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The Beast of Borneo (1934) - Harry Garson

Dr. Boris Borodoff formulates a plan to prove his own theory of evolution. He needs live orangutans from the jungle to experiment on. The film stars Mae Stuart, John Preston, and Eugene Sigaloff in utterly forgettable roles. The sets are creative and fun but the flow of the movie is jagged and rough. Bland writing and a thin plot reveal the true chops that these actors don't have or at least don't utilize. This came from a time when gorillas and apes were the scariest thing on the planet. These killer ape movies were a dime a dozen and they all fell flat. 

This movie suffers in a lot of different ways. The sound effects are completely off. I had seen another post earlier about the growl that this gorilla lets out. It is laughable. It sounds more like my uncle clearing his throat after smoking a few packs. It's disgusting more than frightening. This movie could really do from a decent soundtrack. Something. Otherwise it just comes up short! Literally nothing grabs my attention at all. The acting was the first to go and the rest of it came crashing down. 

On a camp level this movie serves as nothing but filler. Sure its Gorillasploitation or Nativesploitation whatever term you want to use. Even if that kind of thing is your niche, this movie just couldn't entertain. It is void of entertainment. As if watching this movie actually made me a duller person. Not a shred of terror or anything even resembling fear went through my mind while viewing this. I couldn't get past how unnatural the accent was on Dr. Boris Borodoff... what a crappy name! Dr. Boris Borodoff! Serious! Not to even mention the rampant animal cruelty... or at least the illusion of it was so poorly handled. It looked childish. The scene when a monkey outsmarts Borodoff is the best in the whole picture. However, its hardly worth a watch. Nothing redeeming not even the Apes growl that sounds more like Animal and Hawk... The Legion of Doom!


This movie blurs over the line of horror and adventure. In it's time it was considered a horror movie. Now we would just roll our eyes when we see it. Reguardless, I have to watch it. No matter how painful or mundane. 

  • Released by DuWorld Pictures
  • Considered a camp classic.
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