The Jungle Captive

Pretty good and under-appreciated finale to Universal's "Ape Woman Trilogy". Otto Kruger plays an older and grandfatherly doctor who appears kind and respectable but has sinister plans up his sleeve to revive Paula the Ape Woman and transform her into Vicky Lane (since Acquanetta left the series). His perfect assistant is none other than Rondo Hatton, the actor who in real life suffered from the disease Acromegaly, which enlarged his face and hands. Rondo was never an actor, but he's better here than in any of his other films, with a generous helping of dialogue and emotions on display. We also get a little more time with the actual Ape Woman than usual and this is a short 60 minutes of typical mad doctor/assistant/monster nonsense that's fun, if not anything exceptional. A favorite line is when the doc looks at the deformed Rondo Hatton who's admiring the human female patient on the table and says to him: "No offense, but with that face you're not exactly a Casanova, you know". And then, pointing at the beastly Ape Woman on the next table: "This is more in your line". I wonder how Otto Kruger felt delivering an insult like that to the unfortunate Rondo? **1/2 out of ****

This little seen Universal horror movie from 1945 brings back fun memories for me as I remember watching this with my sister Tammy and my cousin Shalaine on the local Friday night creature feature on TV. Even as a teenager I can remember thinking that this movie was more funny than actually scary.

The basic plot revolves around Mr. Stendall, a mad scientist who is trying to revive the dead ape woman, Paula Dupree, from the previous two Universal movies Captive Wild Woman and Jungle Woman. Rondo Hatton plays the menacing servant of Stendall, Moloch, who kills several people in order to help Stendall achieve his goal of bringing the ape woman back to life. Armelita Ward portrays Mr. Stendall's pretty assistant, whom he kidnaps in a bid to use her blood to make the ape woman into a real woman. Vicki Lane is Paula, the ape woman, when she is actually a woman (are you following all this?). Lane is pretty, but has no lines and basically just wanders around looking like a zombie. The scenes when she is actually an ape woman are hilarious, she is grunting and snorting...it's a hoot.

This movie is a lot of fun for people who enjoy the old Universal monster movies. Although this is definitely not frightening, it's fun to watch on a rainy Saturday night.

"The Jungle Captive" is the third woman starring the Ape-woman, which is tough to imagine since the Ape-woman was killed at the end of the previous film, "Jungle Woman"! While this seems impossible, it turns out a mad scientist (Otto Kruger...andis there any other type in these films?!) has had his henchman, Moloch (Rondo Hatton) steal the corpse. What's he planning on doing with the corpse? Reviving it, of course...and if it means using another woman's blood and even brain, so be it...all in the name of science! Can the police find her in time before it's too late?

Like all the horror movies of this time period, this isn't exactly a candidate for The Criterion Collection! But, despite being low-brow and silly, it IS entertaining. The film also has a few pluses...Kruger is excellent as the nutty scientist and it's nice to see cops who are NOT idiots (which is the usual cliche in thes movies). Worth seeing if you like the genre.

The third in Universal's dismal Ape Woman series. Perhaps it is a step up from the awful second movie, Jungle Woman, but it's nothing to write home about on its own. This one has mad scientist Otto Kruger trying to bring the Ape Woman back to life, even at the expense of his pretty female lab assistant. Excitement most definitely does not follow.

Kruger's always fun to watch but he gets little help here. The Ape Woman is now played by Vicky Lane, replacing the attractive but talentless Acquanetta. Ms. Lane spends about half of the movie comatose. When she does wake up, there's only one brief scene with the monster makeup on. Undoubtedly most monster fans will be disappointed at how little "ape" there is in an Ape Woman movie. The makeup used is pretty cool, however. It looks similar to the later makeup used on Michael J. Fox in Teen Wolf. Rondo Hatton gets one of his better roles here as Kruger's henchman Moloch. He's still a terrible actor but the part is less exploitative than some of his other roles. Jerome Cowan plays the police inspector investigating it all and has a couple of amusing moments. The tacked-on romance between Don Young and Amelita Ward (the future Mrs. Leo Gorcey) is nauseating but thankfully they're separated for most of the film.

Despite the short runtime, the movie is padded with pointless little scenes that appear to be designed solely to fill five minutes here and there. It's one of those movies that probably should have been over in twenty or thirty minutes. If you're a Universal completist, give it a look. For everyone else, it depends on how valuable your time is. I doubt this is going to become anyone's favorite.

1944's "The Jungle Captive" concluded Universal's Paula Dupree trilogy, a cut above the second, "Jungle Woman," neither as good as "Captive Wild Woman." Of the three, only "Jungle Woman" was not included in the 1958 Son of Shock television package, all three finally gathered together in MCA's massive 1972 collection 77 Horror Greats. "The Jungle Captive" made two appearances on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater (9 years apart), unencumbered by the interminable stock animal footage that cluttered up previous entries, here a more straightforward mad scientist endeavor with Otto Kruger as pathologist Stendahl, whose assistant, billed in the ads as 'Moloch the Brute,' is played by Rondo Hatton, still a year away from his famous Creeper series (both produced by Ben Pivar). With Acquanetta having departed Universal, the role of Paula Dupree now went to unknown actress Vicky Lane, who had an even shorter career than her predecessor, having completed just one featured role before this, which ended up her final film. At least The Ape Woman (now mute again, unlike in "Jungle Woman") gets to briefly walk around in full bestial Jack Pierce makeup (lovely Vicky also gets a more skimpy wardrobe than Acquanetta, who wore less only for the posters). Aside from the catatonic Paula no other characters return, though the doctors played by John Carradine and J. Carrol Naish both get a mention; with a helpless heroine in Amelita Ward, hapless hero in Phil Brown, plus the absence of the 'Venezuelan Volcano,' the short series comes to a merciful end in a pointless sequel filled with padding that offers nothing but running time until the painfully predictable climax. Rondo's famous features and gravelly voice at least enjoy what must have been his largest role yet, Universal pleased enough to move forward with three more starring vehicles in 1945.