Home :: DVD :: Classics  

Action & Adventure
Boxed Sets
Comedy
Drama
General
Horror
International
Kids & Family
Musicals
Mystery & Suspense
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Silent Films
Television
Westerns
Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla

Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla

List Price: $7.98
Your Price: $7.98
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Wow
Review: Dean and Jerry hacks fumble through this Alley McBeal-thin plot. The only genuine talent is Bela Lugosi, though his skin and his personality are that of a leather suitcase by now. My suggestion is to pop in Ed Wood after seeing this movie. It will give you some idea of Bela's later years of life, and besides, it's just a great movie. But Brooklyn Gorilla...okay...

Instead of watching it, you can beat yourself with a bullwhip and go through less pain... there, I just zinged this movie and now I'm done.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: As bad as its reputation.
Review: A painful movie. Not likely to be enjoyed by Lugosi fans, because he really isn't in it that much, and has little to do when he is.

Not likely to make bad movie fanatics happy, either, because movies that try for laughs are nowhere near as entertaining as those who try to be serious and largely fail. This movie is not Plan 9 funny. It's not Mole People funny. Heck, it's not even Pauly Shore funny. Make no mistake, this movie is not funny.

The Lewis and Martin impersonators were accurate enough, I suppose. But you have to think the real articles are funny in the first place to garner any enjoyment. The faux Martin croons as island ladies swoon, the quasi-Lewis shrieks and yells and mugs and runs and runs some more from a fat woman. The gorilla lumbers about and I think it's the Martin-fake, hence the title; but I've been trying to forget, so things are a little murky. Goofy, tiresome, and loud? Yes. Entertaining? Decidedly not.

Maybe this is revered in France.

Oh, yeah, there's a surprise ending, too...

