Here's the trailer with a few thoughts from John Landis - a fellow gorilla suit enthusiast if there ever was one!
Monday, October 28, 2013
Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown! #4 ..... THE BRIDE AND THE BEAST!
I am forever thankful that the gloriously nutty Ed Wood of PLAN 9 infamy, also created the little gorilla suited gem THE BRIDE AND THE BEAST (1958). This creepy little tale of wed-us interruptus posits that a newly married Charlotte Austin has an inexplicable connection to the caged beast in her husband's basement. Steve Calvert mixes it up in Corrigan's old suit and hungers for a taste of his master's new bride. After the escaped anxious ape is dispatched with a few bullets, the hypnotic investigation into the weird draw our angora clad beauty has to the furry fellow reveals a past lifetime as the Queen of the Gorillas! Though the film doesn't sustain the delightful strangeness of it's first half, devolving into African stock footage, it does feature one of the few white apes of cinema, and for that, deserves a rewatch or two!
Here's the trailer with a few thoughts from John Landis - a fellow gorilla suit enthusiast if there ever was one!
Here's the trailer with a few thoughts from John Landis - a fellow gorilla suit enthusiast if there ever was one!
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown! #5 ..... Microspook !
BOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Look out for.....Microspook !
The hairy and horrible countdown continues with the hysterically dreaded film known only as ...Microspook!
This film is tailor made for Halloween...Haunted Houses, masked maniac with a pet killer goriller...and more horrifying than that..Emil Sitka in a goofball low rent gorilla suit getting confused for the real thing! You can't ask for a tricky treat better than that !
Microspook (1949) is in the same vein as the classic " Old Dark House" comedies, made very popular in the 30's and 40's. This is actually my favorite type of gorilla movie, more so than the straight up jungle adventures. They just seem a lot more fun to me!
Microspook (1949) is in the same vein as the classic " Old Dark House" comedies, made very popular in the 30's and 40's. This is actually my favorite type of gorilla movie, more so than the straight up jungle adventures. They just seem a lot more fun to me!
Microspook stars veteran radio comedian Harry Von Zell, ( Of Burns and Allen fame),Christine McIntyre, and Emil Sitka.
Von Zell, made a name for himself playing a practical joke addicted goofball radio announcer.
In Microspook, Harry's co-workers are so fed up with his antics that they talk one of Harry's sponsors into wanting Harry to do a live broadcast from an authentic haunted house.
His co-workers later sneak into the house intent on scaring the heck out of Harry with an ape suit worn by the great Emil Sitka. ( Sitka was a staple in the Three Stooges shorts, and considered by Moe Howard to be the fourth Stooge)
Needless to say, things don't turn out quite as expected as the house is already inhabited by a killer gorilla ( Ray Corrigan) and his eccentric keeper.
To pull this off properly, you need the "fake Gorilla" to a fairly low quality suit.
Well, in Microspook, the producers spared no expense in procuring the worst looking gorilla suit on the planet, from the Columbia wardrobe department.
The suit literally is made of fur and gaffers tape and in some stills, it really shows !
Hollywood Gorilla Man Emil Sitka (Yes, you heard that right!) throws a fright into the lovely Christine McIntyre. On top of this comedic gorilla, Emil also played gorillas in other films, (including Jungle Jim and the Lost Tribe) sometimes wearing the gorilla suits of the great Charles Gemora !
Emil and Christine plot to scare the hell, out of Harry Von Zell !
Word to the not so wise...don't smoke....in a gorilla suit...
The Mighty Sitka stalks the halls of the haunted house !
What a great profile this suit has ! It's like something from a Don Martin cartoon !
Sitka meets the even Mightier Ray Corrigan !
Emil Sitka and Christine McIntyre ring Harry Von Zell's chime !
( photo from the collection of Bob Burns)
The weird thing is that I really like that goofy suit !
It has that same quirky charm as a tie made of construction paper and macaroni noodles that small children would make for their dad on fathers day.
The badness of Emil's suit shines like a spotlight when put next to Ray Corrigans awesome suit,
and makes old Crash's suit all the more real.
This leads to mass hilarity that I can only imagine since I haven't seen Microspook yet !
We can get an idea of what it is like through a wonderful article and photos on a website devoted to Emil Sitka , created by his son, Saxon Emil Sitka.Saturday, October 26, 2013
Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown!...# 6...White Pongo!
Now I freely admit that WHITE PONGO is pretty far from the parameters that we have set for ourselves, but I cannot get that frosty locked freaky ape outta my mind when considering not just the horrific gorilla film, but rather the horrific gorilla. While the film itself is nowhere near frightening, or dramatically interesting, the bizarre albino ape strikes a powerful pose in the press stills, lobby cards and posters. I don't doubt for a moment that Corrigan's white nightmare was the primary reason the moviegoing masses bought a ticket. Though the suit had none of the realism Gemora strove for, the outlandish and grotesque White Pongo is certainly fascinating enough to capture our attention 70 years later.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown!...# 7...The Ape !
| Here we go into the fray yet again, as we continue the count down the Halloween ! What's creepier than a killer gorilla prowling for hapless victims? A gorilla who's out to use you for mad scientific experimentation, that's what ! So pull up your pumpkin, and we'll tell the tale of Monogram Pictures" The Ape", starring horror legend, Boris Karloff. | |
| Karloff stars as ,Doctor Adrian, a lonely country doctor, who is on a guilt ridden search to find the cure polio, the disease that claimed his wife and daughter years earlier. A young girl in town, (Maris Wrixon) also suffers from the dread disease, and Doctor Adrian is damned and determined not to let the disease take another innocent life. the key to the cure, he hypothesises, is the introduction of human spinal fluid into the spine of the patient. The only drawback is the spinal fluid must be extracted from a live donor. As luck would have it, this causes the donor to die, thereby cutting down the list of potential volunteers. In a series of fortunate events, a traveling circus happens into the little town the good doctor lives in. One of the exhibits is a huge gorilla,( The great, Ray Corrigan). The poor beast is horribly abused by his trainer. Then one evening, after viciously flogging the crap out of the poor gorilla, the A-hole trainer makes the mistake of getting to close to the vengeful behemoths cage.  Then the gorilla does a little flogging of his own. (YAY !) One dropped cigar later, and the circus is now on fire, with part of the cage burned through, the ape escapes into the night The circus folk find the mangled body of the trainer, still somehow alive, and take him to kindly, old Doc Adrian (Karloff) to try to save him. The monkey did a thorough job of whipping his ass so the trainer's well on his way to a dirt nap. Old Doc figures since the guy's on the way out, a donation to the spinal fluid bank won't hurt him any way.(since to extract it is always fatal.) After getting the secret sauce, old Doc injects the young girl he's trying to cure and sees a glimmer of hope in the treatment. Meanwhile, as Doc's returning to his office, the mean old gorilla has come sniffing for the trainer's scent. As luck would have it, the trainers blood stained jacket is still in the office and old Magilla can smell it ! It breaks through the window scaring the hell out of the Doc!  But rather than run away, the old Doc busts a bottle of chloroform over the enraged critters snot locker ! Then when the monkey was two sheets to the wind, Doc jumps the monkey with a knife and stabs the hairy intruder though the heart, from behind. Then , in a moment of mad inspiration, he skins it, and makes a costume out of it, and set out to get as much spinal fluid as he needs to cure that poor girl. I do want to point out, that for the most part, Doc was taking it from local scumbags.( who probably deserved it) I also want to say, that Docs motives were to help the girl, and by virtue, mankind as a whole through finding the polio cure. This is polar opposite to Lugosi (in the Ape Man) killing for spinal fluid to cure his own selfish ass! ( after having messed him self up in the first place !) But, back to the Karloff flick. The Ape costarred Ray "Crash" Corrigan as both the real gorilla, and Doc Adrian in disguise. This was necessary as Karloff could barely stand in the heavy costume, much less move in it. Karloff wore the suit for one scene only, as a reveal of the culprit. This film marked the last time Ray's original gorilla costume ( Bonga) was ever used, as it was falling apart. When the gorilla is looking through the windows of Docs office, you can see the monkeys teeth through horizontal rips in the upper lip.  You can also see a steel wire sticking out from the lower lip that was part of the mechanism to make the mouth move. After the Ape, Crash retired the old suit, and had a new suit constructed, that was even more menacing. But at any rate, I like this little film, because it truly shows old Boris giving a heck of a performance as the painfully conflicted Dr. having to kill, to save lives....Not many new TRICKS, but a very cool TREAT ! |
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown! # 8 ...Seven Footprints to Satan!
Did someone say...SATAN!
The Church Lady is forever etched in my mind anytime the name of the Great Nemesis is mentioned. Today's entry is another Golden Age Gemora Gorilla - this time with man himself portraying the devilish ape. The text below is cannibalized from a post I made 6 (!) years ago but hey- I'm old and I gotz 2 kids!
