Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Konga Blu-ray Movie Review

A mediocre King Kong rip-off salvaged by its comedy

Journey into the unknown terrain of familiarity with the King Kong inspired (rip-off?), Konga. A sly over-the-top comedy with good old-fashioned genre-fun tossed into the mix, the campy production is executive produced by Herman Cohen (I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Berserk) and Jim O'Connolly (The Traitors, Mistress Pamela). It's no classic but its also alarmingly entertaining given the ridiculousness of it all.

After a long journey in Africa for scientific research, Dr. Charles Decker (Michael Gough) returns to his homeland with a baby chimpanzee in hand. Determined to use a special serum on both plants (to make them carnivorous) and the baby chimp, Dr. Decker decides to use a special injection to turn the chimpanzee into a man-sized beast he can use as his “muscle” against any potential foes. With the help of his assistant Margaret (Margo Johns) at his side, the scientific odyssey is just beginning.

As Dr. Decker goes back to teaching his ordinary science classes, he starts to fall for the gorgeous and voluptuous student Sandra Banks (Claire Gordon). Sandra swoons over his scientific knowledge and Dr. Decker veers at her beautiful bust. On a school trip, Dr. Decker must face down Sandra's jealous boyfriend, Bob Kenton (Jess Conrad). The two have a riff as things become heated behind the scenes. Will Dr. Decker terrorize Bob with the wrath of Konga? As the drama escalates, Konga transforms to a giant-sized version of himself and the city must face his unimaginable wrath.

"Um... I forgot my line. Did anyone see the script?"

Michael Gough is particularly impressive with an almost unbelievably over-the-top performance that actually works given the ridiculousness of the plot. Gough seems to be having the time of his life as Mr. Scientist with a crush for his oh-so-pretty student. Intentional or not, the film finds some humor with the performance boosting one's enthusiasm for this campy King Kong ripoff. Konga tries his best to match the acting-chops of Gough but is no match given his limited acting range. (Maybe he needed more rehearsals).

Konga has some impressive effects work with the unique creations of Ronnie Whitehouse (Invasion) adding to the campy fun. The visuals are somewhat humorous (with Konga running amok in the city towards the conclusion) but given the obviously-limited budget the work done is quite effective. The film never tries to out-do King Kong in special effects (nor does it attempt to be a classic) but the filmmaking on display certainly keeps things interesting from start to finish.

There are some other unique aspects to the production: the effective music score composed by Gerard Schurmann (The Bedford Incident, Attack on the Iron Coast) adds to the excitement of the conclusion with the right backdrop to the effects. The cinematography by Desmond Dickinson (Detective Lloyd, Nobody Ordered Love) is colorful and engaging of one's senses. This is far from being a grim, dark exploration of giant monster-sized chimpanzees: Konga wants for audiences to sit back and have a good time.

Much to my surprise, the engaging screenplay by Aben Kandel and Herman Cohen (both of whom collaborated on several different projects including I Was a Teenage Werewolf and How to Make a Monster) is a lot more fun than one would expect going in to the experience. While there are some obvious similarities to King Kong, the film also has some unique charm. The battle-of-wits between Dr. Decker and Sandra's boyfriend Bob is downright entertaining. John Lemont (The Frightened City, The Shakedown) directs with the level of energy and wit necessary to keep the experience worthwhile. While not an actual classic per-se, it might be able to qualify as classic camp. This is an underrated film that deserves a chance. Check it out and enjoy the absurdity of it all.

Konga Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from distributor Kino Lorber, Konga arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition presentation in the original 1.66:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The release features a new 2K scan of the film. For the most part, Konga looks enormously impressive with this high quality release.

Konga has good color reproduction and exceptional detail can be seen in the image. The film retains naturalistic film grain and the source has not had the disadvantage of DNR and other problematic tinkering. The Blu-ray release does have occasional specks of dirt on the print and isn't completely flawless but viewers should find it a satisfactory presentation which is worth a look.

Konga Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Konga features an impressive DTS-HD Master Audio mono soundtrack. The audio has good dialogue reproduction throughout the entire presentation. The music score is also well integrated into the mix and adds to the excitement. The film only has a few key sequences with action beats and most of the film is dialogue-heavy so it's worth noting the track isn't all that robust and it has a somewhat flat soundstage overall. However, the resolution boost which is provided by the lossless audio mix is something that makes the experience a much more rewarding one.

Konga Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Promotional and Stills Gallery (2:51) showcases high-resolution photographs from behind the scenes and images used for the marketing of the film (such as posters and other advertisements). There is no click-through option so it's best viewed as a single short showcasing the gallery of stills. A nice extra worth checking out for some fantastic images.

Konga Radio Spot (00:23) is a brief (but entertaining) radio advertisement promoting the release of Konga. The advertisement makes a notation on the film bearing similarities to King Kong and is a humorous throwback to viewers memories of early radio-spots.

Konga Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2:13)

The release also includes a selection of trailers promoting other releases from distributor Kino Lorber: A*P*E (SD, 1:33), Dinosaurus! (SD, 00:59), and The Land Unknown (SD, 2:11).

Konga Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A charming and silly B-movie with enough creativity to keep the King Kong similarities at bay, Konga is a fun diversion with good performances from the cast (especially Michael Gough as the over-the-top Dr. Charles Decker). The effects are interesting (including some cool-looking killer plants) and the film has a finale that is worth the wait. Even if the film is abundantly ridiculous at times, Konga still finds its own merits to make it worth a watch. Recommended.