The White Gorilla is really, really bad. I'm not sure if there is a genre name for movies that just recycle footage from other movies and then add some new stuff, but if this is any indication (along with the also really, really bad Vampire Men of the Lost Planet) it's not the best way to make a quality motion picture.
Although it shouldn't have been a surprise - I didn't really expect it to be good. There's bound to be some stinkers on the 50 Tales of Terror Budget set. Honestly, the only reason I really watched it is that I got the idea in my head that I should watch the entire 50 movie set, a disc at a time, in order. So I've got that to look forward to. This was on the same disc as The Long Hair of Death, and clocked in at a (seemingly) watchable 62 minutes, so I figured it should be easy pickings. Plus, who doesn't like guys in gorilla suits? Sadly, I didn't know what I was getting into.
The "movie" is basically cobbled together from 3 sources (from what I can tell). First, you've got stock footage of the jungle. Second, you've got the new footage of Steve Collins (Ray "Crash" Corrigan), who stumbles into a trading post after an unseen attack from the titular gorilla. He then narrates a story as we watch footage from the third source, a 1920's silent movie series called Perils of the Jungle, which really makes up the bulk of the plot. The plot of that movie, as witnessed and reported by Steve, is a bunch of nonsense about a professor, his daughter, and a young man on a quest for treasure in the Cave of the Cyclops. They not only have to deal with an evil guy trying to beat them to the cave, but also the perils of the jungle: angry natives, lions, and hungry hippos. (No gorillas - of any color - in this tale.)
It's funny because since they obviously can't put the characters from the two stories together, there are a lot of scenes of Steve "watching" from a bush or tree like some kind of peeper. He makes several comments explaining why he couldn't get involved (they were trapped behind the lions, he couldn't because they were so outnumbered), but they just come across like cowardly excuses. They mine the Perils of the Jungle footage as much as they can - it reaches a climax where our main characters are about to be sacrificed by the natives. We cut away, cliffhanger-style, and never return to it. So even if you did care about that particular plot for some reason... sorry! And in case you're wondering, it's a 1920s/1940s jungle-based movie, so there is a decent amount of casual racism. Especially since the leader of the native tribe is inexplicably a little white boy.
And since they need something to happen in the main story, we get the white gorilla. He lurks about, peeps in on Steve, and on two occasions fights a black gorilla. The folks in the trading post make a big deal about the legend of the white gorilla, saying he was an outcast and has become a vicious hater/killer of everything in the jungle. Although he pretty much behaves like every gorilla in every ape movie ever. He may even be nicer than the usual film-ape (not even trying to snatch our leading lady when she passes out from fright at the sight of him).
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| Gorillas in action. I like to imagine they're fighting with staffs! |
But if you like stock footage, this may be for you. You get to see the same shots of random monkeys/hippos/etc. multiple times. And the Perils of the Jungle portions of the film are sped up a bit (I guess they filmed them at a different frame rate), so everything from that part of the movie has a slight Benny Hill chase scene vibe to it.
Honestly, I'm not sure if The White Gorilla is even a horror movie - although it suits my purposes since it's on the Tales of Terror set. I guess it's got some animal attack stuff going on, but that's not exactly terrifying. Ultimately, there is very little reason to ever watch this. I did get a laugh out of the white gorilla vs. black gorilla fight scenes, but other than those couple of minutes this whole thing is just a slog. I tried watching it late one night, and actually fell asleep four times in a half-hour before calling it a night. I had to re-watch it the following day. One time is more than enough.
I would stay far, far away from this film.
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