I have added a few videos and the time where Gemora menaces the pasty faced 'hero'.
SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN was originally penned by Abraham Merrit in 1927, and was one of two works adapted to film (the other was BURN WITCH BURN!, filmed as THE DEVIL DOLL in 1936). Merritt had a modest literary output; his primary occupation was that of editor for THE ALL AMERICAN WEEKLY, a Randolph Hearst publication.
Here is a brief, innocuous description of the film from IMDB – coming from the mind of Benjamin Christensen I imagine that the last line in the summary is most relevant. I was introduced to Christensen’s landmark film HEXEN via the brutally surreal and random 30’s shocker, MANIAC. The titular character has moments of crippling hallucinations where images of demons and witches from the Danish docudrama are superimposed upon scenes of mental torment. It is abundantly clear that they are in class beyond this exploitation films’ original material.
A young man of society wants to make an expedition to Africa, but his fiancée asks him for help about one of her father’s guests shortly before his planed departure. Her suspects about that guest were serious, this man tries to steal one of her father’s rubin, and she and her fiancé are kidnapped and brought to a house, where strange things happen. The whole thing becomes a nightmare under the direction of a mysterious Mr. Satan.
The voluminous pages of THE MISSING LINK website have this to say about the early Hollywood effort of the Great Dane:
Daredevil Jim Kirkham, complains when he feels that his life is too mundane, until he and his sweetheart find themselves prisoners in a haunted castle while searching for a gemstone stolen during a reception at her house. The castle is inhabited entirely by monsters, wild animals and screaming victims, but eventually the horrors are revealed to have been nothing more than an elaborate hoax to show him that mundane reality can be as bizarre as any adventure.
A thrilling parade of monsters in a startling symphony of light and shadow, invested with a darkly mocking wit.
That seems a more apt description! I have yet to see the film myself. It was long considered lost until a European version surfaced. Though it is minus the sound effects and synchronized music that accompanied the North American release, the surviving print has Italian intertitles, a recent score, and is available at Creepy Classics. Another item on a long list of gorilla suit must-haves.
Another rare still - note a youthful Angelo Rossito with the curled shoes, best known for his FREAKS role with horror buffs, also widely recognized for his appearance as the Master in the third MAD MAX installment.
The cult film guru Michael J. Weldon of Psychotronic magazine (which sadly may be out of print for a spell while they rebound from some distribution problems) had these comments about the classic dark house film. Weldon’s distinctive obituary pages are unmatched in print or on the web – both the obscure and forgotten names of cult and underground film get their due recognition in a few lines of print. The quote below is indicative of Michael’s expansive knowledge and his top spot as the go-to Hollywood grave watcher.
SEVEN FOOTPRINTS is overloaded with impressive horror makeup faces, interesting characters and visual surprises. One brief (pre-code) scene shows a naked oriental woman (we only see part of her). Her hands are then bound above her head with leather straps while the gorilla holds her feet! A hairy faced man (William V. Mong) who I think is a werewolf and a bearded dwarf (young Angelo Rossitto) both help the hero. A witch woman in a sexy dress (Nora Cecil) and a club footed cripple with long hair (Sheldon Lewis, who was DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE in 1920) both threaten. Also with the director as Eve’s uncle and Loretta Young (an extra). The director, best known for his incredible WITCHCRAFT 2 THROUGH THE AGES (22), also made THE HAUNTED HOUSE (28) and HOUSE OF HORROR (29) in Hollywood, both also with Todd and Mong, before returning home to Denmark. Todd, famous for 30s comedy shorts, died of carbon monoxide poisoning in her car in 35. The Japanese Kamiyama Sojin (also in THE BAT - 26) died in 44 in a U.S. internment camp. Hale, from Ireland, retired after the 40s and lived into his 80s.
Appears around 7:50
Appears around 5:40
Appears around 5:19
The Church Lady is forever etched in my mind anytime the name of the Great Nemesis is mentioned. Today's entry is another Golden Age Gemora Gorilla - this time with man himself portraying the devilish ape. The text below is cannibalized from a post I made 6 (!) years ago but hey- I'm old and I gotz 2 kids!
I have added a few videos and the time where Gemora menaces the pasty faced 'hero'.
SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN was originally penned by Abraham Merrit in 1927, and was one of two works adapted to film (the other was BURN WITCH BURN!, filmed as THE DEVIL DOLL in 1936). Merritt had a modest literary output; his primary occupation was that of editor for THE ALL AMERICAN WEEKLY, a Randolph Hearst publication.
Here is a brief, innocuous description of the film from IMDB – coming from the mind of Benjamin Christensen I imagine that the last line in the summary is most relevant. I was introduced to Christensen’s landmark film HEXEN via the brutally surreal and random 30’s shocker, MANIAC. The titular character has moments of crippling hallucinations where images of demons and witches from the Danish docudrama are superimposed upon scenes of mental torment. It is abundantly clear that they are in class beyond this exploitation films’ original material.
A young man of society wants to make an expedition to Africa, but his fiancée asks him for help about one of her father’s guests shortly before his planed departure. Her suspects about that guest were serious, this man tries to steal one of her father’s rubin, and she and her fiancé are kidnapped and brought to a house, where strange things happen. The whole thing becomes a nightmare under the direction of a mysterious Mr. Satan.
The voluminous pages of THE MISSING LINK website have this to say about the early Hollywood effort of the Great Dane:
Daredevil Jim Kirkham, complains when he feels that his life is too mundane, until he and his sweetheart find themselves prisoners in a haunted castle while searching for a gemstone stolen during a reception at her house. The castle is inhabited entirely by monsters, wild animals and screaming victims, but eventually the horrors are revealed to have been nothing more than an elaborate hoax to show him that mundane reality can be as bizarre as any adventure.
A thrilling parade of monsters in a startling symphony of light and shadow, invested with a darkly mocking wit.
That seems a more apt description! I have yet to see the film myself. It was long considered lost until a European version surfaced. Though it is minus the sound effects and synchronized music that accompanied the North American release, the surviving print has Italian intertitles, a recent score, and is available at Creepy Classics. Another item on a long list of gorilla suit must-haves.
Another rare still - note a youthful Angelo Rossito with the curled shoes, best known for his FREAKS role with horror buffs, also widely recognized for his appearance as the Master in the third MAD MAX installment.
The cult film guru Michael J. Weldon of Psychotronic magazine (which sadly may be out of print for a spell while they rebound from some distribution problems) had these comments about the classic dark house film. Weldon’s distinctive obituary pages are unmatched in print or on the web – both the obscure and forgotten names of cult and underground film get their due recognition in a few lines of print. The quote below is indicative of Michael’s expansive knowledge and his top spot as the go-to Hollywood grave watcher.
SEVEN FOOTPRINTS is overloaded with impressive horror makeup faces, interesting characters and visual surprises. One brief (pre-code) scene shows a naked oriental woman (we only see part of her). Her hands are then bound above her head with leather straps while the gorilla holds her feet! A hairy faced man (William V. Mong) who I think is a werewolf and a bearded dwarf (young Angelo Rossitto) both help the hero. A witch woman in a sexy dress (Nora Cecil) and a club footed cripple with long hair (Sheldon Lewis, who was DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE in 1920) both threaten. Also with the director as Eve’s uncle and Loretta Young (an extra). The director, best known for his incredible WITCHCRAFT 2 THROUGH THE AGES (22), also made THE HAUNTED HOUSE (28) and HOUSE OF HORROR (29) in Hollywood, both also with Todd and Mong, before returning home to Denmark. Todd, famous for 30s comedy shorts, died of carbon monoxide poisoning in her car in 35. The Japanese Kamiyama Sojin (also in THE BAT - 26) died in 44 in a U.S. internment camp. Hale, from Ireland, retired after the 40s and lived into his 80s.
Appears around 7:50
Appears around 5:40
Appears around 5:19
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown! # 9 ...Bela Lugosi meets the Brooklyn Gorilla !
How we doin' gang ? we're we'll on our way with the 9th installment of the Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown!
This time, we'll engage in a little mad science under the masterful hand of Bela Lugosi himself !
Bela Lugosi meets the Brooklyn Gorilla, in actual fact has nothing to do with Brooklyn, instead it takes place on a tropical island occupied by natives led by Chief Rakos.(Al Kikume)
The story unfolds as our not quite dashing heroes Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo find themselves stranded on the island after parachuting out of a plane. Mitchell and Petrillo can best be described as a low rent version of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. (Petrillo's version of Lewis is painfully spot on !)
After being found by the tribe, we meet the chiefs beautiful daughter Nona. (Charlita)
Without fail, Duke and Nona fall madly in love.
