I picked up some of the Midnight Movies series at Family Dollar for 4 bucks each. I had been sitting on them without cracking the cases for a while and decided to start watching them tonight. It's been ages since I've seen Yongary, Monster From The Deep. It's a 1967 Korean film about a monster that comes crashing around the Korean countryside. I have a copy from Alpha Video that looks like crap compared to this MGM release. I'm throwing that version in the river. This version is a bit longer and widescreen. The AV version has washed out color and a lot of half people on the screen. The soundtrack is the same, the English dubbed one, but it does sound better.
Like I said, Yongary is the name of a giant monster that gets released from the earth's depths when there's a bomb test. The Koreans were trying to get them some Godzilla money by making a monster movie. Like the Japanese monster films of the 60s they put a kid in the pole position and make him drive the movie around the monster. There's a lot of the kid getting right into the thick of things, he gets in trouble, puts others in trouble, but sort of redeems himself when he gathers a bit of info that helps figure out how to kill the beast. Of course the kid wants them to save the monster but saner heads prevail. It's not a great movie but fun enough to want to watch once in a while. Well worth the 2 bucks considering the other movie is Konga.
Konga is a British/AIP co-production that was released in 1961. Michael Gough is a scientist who had been lost in Africa for a year. He returns to London at the beginning of the film. While in Africa he had stayed with a tribe who helped him return to civilization after teaching him some of their formulas for animal growth. Back in London he gets right back to his lab. He wants to make Konga the chimp into a gorilla size chimp. I'm not sure we need larger animals but there you go. He's ruthless and kills the cat when it accidentally drinks some formula. He only has eyes for Konga. Well, Konga and a blond student in his classroom. She's got a boyfriend and Michael's going to marry his secretary. That tangle won't help things at all.
Michael gets some push back from the Dean of the school about his work. He turns Konga into a killing machine and that's the end of the Dean. More killings follow until the secretary, jealous of Michael's interest in the school girl, injects Konga with way too much formula and super-sizes the chimp. Soon the almost giant critter is tromping about London. He doesn't smash much stuff. Konga isn't Godzilla or Yongary size but the Army still have to come kill him with machine guns. Michael, clutched in Konga's hand, gets his. It's a pretty entertaining film, but like Yongary, it's not a great one. Micahel Gough plays a good mad scientist though he sure is stupid for such a clever guy. Some of the effects are ok but others are kind of sad. I didn't have it on my watched movie list which means I didn't see it since I started the list. I might have seen it in the past but I can't remember it.
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