The Ape (1940) - William Nigh

I really dislike monkeys as antagonists in movies, its bizarre I know, and I can't exactly tell you why I dislike bad monkeys. I just can't ever get into that storyline. Well I couldn't until now. The Ape from 1940 happens to be the ONE ape movie that I can really enjoy. This is in no way a good movie I am just a fan of the story here. It was really good.

Bela Lugosi stars as Dr. Bernard Adrian; a mad scientist who has vowed to save the life of a young woman struggling against polio. Meanwhile there is an escaped gorilla terrorizing the country side. Long story short the doctor ends up in a gorilla suit. Sorry for spoiling that for you. Just take it. Bela's acting is nothing short of amazing here and he really carries the entire film. It looks like it was really low budget and the whole idea behind the movie is ridiculous to the point that it is amazing.

The movie has very little in the way of violence or anything very scary; most, if anything happens off camera. Also the camera work is pretty raw, but that adds to the feel of the film. If you are a film buff like me and you like experiencing really rare pieces of film then I fully recommend this classic to you. This movie would make a great addition to any Boris Karloff collection.

The movie is also interesting to me because it is the first horror movie I have ever seen from the 1940's. This feels like progress. I am going to give The Ape a 6 out of 10. Check it out.

These cold eyes have watched a thousand men die screaming!

The film is based on a play
This was the final film that Boris Karloff was under contract for with Monogram pictures.
Film is also known as Gorilla

Comments

The Human Monster (1939) - Walter Summers

Bela Lugosi turns in a fantastic performance. It is right on par with the exact same films that had made him famous like Dracula . My personal favorite being The Black Cat . Like the latter, this film suffered from poor circulation and lack of advertisement. Either that or the public wasn't interested in seeing Lugosi in anything else other than his famous bloodsucker. This film has a broad and well acted plot that was rich with detail. Lugosi has two sides in this picture. His well loved and compassionate side. The other is a strict, brutal lone shark that acts as a sinister villain to blind and handicapped people. He really brutalizes his victims. It's a macabre message to pay your bills. The film is slow moving and plagued by the usual setbacks from its time. Most of the nation wasn't really that concerned with horror at the time. But studios knew that they would always have an audience. This film is a prime example of that. It's sad because it's

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Ju-On (2000) - Takashi Shimizu

Watching Japanese horror is similar to watching British comedy. If you enjoy dry whit then you probably enjoy the boys of Monty Python in drag. That's the joke, they're dressed like women. Get it? Well, that's British humor. But if you're like most Americans you probably prefer Adam Sandler farting his way across a football field and hooking up with chicks that are way out of his league. Americans usually prefer this more in your face, crass brand of humor. My point is funny in England is different from funny in the US. The same goes for J-Horror. What the Japanese consider scary is very different from what Americans consider scary and it shows in this horror film. Japanese horror is generally slow (a little too slow sometimes), suspenseful and creepy. Ju-On is a creepy effing film. The movie has almost no soundtrack. It is incredibly suspenseful and the pay-offs are pretty awesome, but I think that it was done better in the American version (cultural t

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Inseminoid (1981) - Norman J. Warren

What can be said for mindless schlock pictures like this one. They were pumped out in droves during the eighties. Inseminoid !? give me a break! It sounds like some pre-pubescent teenage boys came up with the title. On the plus side the movie isn't horrible to look at and it has a decent amount of gore. If you can separate yourself from the political incorrectness, then you might have a perfectly decent Sci-Fi Monster Feature. A research team exploring caves on Jupiter accidentally awakens an ancient alien that rapes and impregnates one of the team members. She suffers from terrible shock and trauma, leading to a complete mental breakdown as her pregnancy accelerates faster and faster. Feeling threatened she decides to kill anyone she deems a threat. Can the rest of the research team survive or will they all become victims of INSEMINOID! Apparently this movie had a million dollar budget. That's really shocking considering the outcome of the picture. The acting

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