G2KMaster's blog
| Welcome to M o n s t e r l a n d F o r u m s! We are a growing, casual and friendly online community of movie fans who like to talk about giant monsters, horror and sci-fi in cinema, on television and on DVD. There are forums for sports, casual chat and video games as well. For those of you who like making art, writing stories and creating videos, our community includes a forum for these submissions as well. Check out our main index page and other board forums! Anyone is welcome to join our community! M o n s t e r l a n d F o r u m s was created on January 29, 2006 for the purpose of giving fans of giant monster films and other sci-fi/horror movies a friendly online meeting place to discuss all of their favorite films and other things of interest. -Lee "Packmule" Merritt Site founder |
| Konga(1961); Discuss the film here. | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Apr 6 2006, 03:27 AM (106 Views) | |
| packmule | Apr 6 2006, 03:27 AM Post #1 |
Site founder - Your best nightmare
  ![]](http://209.85.117.197/static/1/pip_r.png)
|
After The Mighty Peking Man(1977) there is another "giant gorilla on the loose" movie that I think is worth a mention: Konga, released in 1961 by Orion Pictures Corporation. The story: Dr. Charles Decker(played by Michael Gough) has just returned from a year long odyssey in the African jungle with "Konga", an infant chimpanzee. Retreating into his laboratory, the moody botanist begins an experiment on his small simian test subject, injecting "Konga" with a growth serum(based on a rare plant). Konga grows quickly, soon as big as a man, the botanist using his test subject to kill his enemies. Unfortunately for Dr. Decker, his test subject grows to kaiju size and becomes very disagreeable, escaping into London where it goes on the predictable rampage before making Dr. Decker it's last victim. ------Observations: Though not as good as The Mighty Peking Man I do think it is far better than the abysmal The Mighty Gorga or the absolutely atrocious A*P*E(1976). Michael Gough(who would later play "Alfred" in the Batman films beginning in 1989) is very good as the temperamental, self-absorbed botanist. The special effects are average at best, I think. There is a Region 1 DVD available of this movie, released by MGM, in color and full screen(1.66:1) format. Discuss the film here, anything related to it, and the DVD. All replies welcome. :rolleyes: |
 Packmule's Pen Latitude Zero(1969) The Relic(1997) | |
 |
 
|
| KaijuFanatic | Apr 6 2006, 11:15 AM Post #2 |
DVD Fanatic
|
I love this film. Michael Gough is always a joy to watch in a villianous role and he really plays it up in this film. The effects aren't a strong point for this film, but they work and I do manage a laugh every time Konga grabs Decker and he's demanding to be put down and then begins to yell for help....the final scene is always sad, I think.....I just have a tough time finding fault with many of the UK's sci-fi or horror films. |
| Hers, Mine & Our DVDs | |
|
|
|
| packmule | Apr 6 2006, 07:29 PM Post #3 |
|
Site founder - Your best nightmare
|
Indeed, Dr. Decker's attitude towards his female counterparts in this film(including the giant simian) was very poor, as he treated them all as, I think, nothing more than material possessions. silver surprised |
|
Packmule's Pen Latitude Zero(1969) The Relic(1997) | |
|
|
|
| KaijuFanatic | Apr 6 2006, 11:23 PM Post #4 |
|
DVD Fanatic
|
Very true on Dr Decker's attitude towards the women in his life. FIlms like this really allow an actor or actress to show their range in acting. Gough always seemed to be right in his element in roles such as this. |
| Hers, Mine & Our DVDs | |
|
|
|
| packmule | Apr 7 2006, 06:26 AM Post #5 |
|
Site founder - Your best nightmare
|
Although my DVD of this film has different cover art here is one with the film as part of the "Midnight Movies" series from MGM: (click thumbnail) |
|
Packmule's Pen Latitude Zero(1969) The Relic(1997) | |
|
|
|
| KaijuFanatic | Apr 11 2006, 09:08 PM Post #6 |
|
DVD Fanatic
|
I was slightly disappointed with the cover art for the DVD release, but the more I look at it, the more I like it. |
| Hers, Mine & Our DVDs | |
|
|
|
| packmule | Apr 11 2006, 09:57 PM Post #7 |
|
Site founder - Your best nightmare
|
DVD cover art for these old movies=for Packmule, the movies themselves, which tend to grow on me as I look at them more often Mr Green |
|
Packmule's Pen Latitude Zero(1969) The Relic(1997) | |
|
|
|
| packmule | Oct 14 2009, 01:22 AM Post #8 |
|
Site founder - Your best nightmare
|
Ken Hulsey has posted a cool blog entry at "Monster Island News" about 1961's Konga: http://robojapan.blogspot.com/2009/10/konga-1961mgm.html |
|
Packmule's Pen Latitude Zero(1969) The Relic(1997) | |
|
|
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Giant Monsters · Next Topic » |
4:55 PM Nov 28
