Black Zoo

This was actually the first time George Barrow himself worked for Herman Cohen. The first time out, KONGA, Barrows sent his ape suit over to London. When it returned the worse for wear, he decided he'd never do it again.

BLACK ZOO was shot in Hollywood. For producer Cohen to have arranged for a foreign actor to come to Hollywood and take a job that could have been done by any number if US actors must've been quite an argument to both SAG and the Imigration Department. "Sirs, you must understand, my script calls for the zoo keeper to be the maddest, most outlandish, least subtle character ever to grace the movie screen. We just don't have an actor anywhere in the country who can do this. There is no one n the world who can out-mug Mr. Gough. I know, I've used him twice, and every time he gets bigger and badder."

All through the opening credit sequences of "Black Zoo", I anticipated to see the typical disclaimer-message "no animals were harmed during the shooting of this film" appear, but it didn't come. Five minutes later, though, I exactly knew why it didn't come. Beautiful big cats, like Siberian tigers and African lions, walk little circles in ridiculously small cages, chimpanzees are dressed up in hideous clothing and forced to inhale cigarette smoke for the sake of "entertainment", and that sort of things. Perhaps these animals weren't physically abused, but they certainly were traumatized for life. But hey, it was the early sixties and organizations like ALF or PETA didn't exist yet, so let's assume we believe Michael Gough's character when he claims his animals love and respect him.

"Black Zoo" is fantastic 60s horror entertainment, with a grotesquely absurd plot and preposterous lead characters! Simply the idea that someone penned down a horror plot in which a tyrannical private zoo owner assumes he can get away with letting animals commit gruesome murders is delightful, or at least in my crazy world it is. Michael Conrad unleashes his mighty lion in arrogant realtors' mansions or sends his grinning gorilla to the garage of female talent agents, and he honestly thinks he's untouchable! It must be said, though, the sequences with the animal attacking are genuinely impressive; - kudos to the trainers.

Gough goes genially over the top once again, just like he did in "Horrors of the Black Museum" and "Konga"; - his previous collaborations with producer Herman Cohen. True horror-fanatics adore Michael Gough. He may not be in the same league as the Vincent Prices, Christopher Lees or Boris Karloffs of this world, but his movies never disappoint!

Welcome to the Michael Gough School of Dramatic Acting where subtlety is as foreign as class is for Roseanne Barr. Gough teams up with producer Herman Cohen for one more time(previously making Horrors of the Black Museum and Konga together). The result is a fun if not flawed film. Gough plays Michael Conrad the owner of Conrad's Animal Kingdom and one man accustomed to getting his way in life. Seems to also have quite a good relationship with his zoo pals, especially the big cats: a lion, a lioness, a pair of cheetahs, a tiger, a black panther, and also a fake looking gorilla(George Barrows AGAIN!). Gough plays organ music to his animal friends in his living room, belongs to a cult group of animal worshipers, and uses his friends to kill any personages that get in his way. To say Gough overacts is an incredible understatement. He bellows his lines with ferocity in scenes that do not need such vigour, but he is always fun to watch. The film is really very interesting as the cats are real and they have been trained very nicely. The acting, aside from Gough, is uniformly good with a nice performance turned in by Rod Lauren(The Crawling Hand) as a mute assistant forced to aid Gough. Jeane Cooper is lovely and does well as Gough's wife, and the character acting of Elisha Cook, Ed Platt, Virginia Grey, and Jerome Cowan all enhance the film. Make no mistake though, even though he wildly overacts, Gough is the film's main attraction. You have to look a ways to find a more over-the-top performance and a bigger slice of ham! The film also boats a wonderful scene where a tiger gets buried. Amidst the swirling fogs and moody backdrops, Gough, with mute assistant and wife, gives a eulogy before all the big cats. Effectively eerie.

BLACK ZOO marks the third and final teaming of producer Herman Cohen and actor Michael Gough and the results are definitely mixed. This is a pity because the other two movies, the incredibly lurid HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM and the deliriously outrageous KONGA are guilty pleasures of the first order. ZOO doesn't quite measure up to the other two although it does have its moments which I will mention later on.

Although responsible for the first two films, screenwriters Aben Kandel & producer Herman Cohen ran out of steam this time around. This screenplay is not lurid or outrageous enough and it recycles themes and plot development (young assistant to do his dirty work, unhappy female partner) from the others. It may have been cheaper to shoot it in America (and these were certainly not big budget productions) but this one does look cheap due to the claustrophobic sets in pastel colors (the colors are recycled from KONGA) but at least there is some creative background lighting.

Fortunately BLACK ZOO is graced by a number of fine performances from Jerome Cowan's sleazy developer to Gough's tormented wife as played by future soap opera star Jeanne Cooper. Former child star Virginia Grey is very good in her small part as Cooper's agent and Elisha Cook Jr is...Elisha Cook Jr. There are a few outstanding scenes that linger long after the film is over. One is the sequence where Gough entertains his big cats with an organ recital while they lounge on furniture just like domestic ones. Another is the funeral of a tiger which is staged as if it were one of Roger Corman's Poe films. Finally the gathering of the animal worshipers must be seen to be disbelieved.

When I first saw this back in the mid 1960s it was on TV and it was in black & white. This Warner Archive DVD-R is a high quality transfer that preserves the original widescreen aspect ratio as well as the early 1950s color scheme. I only wish that it contained subtitles so that I could really follow and enjoy the "remarkable" dialogue. While not his best, this rarity is still a must for fans of Michael Gough...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

As there was Tod Browning - Lon Chaney or Vincent Price - Roger Corman for the Edgar Allan Poe's adapted novels films cycle, you also had at a lesser scale the duo Herman Cohen and Michael Gough for movies such as KONGA, HORROR AT THE BLACK MUSEUM and BLACK ZOO; same trademark in evey film, and Michael Gough as some kind of poor man's Vincent Price or Peter Cushing. It is fun, tense, never boring despite those so simple and basic plots. Here, in this film, Gough is the villain but for whom you can feel some empathy because of his desperate fights to save his zoo and animals against greedy and nasty estate brokers, business men or other ambitious land owners seeking to get rid of him. Plus, you have good characterization. I like those early sixties films. The opening scene is, I guess, a tribute to Val Lewton - Jacques Tourneur's CAT PEOPLE and LEOPARD MEN.