Night of the Bloody Apes (1972)

Pretty Good

Best movie ever!

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Night of the Bloody Apes (1969)** 1/2 (out of 4) Dr. Krallman (Jose Elias Moreno) has a son who is dying and as a last resort he tries to transplant the heart of a gorilla into him. At first it seems like it might have worked but before long the son turns into a disfigured monster and goes on a killing rampage.NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES was a huge box office hit back in the day and if you watch the trailer it's easy to see why. It did a terrific job at promising various thrills and gory action and I must say that this is a rare example of where the trailer didn't lie and the film delivers on the promises. I say that because this here is a pretty gory and pretty violent little film that's certainly worth watching if you enjoy these Mexican horror films.This here was a remake of DOCTOR OF DOOM but this one here takes the subject a lot further. For starters, this one here is in color, which allows the gore to just jump off the screen. The most famous thing about this is that they took an actual heart surgery and placed it in the film at a couple different spots. I can only imagine how many kids watched this back in the day and were traumatized from it. There's other gory action and the film even delivers some wrestling as well as nudity. The film certainly went far beyond what most films were doing during this era.The American dubbed version adds a few laughs as the track is pretty silly. The highlight of this version is the woman screaming when she finds a dead man in the street. The film's monster is pretty good looking for what it is and for the most part this is an entertaining and fun movie. Obviously this isn't Oscar-material but it's a fun drive-in picture.

This cheap Mexican horror film is a remake of Rene Cardona's "Doctor of Doom" (1962), spiced with nudity, medical footage, women wrestling, and cheap gore shots.Where the title comes from is anyone's guess. There is plenty of blood and gore (and nudity), and at least one ape, but there is nothing in the film that could be summed up by this title. But, who can complain when what you get is every bit as wild as that name? This is worth watching, and probably one of the better films on the notorious "video nasty" list (besides, you know, all the Fulci and Argento). For sheer entertainment value, this is top notch.

This is another notorious Mexican horror film: however, while the original Spanish-language version is quite tame, all sorts of gore and nudity were inserted for the English-dubbed variant (prepared by Jerald Intrator - who did similar duties on THE CURIOUS DR. HUMPP [1967/71] - and, like the U.S. version of that film, had previously been available on DVD through Something Weird/Image)! I watched the original first and, while no great shakes, it was fairly engaging - especially with a plot as familiar as this one was: a doctor goes beyond the call of duty in attempting to save the life of his terminally ill son; he even has a hulking, game-legged assistant (played by Carlos Lopez Moctezuma, who had essayed a strikingly similar role - though in a more sinister vein - in THE CURSE OF THE CRYING WOMAN [1961]). I know that several Mexican films mingled horror with the "Lucha Libre" (Wrestling) genre but I had never watched one myself; this element is present here - in fact, the heroine is a wrestler - but the two styles are, perhaps thankfully, kept apart (that said, the wrestling sequences are competently done, with some of the moves proving highly amusing).The doctor's son is transformed into a monster (looking like The Incredible Hulk with mud splashed over his face!) after having had an ape's heart transplanted into him - but, then, when this is replaced with that of a comatose female wrestler, he stays this way and grows a pair of fangs to boot (shouldn't he realistically have turned into a transsexual...though I guess that wouldn't have been very interesting)!! The climactic rooftop sequence in which the monster kidnaps a child and meets his demise at the hands of the police is reminiscent of THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1942). My favorite unintentionally funny moments in the film, however, occur when the doctor, trying to comfort his son, tells him that he'll soon be cured - only to turn his back soon after on the verge of tears - and also the impatient look he gives his crippled assistant (as the latter staggers slowly into the car) when they're about to chase the monster who has escaped from the lab.The alternate nude scenes work for the film (these were actually done by Cardona himself for a racier Mexican version entitled HORROR Y SEXO) but its reputation is largely based on the added material showing over-the-top violence, such as an eyeball being gouged out of its socket, a scalping and even a person's head being torn off. There are also several graphic operation inserts which, however, give rise to a goof: while it's made clear that only two people are involved in the operation, we see a third pair of hands constantly holding an oxygen mask to the patient's face! The film is also said to be a loose remake of Cardona's own black-and-white horror film DOCTOR OF DOOM (1962) but, since I haven't watched that one, I can't say how much of it was actually pilfered for NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES...

Here is another review for all you horror craved Pygmies out there. Today I have a double review of sorts. It is on the Mexican Horror Film "La Horripilante Bestia Humana" and its more well known title "Night of the Bloody Apes", the cut for us here in the states. Lets take a look at the 2 and what the differences are.Well first off lets get this straight..there is only one "Apes" and it is more of a Were-ape actually. The movie starts off with a little bit of female Lucho Libras action(thats that wacky crazy Mexicano wrestling for you cats not in the know). We have a female wrestler who injures another wrestler by throwing her outside of the ring. The girl is sent to the hospital with a skull fracture that has caused a piece of her skull to become embedded in her brain.In comes Dr.Krallman who is an expert surgeon who also has a son Julio who has a rare form of Leukemia that is going to cause him to die within several days ... that is unless the good doc can find a way to remove his heart and blood and replace it with a good heart and new blood. With this thought in mind he decides upon an Ape heart which he retrieves from an ape in a zoo (or man in a monkey suit).Little does the Dr realize that this is a tragic mistake as his son soon turns into a half man/half beast monstrosity that gets loose and causes chaos on the town. Luckily he is able to capture his man beast son and decides that the only way to get him to stop reverting from human to beast is to get another heart..the heart of the wrestler who was seriously injured. After kidnapping her from the hospital and performing the surgery the doctor assumes all is well..and its not. This leads to a final showdown between father, son, police and beast.That a nutshell is the movie now what is the differences. Well first off "La Horri" (which I will use as the Mexican version abbreviation) plays out like an old-school monster flick with a man turned to monster story. Now I like my old school horror/sci-fi but this movie leaves a lot to be desired and other than a few nice quirky moments it really isn't that good. Fans of old school monster mashes can give it a go but I really think there is A lot more you can watch before moving down to this film.As far as the American version goes well it is at its roots the exact same movie however the movie goes from a moderately tame monster romp to an exploitation film. you see the movie is pretty much the same except for about 5 minutes of alternate footage that includes Gore and Nudity not seen in the Mexican release. A prime example would be the heart transplant scene when they actually show a "real" heart transplant as oppose to a cut away with no footage at all of the surgery like in "La Horri". Also the attack sequences on woman turned from him just attack them in "La Horri" to him ripping off there clothes and ravishing them Ape-Style in "Apes"!!! The American release has a little more going for it and is worth more of a look than the original as the movie is pure schlock to begin with. The American version plays off of that and makes this film worth a look for fans of old school gore (nothing we haven't seen done better) or fans of exploitation. In conclusion the movie is really not much to write home about in either version but is definitely an interesting piece to view as it was one of the films that helped to the success and rise of the exploitation explosion of the 60's and 70's.La Horripilante Bestia Humana: 4/10 Below Average Night of the Bloody Apes: 5/10 Average Nothing special here but with a group of friends "Apes" can be a bit more fun. "La Horri" on the other hand isn't nothing to write home about but if you would like a more family friend version of "Apes" this is the way to go, just don't expect anything great.Several releases of "Apes" has reached DVD however "La Horri" has never has a release that is until the release on the Crypt of Terror Double DVD release (Along with "Curse of the Doll People" (aka "Munecos Infernales")). It is in a full screen format and seems to be a fair to good print quality. Some of the scenes move up and down on the screen in certain areas and make things a bit annoying but overall it seems to be OK. If you haven't obtained a copy of the film at this point you may want to get this copy as it will give you a chance to do your own comparing between the 2 versions as well as the addition of the 2nd film listed above which actually has both the Mexican and American versions as well. Its really a quadruple band,bang,bang,bang for the buck at $10.00. You really cannot go wrong. Definitely keep your eyes on future releases from this company (Deimos Entertainment).Thats it for now but remember Female Lucadores have bad tempers,do not stand them up for a date or they may give you a fracture...somewhere else.