The character of Tarzan, created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912, has been adapted into over fifty films, ranging from big-budget Hollywood productions to serialised adventures. The 1995 film Tarzan-X: Shame of Jane , directed by the prolific Italian filmmaker Joe D'Amato (Aristide Massaccesi), occupies a unique space in this lineage. It attempts to bridge the gap between the Italian "cannibal film" or "jungle adventure" genre popular in the 1970s and 80s and the narrative requirements of feature-length adult cinema. This paper argues that the film is emblematic of D'Amato’s stylistic approach, prioritizing atmospheric cinematography and exotic locations over narrative complexity, while simultaneously deconstructing the "noble savage" trope through an erotic lens.

Mainstream critics have largely ignored or panned Tarzan X as softcore exploitation. However, within adult film scholarship, it’s studied for its use of a classic literary character to explore themes of nature versus nurture, sexual liberation, and the performance of masculinity. The “shame” motif—Jane’s struggle with her own desires—reflects 1990s cultural conversations about female agency and pleasure, even if the film ultimately reinforces male fantasy.

The use of actual wildlife and vast savannah backdrops provided a level of immersion that reviewers often highlight as a high point of Joe D'Amato's later filmography. The Mythos Controversy:

) wasn’t shot on a soundstage. D’Amato took the production on location to Kenya

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