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Son of Ingagi (1940) - Richard C. Kahn


This film is the first all-African American horror movie. This peaked my curiosity. Upon viewing it I noticed that it seems to be a mash-up of bits and pieces from horror movies that had been popular in the past. It has some great sequences and is thoroughly
enjoyable. It has some really cool musical pieces by a group known as The Four Toppers. 

The film focuses on a newlywed couple Robert and Eleanor Lindsay who inherit a strange old house from an old woman named Doctor Jackson. The house has a strange ape-man that lives in the basement. No doubt a product of the Doctor's experiments. The ape-man is her servant and is docile. That is until the ape-man finds an experimental potion that she had foolishly left out leading to the ape-man going berserk. Ape-Man become angry! Ape-Man smash!


The film has some really great acting supplied by Daisy Bufford. Spencer Williams, the writer for the film, also portrays a character in the movie. This is a low-budget film that makes the right decisions. It is really well shot and decently made. It isn't horrible and appears to be more palatable than other films from it's time. It feels as though it suffers from poor marketing and having a very small budget. I assume that it having an all-black cast during it's time didn't help either.  

Director: Richard C. Kahn
Country: USA

Did ya know...
The title is a take-off on the notorious film Ingagi (1930) that was made nearly a decade earlier. This is believed to be the only horror film with, what was then called, an "all colored cast."


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