Desperate to find a way off the island, Nona brings Duke and Sammy to see Doctor Zabor. (Lugosi)
The good doctor employs Nona as a laboratory assistant, and has develops the hots for Nona over the years.
Needless to say, Doc Zabor isn't too pleased to see Nona's new found romance, So Zabor devises a plan to remove Duke from the equation. You see, Zabor is doing arcane experiments, where he can regress an animal to a more primitive form.
After capturing Duke, the good Doctor turns poor Duke into a fierce gorilla. (Steve Calvert).
What follows is utter comedic madness as a real gorilla gets into the mix and confusion ensues !
Bela delivers a brilliant performance as the jealous and disgruntled mad doctor, and Steve Calvert is at his best.
Mitchell and Petrillo do an admirable job as Martin and Lewis clones, and Charlita is so gorgeous, she does a great job just standing there. I do have to mention that there are a few musical numbers scattered around in the flick, but not enough to be too aggravating.
But the reason BLMTBG is on this countdown is because of the brilliance of Bela Lugosi, and the incredibly fun mad science he creates!
This time, we'll engage in a little mad science under the masterful hand of Bela Lugosi himself !
Bela Lugosi meets the Brooklyn Gorilla, in actual fact has nothing to do with Brooklyn, instead it takes place on a tropical island occupied by natives led by Chief Rakos.(Al Kikume)
The story unfolds as our not quite dashing heroes Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo find themselves stranded on the island after parachuting out of a plane. Mitchell and Petrillo can best be described as a low rent version of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. (Petrillo's version of Lewis is painfully spot on !)
After being found by the tribe, we meet the chiefs beautiful daughter Nona. (Charlita)
Without fail, Duke and Nona fall madly in love.
Desperate to find a way off the island, Nona brings Duke and Sammy to see Doctor Zabor. (Lugosi)
The good doctor employs Nona as a laboratory assistant, and has develops the hots for Nona over the years.
Needless to say, Doc Zabor isn't too pleased to see Nona's new found romance, So Zabor devises a plan to remove Duke from the equation. You see, Zabor is doing arcane experiments, where he can regress an animal to a more primitive form.
After capturing Duke, the good Doctor turns poor Duke into a fierce gorilla. (Steve Calvert).
What follows is utter comedic madness as a real gorilla gets into the mix and confusion ensues !
Bela delivers a brilliant performance as the jealous and disgruntled mad doctor, and Steve Calvert is at his best.
Mitchell and Petrillo do an admirable job as Martin and Lewis clones, and Charlita is so gorgeous, she does a great job just standing there. I do have to mention that there are a few musical numbers scattered around in the flick, but not enough to be too aggravating.
But the reason BLMTBG is on this countdown is because of the brilliance of Bela Lugosi, and the incredibly fun mad science he creates!
Martin and Lewis ? Not hardly.
Enter the love interest... the one on the right.
Hiya Doc.
Mad science at it's finest !
Before
During
After
Duke, is that you ?
This could get awkward !
Doctor Zabor !
Have a great time watching gang,
and remember to save Gorilla Man and Old Bongo some popcorn !
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown! #10...The Gorilla (1927)
..............!
That was the sound of silent spooky simians!
Tonight's selection was the first version of the stage play to appear on celluloid. Hollywood adapted this comedy mystery on 3 occasions in little over a decade demonstrating that studio remakes are not a new thing. To my knowledge the film is lost, so I cannot comment on the quality of the pic, however the images that remain have always captured my attention. My affection for the strange and often bizarre gorilla suits of early cinema is well established here but the stills and promotional materials illustrate a very unique creature that stalked the dark house of THE GORILLA. The film is reportedly Charles Gemora's first foray into suit design and build and led him into the career that defined much of his life.
I leave you now with THE GORILLA!
That was the sound of silent spooky simians!
Tonight's selection was the first version of the stage play to appear on celluloid. Hollywood adapted this comedy mystery on 3 occasions in little over a decade demonstrating that studio remakes are not a new thing. To my knowledge the film is lost, so I cannot comment on the quality of the pic, however the images that remain have always captured my attention. My affection for the strange and often bizarre gorilla suits of early cinema is well established here but the stills and promotional materials illustrate a very unique creature that stalked the dark house of THE GORILLA. The film is reportedly Charles Gemora's first foray into suit design and build and led him into the career that defined much of his life.
I leave you now with THE GORILLA!
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