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“A horror film’s job is to scare you, is to get your pulse going, is to make you scream and yell. It’s to make you be afraid. That’s its main purpose, and creeping you out. And that can be an enjoyable experience.” --- John Carpenter ::::::::::::: MY CRITERIA FOR DISCUSSION ENCOMPASSES THE HORROR GENRE AND BEYOND, SO I USE THE TERM "NIGHTMARE MOVIES". SPOILERS CAN OCCUR WITH OR WITHOUT WARNING. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

King Kong

December 17th 2008 00:29
King Kong movie poster
And the prophet said “And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty. And it stayed its hand from killing. And from that day was as one dead.” --- old Asian Proverb

King Kong (1933) is a strange beast. On one hand it’s a terrific, albeit rather talky, fantasy adventure tale with nightmarish overtones. On the other it’s little more than an excellent vehicle for Fay Wray as Ann Darrow, the beauty that killed the beast, despite King Kong being listed in the cast of characters as “The Eighth Wonder of the World”.
King Kong Bruce Cabot, Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong
Bruce Cabot as John Driscoll, Fay Wray as Ann Darrow and Robert Armstrong as Carl Denham
The movie is odd as its directors (Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack) are credited only under "production". The screenplay is credited to James Ashmore Creelman & Ruth Rose, yet imdb.com lists another five with credited and uncredited story and screenplay contributions.
King Kong King Kong
King Kong as King Kong

Watching it now it’s definitely tragic, yet still is infused with a unique sense of excitement and wonder. The special effects are both impressive, yet very clunky. Kong himself just looks silly, with a facial expression that reminds me of the clowns with the open mouths at the fair that you try and throws balls into; all wide-eyed and vacant. Keeping in mind though that the movie was made 75 years ago, it would’ve looked rather awesome on the big screen.
King Kong Fay Wray and Kong
Kong has Ann in the palm of his hand
Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) a successful and adventurous filmmaker is desperate to make his new movie, but can’t find the right leading lady. His producers are anxious, and the clock is ticking. Denham finds a lost soul on the street late at night; Ann Darrow. She has the spark of fragile beauty he’s been looking for! Before you know it Denham has set sail with his new star on his ship with a dedicated crew heading to uncharted waters.
KIng Kong Kong and dinosaur
Kong battles an Allosaurus
They arrive at Skull Island, and it is here they have to deal with the natives and their rituals. Ann is kidnapped by the locals and used as a sacrificial lamb to their god, Kong. Denham and Ann’s new love, the screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot), try to intervene, but Kong has arrived. He’s a colossal 30-feet gorilla and he takes an immediate fancy to Ann, not as food, but as a playmate.
King Kong Kong and dinosaur
Kong battles an pterodactyl
Denham and Driscoll must rescue her. But not before watching as Kong battles with prehistoric beasts that get in his way. Eventually they overwhelm Kong and he’s subdued and transported back to New York City where he’s safely exhibited to a rapturous audience as … The Eighth Wonder of the World! But Kong has other ideas, and breaks loose, stealing Ann and ending up scaling the Empire State Building where he snatches at attacking by-planes.
King Kong Bruce Cabot, Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Kong
The Eighth Wonder of the World!
Watching the stop-motion animation I couldn’t help but wonder what a version done with Harry Harryhausen’s dynamation technique would’ve looked like. The trashy 1976 version was considered state of the art at the time, but I daren’t watch it. The poster art was very misleading, showing Kong standing astride the two World Trade Centre towers looking exceedingly menacing, but sporting an amusing “John Travolta” hairstyle, yet this scene never appeared in the movie.
King Kong Kong atop Empire State Building
Kong won't go down without a fight
Peter Jackson has been quoted many times admitting it was watching the original King Kong on the television as a boy that made him want to become a filmmaker. And he realised a dream when he made his own version in 2005. Jackson, rather shrewdly, decided his version would stay very close to the original, setting it in 1933 and opening and closing it in NYC. Of course Jackson has a problem with brevity and so his version runs for three-hours, but it is spectacular. I aim to review it in the coming weeks (when I find the time to re-watch it!).
King Kong Fay Wray
Beauty is rescued from a rather hair-raising experience
King Kong was a landmark movie and sits with Frankenstein (1931) and Dracula (1931) as part of a small clutch of genuinely influential Hollywood horror movies. It’s visual scope was much more ambitious than the Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker stories, and so it dates more so because of its special effects, but it’s still a terrific yarn, where one roots for the "villian".
King Kong movie poster


Here's the original re-release trailer:


Here's a choice scene:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews
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Comment by Damo

December 17th 2008 02:01
I have to admit that is still my favorite version.

The groovy 70's version left feeling as if hippies deserve a horrible death.

Peter Jackson's version spent far too long ice skating in central park. How romantic?

Yet the original was sharp and to the point.
Except that they chopped a few scenes to make it fit the reels. Crabs eating the men that fell off the log etc.

King Kong was glitchy FX by to days standards but they improved by the time Son of Kong was made and very much so when Mighty Joe Young was made in 1949.

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