
KONG ISLAND is the second disc in Retromedia's boxed KONG COLLECTION and I figured I may as well get this one out of the way before I get on to more promising gorilla suit films. The dvd cover art naturally has nothing to do with this sixty’s Italian cheapie. The tasty brunette and the decent ape suit are nowhere to be found and come to think of it, there's no island in the damn film either! This shoddy, poorly scripted, stock footage heavy pile of dreck elevates the accompanying QUEEN KONG to art house status.
Our tale of revenge and the follies of scientific advancement open with a payroll heist in the African scrubland that goes bad.




Refreshed and recharged, Burt manages to trap our jungle girl and make friends. The film climaxes with a host of double crosses and scraps that leave about half the cast dead! After dispatching Albert's flunky, Burt surprises his nemesis but fails to notice the stinky, mangy monkey's advancing from behind. As he wrestles with the apes, Ursula informs him the giant billboard bearing a crosscut illustration of the gorilla's head with a big blinking red light is somehow the source of Albert's domination over the gorillas. The first shot misses, thus heightening the tension of the moment, yet Burt squeezes off another shot destroying the blinking lens and setting off a chain reaction that destroys the equipment and unleashes some righteous gorilla payback upon Albert. With order restored to the jungle, Burt and Ursula bid farewell to the wild child and paddle back to civili

Tough guy Burt is played by Brad Harris, an American fixture in the flourishing Italian cinema industry of the sixties. This is the first flick I have seen him in but with his chiseled looks, strong jaw and rippling muscles I figured he must have been a veteran of the sword and sandal genre. A quick glance at IMDB reveals several dusty entries as well as a number of horror and action films before returning to the US market on television in recurring roles in DALLAS and FALCON CREST. Marc Lawrence is far from gripping as the crazed Albert and also suffers the indignity of having his part dubbed. I am not certain if it is in fact another voice actor or merely half assed post production work but either way it doesn't help. This was not the first gorilla brain surgery film Marc appeared in.(!!!!) Almost 30 years earlier, Marc Lawrence was one of several gangsters menaced by Charles Gemora and his superb gorilla suit in the Universal classic THE MONSTER AND THE GIRL. Marc was typically a heavy, racking up scores of screen credits until the House Un-American Activities Committee exposed his membership in the Communist Party. After naming names, Lawrence found himself blacklisted and made his way to Europe where he continued to work regularly until he was able to return to the US. Marc continued to act well into his nineties, passing away in 2005.
The gorillas in KONG ISLAND are barely worth comment. Most scenes are badly lit which results in the suits blending into the darkness, a small mercy considering how awful they look under scrutiny.
The greatest crime this film commits is mediocrity – there was ample opportunity to ramp up the absurdity of the various roles but it simply plays out dully with momentary flashes of trashy gold. KONG ISLAND will now be relegated to a choice of last resort in my gorilla suit library.
Explore further images from the movie
KONG ISLAND Gallery
Here's a YouTube clip that gives you a brief whiff of the stinky KONG ISLAND>
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