Beyond just the elaborate and particularly
Western cultural paranoias, apes freak out people from many cultures
since they disrupt the basic categorization of humans as separate
from animals. Monkeys are perceived as "men with tails"
in a Kiowa legend; giant ones have the same value system as us
(chasing after blond women) in King Kong; and apes have
fingernails. It's too close! In drag, they even can pass for
human among the more myopic characters in '60s films. Researchers
like to torture them since it is presumed that head traumas inflicted
on them will relate to our own well-being (mice, rats, cats, dogs,
rabbits, wildebeests, and four hundred other species are also
used, but aren't as much fun).
The Escape of the Ape (1908)--no print survives.
Go and Get It (1920)--murderer's brain into a marauding ape.
Lorraine of the Lions (1925)--jungle-girl and pet ape brought back to "civilization."
The Gorilla Hunt (1926)--safari to capture six young gorillas for exhibition.
The Gorilla (1927)--supposed ape as murderer at a mansion.
The Leopard Lady (1928)--big-cat trainer, Russian villain, murderous ape.
The Gorilla (1930)--talkie remake of the 1927 film.
Igagi (1930)--implications of interbreeding.
The Savage Girl (1932)--ape kills villain in the last seconds.
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)--Bela Lugosi in the Poe tale.
The Monster Walks (1932)--an adult chimp.
Curtain at Eight (1933)--man-killing chimp.
King Kong (1933)--unsurpassed classic.
Son of Kong (1933)--repentent afterthought.
The House of Mystery (1934)--gorilla stalks those in mansion.
The Gorilla (1939)--Ritz Brothers as
detectives on trail of murderous gorilla in this third filming.
The Ape (1940)--Boris Karloff as mad doctor, and a circus escapee.
Son of Ingagi (1940)--marauding ape-man.
The Monster and the Girl (1941)--human brain in ape and vengeance against gangsters.
Law of the Jungle (1942)--African archaeology/Nazi
adventure with brief savage ape.
Professor Creeps (1942)--mad doctor's machine transforms men to gorillas.
Dr. Renault's Secret (1942)--ape transformed into servant.
The Ape Man (1943)--Bela Lugosi experiments.
Captive Wild Women (1943)--Acquanetta turned into a killer ape by scientist.
Nabonga (1944)--gorilla befriends plane-crash girl
Julie London.
Return of the Ape Man (1944)--unfrozen caveman; Bela Lugosi & John Carradine.
The Monster Maker (1944)--ape not the main "monster."
White Pongo (1945)--father and daughter seek
blond gorilla as missing link.
The White Gorilla (1945)--incorporates
older footage from the silent Perils of the Jungle.
Mighty Joe Young (1949)--heartbreaking Kong penance.
Zamba (1949)--protective gorilla in African jungle.
Forbidden Jungle (1950)--for the love of
jungle boy.
Bride of the Gorilla (1951)--summary and
review by WSU English 333 class, Fall 2006.
Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
(1952)--Lewis and Martin wannabes.
Killer Ape (1953)--adventure of Jungle Jim.
Gorilla at Large (1954)--series of carnival murders and Raymond Burr.
The Bride and the Beast (1958)--Ed Wood, Jr. tale of woman attracted to
apes.
Konga (1961)--serum-injected chimp goes ape in
London.
Planet of the Apes (1968)--Rod Serling script, Charleton Heston.
The Mighty Gorga (1969)--junk.
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)--Astronaut seeks comrades.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)--Futuristic chimps in L.A.
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)--The apes are revolting!
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)--Damned dirty apes!
A-P-E (1976)--rampages for true love, an American actress.
King Kong (1976)--Dino DeLaurentiis' disappointing remake.
King Kong Lives (1986)--in a coma after the 1976 World Trade Center
plunge.
Link (1986)--zoology student vs. pissed lab experiment in mansion.
Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear (1988)--simian aide kills for
master.
Chimera (1991)--British tv film; were-ape experiments at a
fertility clinic.
The Bloody Ape (1992)--Innocent bystander accused of sex-crazed ape's
crimes.
Congo (1995) -- guard-apes of the ancient Jews.
Planet of the Apes (2001)