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Incredibly Bad
Review: Filmed near the end of Lugosi's career, "Bela Lugosi meets a Brooklyn Gorilla" is just about on par with any of his movies with Ed Wood for sheer incompetence. Despite Lugosi's billing in the title, the real stars are Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo, two clones of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis who are painfully untalented. Mitchell's crooning is regrettable (particularly his song "Deed I Do") and Petrillo's clowning is mind-numbing. The goofy story involves the two "entertainers" being lost on a native island. Lugosi, a mad scientist, performs bizarre experiments on gorillas, and is jealous of Mitchell's cozying up to his object of affection. The cast includes the monkey that played Cheeta on the old "Tarzan" show.
The DVD from Image gives this rather undeserving movie a crystal clear presentation, with nary a nick or scratch to be found. Sound is fine. There are also a few interesting special features, including a modern interview with Sammy Petrillo which covers the film's production and his stormy relationship with Jerry Lewis. A terrific booklet of liner notes and a theatrical trailer (advertising Duke and Sammy as something along the lines of "the next big comedy team") are also present.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla
Review: I just bought this DVD not too long ago (reluctantly) only because I am a HUGE Lugosi fan. So, to my great surprise, I thought the film was cute. Number one, I do not feel that Lugosi's role was a let down. I thought that he seemed to be having fun. Number two, Sammy and Duke do a good job, considering that they couldn't have been much older than me (which would be 21). And number three, I over all enjoyed the film. The references to Dracula seemed to amuse Lugosi, and they amused me as well. Try not to judge this film too harshly. I guess each one has his own opinion, so you must see it to make a formed, individual opinion about this film.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla
Review: I just bought this DVD not too long ago (reluctantly) only because I am a HUGE Lugosi fan. So, to my great surprise, I thought the film was cute. Number one, I do not feel that Lugosi's role was a let down. I thought that he seemed to be having fun. Number two, Sammy and Duke do a good job, considering that they couldn't have been much older than me (which would be 21). And number three, I over all enjoyed the film. The references to Dracula seemed to amuse Lugosi, and they amused me as well. Try not to judge this film too harshly. I guess each one has his own opinion, so you must see it to make a formed, individual opinion about this film.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Horror.....The Horror....
Review: If you have heard of this film and know of it's "Golden Turkey" reputation, well you have been warned. Lots of fun and essential for students of bad movies. The real shock of this Alpha Video release is that the picture quality is possibly the best I have ever seen of this film. Usually Alpha's quality is very spotty, but this is way above average. Especially for a film THIS bad.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Better than a bomb
Review: Is this movie. It's fun and mildly sensible too. As for the leads. Mitchell looks a little like Dean Martin and the former sure sings worse. But Petrillo (Italian?) more successfully looks, acts and sounds very alarmingly like Jerry Lewis. I still feel I am watching Jerry every time I see this film. Their whole routine together is based on (and counting on) one's familiarity with Martin and Lewis's routine which they imitate, though Mitchell is definitely more testy than Martin was. If you are unfamiliar with Martin and Lewis Mitchell and Petrillo's whole screen relationship will probably seem undeveloped like in terms of why they stick together or anything like that. One small bit of this movie that bugged me was the way they established that Sammy went looking for the "powder room" on the plane. Instead of just saying "bathroom". How one dimensional! But the film is still overall good.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: More Fun Than A Barrelful Of Monkeys!
Review: Take Count Dracula, throw in a fake Martin and Lewis (Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo), add a Dorothy Lamour wannabe (Muriel Landers), and you have the perfect ingredients for "Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla." Dean and Jerry - I mean Duke and Sammy - are on their way to perform for the soldiers stationed in Guam, when they open the wrong door and fall out of the plane. Luckily for them, they're wearing parachutes and just happen to land safely on an inhabited island. The natives are led by a chief who speaks English and has two daughters, one beautiful and one extra large. The plump honey goes ape over Sammy, while Muriel falls for Duke. Bela Lugosi is a scientist who has a castle on the island and is conducting experiments on evolution. (That makes perfect sense to me!) Muriel is his assistant and the dirty old man is smitten with her, but she only has eyes for Duke. Bela has perfected a serum which reverses the evolutionary process. To get his revenge and win Muriel's hand, he injects Duke with the serum and turns him into a gorilla! Sorry to say for him, but Muriel prefers a Brooklyn gorilla to a Hungarian mad scientist. Ramona, Bela's prize chimp, also takes a liking to Sammy. If the plot sounds like there's too much monkey business going on, just relax and laugh along with the insanity! Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo never made another movie together, to the best of my knowledge. After this classic flick, Bela Lugosi was primed and ready to make a career comeback, starring in Ed Wood films.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Funny Lugosi Film
Review: This film is low budgeted but nicely done. It was shot mostly inside a studio set. It is a comedy and succeeeds at it. Other films of this nature try to be serious and end up pathethically laughable. This is not so here. Pertrillo's Jerry Lewis antics is funny although may appear forced in a few instances.He would have probably been better at it had not Jerry Lewis pre-empted him to this looney character type. Duke Mitchell plays the straight man, a la Dean Martin. His singing voice is surprisingly quite good. Lugosi's acting is relaxed. However, he does look old and haggard. Taking this type of role may have probably been a low point to him. But seeing the feature without any preconceptions, he did a credible job on this one. This is one to have in the classics collection.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Bela Lugosi meets Martin and Lewis, sort of.
Review: This little movie isn't as bad as the title and cast might suggest. Duke Mitchell is no Dean Martin, but Sammy Petrillo does a credible imitation of a young Jerry Lewis. Whether Petrillo's performance is satire or just a blatant rip-off is up to the viewer. The humor is simple-minded, but occasionally hilarious. Charlita (as if anyone recognizes the name) does a passable imitation of Dorothy Lamour in revealing (for 1952) South Sea togs. Bela Lugosi with a twinkle in his eye spoofs his own horror movie character as Dr. Zabor. This flick was made a year or so before Bela fell into the clutches of the infamous Ed Wood. Sadly, it emphasizes Bela's troubled downward spiral career path. Veteran low budget director William Beaudine competently puts the cast through the paces. Artistically (to use an unlikely term), the flick is on the same level as Beaudine's Bowery Boys movies. Filmed in glorious B&W, the low cost DVD edition features a clear transfer and acceptable audio. It's harmless "G" rated fun. From here on, you are on your own. ;-)


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates