Feras Sanguinárias

BLACK ZOO (1963) marks another pairing for B-movie producer Herman Cohen and star Michael Gough, following on from their HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM and KONGA. This time around the story is set in America, where Gough plays a zookeeper who specialises in all manner of big cats. His philosophy is to show his creatures the utmost kindness and care, but he doesn't treat people in quite the same way...

Although the film begins with an arresting murder, this turns out to be quite the plodder. The nature of the production means that the kills are typically kept off screen and are few and far between as it is. Gough delivers a delightful barnstorming performance as usual - truly an underrated presence in the genre - but the rest is pretty talky with only the occasional element of depth or interest.

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!

Michael Conrad (Michael Gough) owns Conrad's Animal Kingdom, home to cheetahs, lions, tigers, and a gorilla. A busload of tourists pay for a tour of the small zoo and art school students stop by to sketch the big cats. Conrad explains he doesn't use fear and intimidation to train his animals, but love and affection. If only he would show the same regard for the humans in his life. His wife Edna (Jeanne Cooper) performs with a trained chimp act for zoo customers, but hits the bottle after hours in the wake of Conrad's domineering abuse ("You're the last person I want to hurt," Conrad tells her after he's slapped her around). Carl (Rod Lauren), Conrad's mute aide and handyman, is likewise subjected to his master's imperious rants.

BLACK ZOO's script, by Aben Kandel and producer Howard Cohen, cleverly makes Conrad's character into a variation of his wild animals. In the film's opening scene, a young woman is attacked by Baron, one of Conrad's tigers, on a city street at night. We learn that she was a "meddling secretary" who had to be silenced, and that Conrad's love for his animals goes beyond benign conservationism. He's insane, and has trained his beasts to kill those who get in his way or crosses him. His victims invade his territory -- a land developer who tries to bully him into selling the zoo to make way for tract homes; and Edna's agent, who tries to lure her away from Conrad with promises of a better venue for her chimp act.

When a sadistic zoo worker (Elisha Cook Jr.) shoots Baron dead, an enraged Conrad first beats the man with a metal prod and then throws him to one of his hungry lions. Edna turns the other cheek and Carl actually helps him. Should we say (to paraphrase Forry Ackerman) the family that slays together stays together?

Not exactly. When Edna realizes Conrad is behind the murder of her agent, she convinces Carl to pack it in and escape with her. But Conrad disrupts their defection and threatens to throw her to the lions, too.

The movie is a step up from Cohen's KONGA (1961), but doesn't hit the gross-silly highs of HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM (1959). The animal attacks, which are fairly violent and effective, alternate with labored melodrama. Near the end, the whole movie is hobbled by a long scene of detectives debating whether or not trained animals committed the murders (despite their exposition, they never connect the deaths to Conrad).

BLACK ZOO's cast plays the material straight, despite some risible elements. Conrad frequently refers to the animals as "the family," holding group meetings with them in his home, where he plays lugubrious organ music and talks to them as though they were human. Also, he attends secret meetings of the "true believers," a cult of animal-worshipers who chant to monotonous tom-toms and oversee the "transfer" of Baron's soul to a live cub.

The real reason to see BLACK ZOO is to watch Michael Gough's delightful overplaying as Conrad. Each line is delivered with a side of ham, spit out through pursed lips and oozing nastiness even when he smiles unconvincingly and interacts with benign children and teenage art students.

The deliciously theatrical Brit thespian Michael Gough is at his scenery devouring best in the role of Michael Conrad, owner of a private zoo that specializes in big cats. Michael is insanely devoted to these creatures, and is also mad enough to sic them on any nuisance in his life - including an extremely pesky realtor (Jerome Cowan). He keeps his wife Edna (Jeanne Cooper, 'The Young and the Restless') and mute employee Carl (Rod Lauren, "The Crawling Hand") completely under his thumb, to boot.

Very nicely shot in Panavision by Floyd Crosby, the man who was who doing such exemplary work on those Roger Corman Poe pictures during this time, "Black Zoo" is decent, but that's mostly due to Gough. Overall, director Robert Gordon ("It Came from Beneath the Sea"), working from the script by Aben Kandel and producer Herman Cohen, just doesn't make this that much fun. It might have helped if the animals had been let loose upon a couple more victims; as it is, the story is only mildly entertaining most of the time. Still, there's camp value in the presence of an obvious "man in a costume" styled gorilla (played by George Barrows), the absurdly touching funeral for one of the big cats, and in the laughable meeting of a cult of cat worshipers called The True Believers - a definite highlight of silliness. And those felines appear to be extremely well trained.

Unlike Gough, much of the cast is required to play it straight, and it is delightful to see such familiar faces as "Maltese Falcon" cast members Cowan and Elisha Cook Jr., Edward Platt ('Get Smart'), lovely Marianna Hill ("Messiah of Evil", "Blood Beach"), Byron Morrow ("Colossus: The Forbin Project"), and Warrene Ott ("The Undertaker and His Pals").

This is fairly enjoyable schlock that might play well alongside another Cohen-Gough collaboration, "Konga".

Six out of 10.