Kong Island (1968)

- Eva, la Venere selvaggia
A million miles away from Fay Wray, 4 July 2005

I can sum up this movie in one word - trash. Everything about Kong Island is near the bottom of the barrel. First, let's look at the name - Kong Island - what a rip-off. When I see the name "Kong", I naturally think of a very large gorilla. There is no towering ape in this movie. Instead, there are a few average size gorillas. The next word, Island, would seem to indicate that the movie takes place on a small piece of land completely surrounded by the ocean. Unless you consider Africa an island, there's not one to be found.

The acting is horrible. The female lead, Ursula Davis, is about as low rent a heroine as I've seen. She doesn't act or look the part of a beautiful damsel in distress. I could go on, but what's the point. No one comes out of this movie looking good.

The special effects, and I use that the term "special" liberally, are terrible. The opening scene of a gorilla surgery is obviously a mask. Then there are the gorillas themselves. I've seen better gorilla suits in a local costume shop. Low budget doesn't begin to describe Kong Island.

I haven't even gotten to the plot, such as it is. It's a confusing story of a mad scientist who puts electronic devices into the heads of gorillas so he can control their actions. It's never made clear why he does this. The previously mentioned damsel's father is also involved financially in this scheme. Why? I don't know. Most of it seems like it was made up on the fly.

I could go on and on about the goofiness of Kong Island, but why bother. I'll end with one word of advice - AVOID!

2/10