Regie:
William BeaudineDrehbuch:
Tim RyanKamera:
Charles Van EngerMusik:
Richard HazardBesetzung:
Bela Lugosi, Duke Mitchell, Sammy Petrillo, Ray Corrigan, Mickey Simpson, William Wilkerson, Martin Garralaga, Muriel Landers, Al Kikume, Charlita RegisInhalte(1)
The title's namesake, Bela Lugosi, stars as Dr. Zabor, a mad scientist living on the Pacific island of Cola-Cola, who whiles away his time performing weird evolutionary experiments. The island is also home to a primitive group of tribesmen. Into this mix, parachute two goofy entertainers (Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo, in roles reminiscent of those most often played by Martin & Lewis). Mayhem ensues when Mitchell takes a liking to the Chief's daughter, sparking jealously and a devious plot by Dr. Zabor to make a monkey out of him. (Verleiher-Text)
(mehr)Kritiken (2)
An adventurous variation on The Island of Dr. Moreau. It’s decently made, but despite the short running time the film drags a lot. The long exposition, where the two characters chat with the natives on the island where they fell out of a passing plane, wasn’t fun because I was tuned to a different note. All the while, Sammy the asshole, who looked like a failed and even more crazed copy of Jim Carrey, was very annoying. It has nothing of the horror genre at all, the jungle is in a studio (as was the custom back then) and there is a questionable experiment about making a human into a gorilla. Sometimes I forget that Bela Lugosi took roles in the silliest films...
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Poster tagline: BROOKLYN CHUMPS BECOME ISLAND MONKEYS IN A JUNGLE FULL OF LAFFS! A HORROR FILM THAT WILL STIFFEN YOU WITH LAUGHTER!!! The star of horror icon Bela Lugosi was completely extinguished after the war, and he took every acting opportunity he could to make a living and keep his name from fading into the dust. This was supposed to be a return to the elite, but it ended up being an obscure affair that many critics overseas consider the worst Hollywood comedy of all time. As for the stupid script, it was still bearable, as was the directorial approach of Beaudin, who took things very seriously (he never repeated a scene), but the performance of stand-up comedian Sammy Petrillo almost caused me physical pain (Kevin Hart is a similarly awkward element nowadays), so it was hard to get through the 70 minutes. Otherwise, the rest is in keeping with the period: cute sets, terrible effects and a gorilla costume that must have been hilarious even at the time of its creation. Lugosi keeps throwing those shifty looks, having a go at a young girl like he did when he was younger, but it's obvious that he's probably tired of it. But you have to pay the rent somehow, right? In summary, I've seen a lot of similar crap from that period, but I'll repeat myself – Sammy Petrillo is evil in the making, and like Octavianus, I'd like to see some long martyrdom as satisfaction for the culture shock I'll be recovering from for a long time :o)
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Galerie (17)
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