Konga

Forget about King Kong or Mighty Joe Young… for here comes 1961 Sci-fi schlocker KONGA in a brand-new restoration on HD-Blu-ray. If only the film (and its ‘monster’) were half as terrifying as the two aforementioned apes. In ‘Konga’ it’s British stalwart actor Michael Gough who is the real baddie, taking on the part of a demented botanist whose initial experiments with plants soon includes meddling with the animal world – don’t think for one minute that this will have a positive outcome!

Starting in deepest Africa, we see how a small plane crashes in the jungle and goes up in flames. Among the victims is renowned British botanist Dr. Charles Decker (M. Gough) though miracle of miracles, he’s actually survived though the world isn’t informed about this until one year later when he returns to Old Blighty with an additional ‘baggage’: a cute little baby chimpanzee called Konga who became his companion back in the dark continent while recovering from his injuries. As Decker’s long-suffering and seemingly neglected romantic interest Margaret (Margo Johns) is about to discover, her ‘adored Charles’ has a far more sinister motive for having brought Konga back with him because during his recovery period in the African jungle, a local witch doctor introduced Decker to a unique method which makes plants grow at rapid speed! Now he’s hell-bent on carving out a bona fide reputation for himself and soon his greenhouse turns into his very own ‘little shop of horrors’ thanks to fast-growing, flesh-eating plants which demand to be feed (with meat, of course). Not content with his experiments on plants, the dastardly Decker plans on injecting poor little Konga with the miracle serum to see if he too grows… Before that moment arrives though, Margaret accidentally brings her pet cat into Decker’s lab, not knowing what the love of her life (is this woman brain-dead?) is really up to. Cats are curious by nature and when the unfortunate pussycat accidentally licks some of the serum which had spilled onto the floor, Decker promptly takes a pistol from a drawer and blasts the cat in the head, matter-of-factly explaining to the bewildered Margaret that “the cat would have grown into a dangerous panther” before covering the dead feline. At that point, alarm bells should have rang loudly and clearly in Margaret’s ear, in fact, she should have done the decent thing and walked out on her man (most folks would have done if their pet would have been killed by a loony in scientific disguise) but no – Margaret is all-too forgiving and even expresses nothing but admiration when a short time later, Konga the chimp grows into a… fully fledged and dangerous looking gorilla! This in itself is so absurd that from that point on, it’s hard to take the rest of the film even remotely seriously! Did scriptwriters Herman Cohen and Aben Kandel know nothing about the different species of apes?

Following his first successes as a deluded botanist/scientist whose meddling with nature can only grow worse (no pun intended), Decker is adamant that the scientific community will finally give him the credit he deserves, well, in his mind anyway. To ensure that no obstacle stands in the way, he trains Konga to carry out targeted killings which leaves the local police puzzled as to why the first two murder victims (Dean Foster at the college where Decker teaches, and fellow botanist Professor Tagore) don’t seem to have any connections with each other. When Margaret happens to read about the killings over breakfast she knows only too well that Decker and Konga are responsible (actually, it’s Decker who hypnotises the gorilla) but decides to look the other way, as she doesn’t want to lose the man she loves. Isn’t she aware that by doing so, she makes herself an accessory to murder? The killings don’t stop here though because among Decker’s pupils is one Sandra Banks (Claire Gordon) who has a keen interest in botany (with her peroxide bleached hair and tight fitting clothes she looks the type alright!) and consequently admires Decker. He, in turn, mistakes her admiration for something else and when pupil Bob Kenton (Jess Conrad), who is in love with Sandra, confronts Decker in a fit of jealousy we all know who the next victim is going to be… This time ‘round the police have discovered strands of animal hair on Bob’s mangled body and this is the one link connecting him with the previous two victims, although Superintendent Brown (Jack Watson) and his men are still none the wiser.

Meanwhile, Decker has invited Sandra back to his home on the outskirts of London to show her his impressive collection of flesh-eating plants after an obedient Margaret has served up refreshments. Suspicious about Decker’s ‘relation’ with his pupil, Margaret secretly follows the pair to the greenhouse and overhears a conversation in which the randy Decker proposes that Sandra become his new assistant before trying to seduce her. While a shocked Sandra tries to escape his clutches she manages to get her arm stuck in one of the flesh-eating plants, an enraged Margaret runs back to the house and injects Konga with another dose of serum. Within seconds he grows to gigantic proportions and after killing Margaret (who deserves her untimely death for having been such a dope all along) all hell breaks loose and the house goes up in flames after Konga knocks over some chemicals. Unbelievably, Decker seems completely unaware that his house right next to the greenhouse is going up in flames and on the verge of collapse, so busy is he getting his grimy hands on Sandra. Eventually, Konga’s arm breaks through the glass roof of the greenhouse and – with Decker in his hand – goes on a stampede through London… with one of the most preposterous climaxes in film history ending at Big Ben – why Big Ben?

Despite Michael Gough delivering a suitably chilling and convincing performance the film is full of illogical plot-holes. As for Claire Gordon and Jess Conrad – just where did they learn to act one wonders! Still, for fans of B-movie flicks complete with laughable special effects, KONGA makes for amusing entertainment.
Special Features include trailers, US-titles, new interview with Jess Conrad, Image Galleries, and Limited Edition booklet.