Monday, December 9, 2024

Tag: gorillas

Kong: Skull Island
It should go without saying that portrayals of black characters in horror movies can stand to improve, but on the bright side, they aren't as bad as they've been in the past. Compare the original King Kong to 2017's Kong: Skull Island, for instance (acknowledging that films like these...
Congo movie poster
When I was in college, I took an African history class in which my professor went on a tirade about how much she hated the movie Congo. I can't remember the specifics of why, but let's just say at the very least that the historical accuracy of the story...
King Kong (1933) horror movie poster
The prototypical "wilds of Africa" horror film (although Skull Island isn't supposed to be in Africa), King Kong features wild, black natives (led by chief Noble Johnson) jumping around and going "ooga booga," kidnapping white women, worshiping Kong and proceeding to get stepped on by the monster from aforementioned...
Konga horror movie poster
Along with Mighty Joe Young, Konga, also known as Attack of the Giant Ape from the Land of the Black People Part IV, illustrates the evolution of minority roles from older giant ape films like King Kong and Son of Kong. In the more recent flicks, the black natives...
Mighty Joe Young movie poster
Mighty Joe Young is basically "King Kong lite", from its tone (decidedly lighter) to the size of its gorilla (decidedly smaller) to the role of its black cast (decidedly less important). Like King Kong, the role of the black people in Mighty Joe Young is peripheral -- natives sharing...
Son of Ingagi horror movie poster
Son of Ingagi is a somewhat stuffy all-black horror flick featuring somewhat stuffy newlywed couple Bob and Eleanor Lindsay (Alfred Grant and Daisy Bufford), who, besides having corny names and sleeping in separate beds, befriend lonely scientist Helen Jackson (Laura Bowman). As scientists tended to do in the 1940s,...
Son of Kong horror movie poster
A rushed, inferior (and pretty darn goofy) sequel in all respects, Son of Kong clocks in at barely 70 minutes, leaving little room for the menacing natives of the original. Although the movie posters show a rain of spears threatening our heroes, the Skull Islanders here are allotted all...
The White Gorilla movie poster
This is more of an adventure film than horror, but given the fine line in gorilla-centric fare back in the '40s, you can cut me some slack. The reason I'm including The White Gorilla on this site is that while watching it, I couldn't help but feel like Richard...
The Bride and the Beast movie poster
In one of the more perverse woman-beast relationships captured on film until 1980's Tanya's Island (and later the Pam Anderson-Tommy Lee tape), the Ed Wood-penned The Bride and the Beast finds newlywed Laura with a strange fetish. You see, gorillas make her feel all funny...down there. She reads Gorilla-girl, goes...