth - and Zindy gets mauled to death by a puma. This being a Cardonna film, I am shocked that there isn't use of heart surgery footage.

*He killed the people who killed Zindy's parents, in case you wonder why.

So much more watchable with the gang from Rifftrax

[myrmink · 7/10 · 19 July 2017]

--This is a review of the 2014 Rifftrax version of the film--

Perhaps it's my nostalgia for the old family movies set in swamps that I watched as a kid on the Wide World of Disney each Sunday night, films such as Treasure of Matecumbe, that push this over the top for me, but I loved the Rifftrax version of this film. The film itself is horrifyingly depressing for G-rated family fare.

Zindy, the young protagonist, lives in a swamp somewhere in an undisclosed swamp (actually filmed in the Everglades, with his Grandfather after his parents are murdered. His only friends are a chimpanzee (native to Africa) and a pet tarantula. His main foil is a hungry puma (native to Florida!). After endless scenes of walking through the glades and paddling though the swamp, Indy's grandfather dies a horrible death in quicksand and Zindy is mauled to death by the puma. Fun for the whole family, eh?

If not for the heroic riffing by Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett, this would be an excruciating film to watch... but with their laser-sharp sarcasm and wonderful humor, this is a true treat.

Favorite riffs: "It's like the Andy Griffith opening... only it never ends, and we're in hell."

"There have been storms involving Noah that didn't last as long as this storm."