The Jungle Captive

***S{POILERS*** Ape woman Paula Dupree, Vicky Lane, is back for the third time in "Jungle Captive" this time as a dead body that mad scientist Mr. Stendahl, Otto Kruger, plans to bring back to life. That with the help of blood and brain matter of his unsuspecting assistant Ann Forester, Amelita Ward, who foolishly worships the very ground that the "Great Man' walks on. It's with the help of his brutish like accomplish Moloch, Rondo Hatton, Stendahl plans to use Ann without her knowledge for his insane experiment but Moloch who took a shine to her is dead set against it. Strange Beauty and the Beast like movie with Moloch changing sides in mid stream and becoming the knight in shining armor in preventing the crazed Stendahl from doing his thing in resurrecting the dead ape woman Paula Dupree at Ann's expense.

There's also Ann's boyfriend Don Young, Phil Brown,who soon finds out what Stendahl is really up to and tries to get the police in the person of Insp. H.L Harrigan, Jerome Cowan, to stop him who's attempts comes up short in his by the book approach to the case. As for "Ape Woman" Paula Depree she's brought back to life as a normal human being but totally confused-and unable to talk- in what's going on around her. This leads to her checking out in the woods with Moloch running or driving all over town trying to retrieve her.

Predictable ending with Mr. Stendahl getting everything that he has coming to him with the hulking but sensitive Moloch saving the day as well as Anna's life at the expense of his own.With both Ann and Don Young, who can't afford to buy her an engagements ring, getting married by being stopped by a traffic cop who presented them with a $5.00 free of charge wedding certificate from city hall. Break out movie for Rondo Hatton who finally was given a chance to act as well as a few decent lines in the movie but his fame didn't last that long. Hatton suffered a fatal heart attack while taking a shower in his bathroom and died less then a year, in March 1946, after the films release.

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.

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.

This is the third and final film in Universal's 'Ape Woman' series, which began with the entertainingly goofy Captive Wild Woman (1943), that film followed the year after by the dull and repetitive Jungle Woman. The Jungle Captive is a slight return to form for the series thanks to the fact that it actually delivers a mad scientist and an ape-woman, both of which were conspicuous by their absence in the second film. Otto Kruger is particularly entertaining as loopy Dr. Stendahl, who takes his experiments on reviving dead animals to the next level by operating on the dead body of Paula Dupree, the Ape Woman (Vicky Lane); it's a performance to rival the greats of the mad scientist sub-genre - Bela Lugosi, John Carradine, George Zucco and Boris Karloff.

In order for his operation to be a success, Stendahl needs to perform a blood transfusion, and uses his pretty assistant Ann Forrester (Amelita Ward) as the unwilling donor; this troubles the doctor's hulking henchman Moloch (Rondo Hatton), who has feelings for the girl. After reviving the ape-woman, and successfully transforming it into Paula Dupree, it becomes apparent to Stendahl that his subject's brain is sub-normal. The scientist decides that the answer is to do a switcheroo with Ann's brain; meanwhile, Ann's fiance Don (Phil Brown, Uncle Owen from Star Wars) is frantically searching for his missing girlfriend.

While the The Jungle Captive admittedly treads very familiar ground, fans of the genre will no doubt appreciate the fact that it delivers precisely what is required to be a fun time.

6/10.