BRIDE OF THE GORILLA (1951)

I think this was an attempt at making a Val Lewton-type of psychological thriller, but sadly, a low budget and the presence in a supporting role of an actor (Tom Conway) who had appeared in several of Lewton's minor masterpieces are clearly not guarantees that an interesting film will result. Conway and the exotic setting bring to mind I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, but this movie loses in any kind of comparison to that more interesting and atmospheric film. At Van Gelder Manor in the middle a jungle plantation, passions ran high, so we are told, because of a love triangle between the plantation owner (Paul Cavanagh), his young wife (Barbara Payton), and the main overseer (Raymond Burr, looking about as young and thin as he ever would). The two men wind up in a fist fight and Cavanagh is bitten by a deadly snake which kills him. An old native woman (Gisela Werbisek) finds the body and puts a curse on the killer, saying "The jungle will hunt him until he's dead." In what could have been an interesting idea (albeit a cop from Lewton's CAT PEOPLE), it turns out that it's not the jungle hunting him down so much as himself; Burr, after marrying the widow, begins to think that he's transforming into a gorilla. He's drawn into the jungle at night, to do what, we're never sure, and the only time we see him in gorilla form is when we're looking through his eyes, or when he's looking in a reflective surface. After long segments of Burr stumbling deliriously around a cheap jungle set, alternating with obvious stock footage from other jungle movies, Burr gets justice at the hands of police commissioner Lon Chaney (yes, Chaney's the good guy!). This winds up being a psychological thriller being sold to viewers as a monster movie, and everyone will be disappointed. Sadly, it's not quite bad enough to be a "so bad it's good" treat, though the Mystery Science Theater 3000 guys might have been able to make it watchable. [DVD]