In this entertaining horror flick we have a love triangle in an Amazonian rubber plantation resulting in a womanising steward murdering his boss. This leads to a voodoo practicing, loyal servant of the unfortunate dead man to use black magic to turn his killer into a sukaras (were-ape to you or me).
I suppose this movie combined that popular staple of the 40's – the jungle film – within a traditional horror film narrative, while still managing to include that other 40's cinematic obsession, a man in a gorilla suit. You'd have to say that it's not the most inspired concoction and one that may have actually been a little dated by the early 50's when sci-fi was all the rage. But from today's perspective it works quite well and the jungle setting gives it something a bit different for what is effectively a horror film, albeit one that I seriously doubt was ever scary to anyone ever. Whatever the case, it features one of the regulars of the genre, Lon Chaney Jr., as a police commissioner. It's not an especially memorable role and is at best peripheral to the overall story. While there is nothing to get particularly excited about here, this one is a perfectly enjoyable time-filler in a Tuesday afternoon kind of way. And there's nothing wrong with that at the end of the day.
I suppose this movie combined that popular staple of the 40's – the jungle film – within a traditional horror film narrative, while still managing to include that other 40's cinematic obsession, a man in a gorilla suit. You'd have to say that it's not the most inspired concoction and one that may have actually been a little dated by the early 50's when sci-fi was all the rage. But from today's perspective it works quite well and the jungle setting gives it something a bit different for what is effectively a horror film, albeit one that I seriously doubt was ever scary to anyone ever. Whatever the case, it features one of the regulars of the genre, Lon Chaney Jr., as a police commissioner. It's not an especially memorable role and is at best peripheral to the overall story. While there is nothing to get particularly excited about here, this one is a perfectly enjoyable time-filler in a Tuesday afternoon kind of way. And there's nothing wrong with that at the end of the day.