Kongo

William Cowen's Kongo is a middling horror flick from 1932. A revenge tale set amidst MGM's African jungle set, Kongo has one chief asset: its leading man Walter Huston, dependable as always. Lupe Velez is nice to look at, especially when drenched by fake jungle sweat. Conrad Nagle and Virginia Bruce are serviceable. William Cowen's direction lacks intensity, which is unfortunate because what a potboiler like this needs is some juice. A point of comparison is the Tod Browning, Lon Chaney film West of Zanzibar, based on the same source material as Kongo. It has more juice. 
 

at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
  • Quick Takes, March 2025
    Mikey Madison Enough bouquets have been bestowed upon Sean Baker's Anora  that I am not going to belabor the point. The players are unif...
  • La Notte
    Monica Vitti I recently revisited Michelangelo Antonioni's La Notte for the first time in about four decades   and felt that, as a piece...
  • Beyond the Time Barrier
    Darlene Tompkins and Robert Clarke Edgar G. Ulmer's Beyond the Time Barrier  is a black and white sci-fi cheapie released in  1960.   It...
  • Best of 1967
    Belle de Jour                                                                        Luis Buñuel  Playtime                                  ...
  • The Monkey
                                  Osgood Perkins has carved a niche for himself with modest budgeted horror films, but has yet to make a truly s...