a.k.a. APE / ATTACK OF THE GIANT HORNY GORILLA / HIDEOUS MUTANT
ALIVE / CMV Laservision [2008] 83′
Dual Layer DVD-9 | PAL | Region 2

THE FILM: 2.0 / 10

In the mountain that is giant monster film history, Paul Leder’s 3-D opus about a 36 foot tall gorilla let loose on Korea [and future GROWING PAINS star Joanna Kerns] stands alone at the foot of the heap. A co-production between Paul Leder and Korea’s Lee Ming Film Co., A*P*E was an obvious exploitative grab at the publicity surrounding the production of Dino de Laurentiis’ 1976 remake of KING KONG. Released through Jack H. Harris Enterprises [of SON OF THE BLOB and THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES fame], A*P*E actually made it to premiere two months ahead of the de Laurentiis film.

It is impossible to enumerate the vast number of reasons why A*P*E is a terrible film without turning this into a full-blown film review, so I’ll just hit upon some of the basics. Firstly, there’s the direction by Paul Leder [who appears in the film as a director named Dino - ha ha ha, get it? Ha ha . . . ha . . . Ha?]. Take this scene, for example – a soldier happens upon his destroyed base and surveys the smoldering wreckage. Should be simple enough, right? As the soldier turns his head from left to right, we get two insert shots of a very slow left to right camera pan over the table top wreckage. Suddenly, the soldier throws us a curve ball – he starts to turn his head from right to left. Not to be out done, Leder gives us another insert shot of the same wreckage, only this time being slowly panned over from right to left. Spatial continuity proves no match for Leder either – a dialogue scene between Joanna Kerns and her reporter beau is covered by two angles, one from directly in front of the actors and the other from directly behind.

But even the best of directors can’t make an alpaca sweater out of cotton yarn, and the scripting here is to blame for yet another level of awfulness. And who does the writer on this film happen to be? Why, Paul [with an assist from son Reuben] Leder! The scrip features such immortal lines as, “He was just two big for a small world like ours,” and, “Let’s see you dance for your organ grinder now!” Riveting stuff, to say the least. The performances from those involved also leave a lot to be desired – Kerns fairs well enough but you could write, produce, and direct your own KING KONG rip-off in the time that elapses between the delivery of some of the lines.

The special effects – headed by Park Kwang Nam, who thankfully never worked in the industry again – are also a force to be reckoned with. The titular ape is a man in a suit that’s so obviously a man in a suit it hurts – and I mean really, physically, hurts. Seeing it flailing around in a pool with the carcass of a shark is a memory that, I expect, will figure prominently in my own personal hell. Miniatures are flooded with light from all angles, leaving the deficiencies with the sub-par work more noticeable than they need have been, and the optical work is . . . well . . . you’ll see in the screen captures below.

Those in control of such things over at the IMDB have seen fit to, for whatever reason, equate this ungodly thing with 1967′s YONGARY MONSTER FROM THE DEEP and the studio that produced it, Kuk Dong. There is absolutely no evidence I can find to link these together – the only thing they have in common is giant monsters and Korea. The production of this atrocity was handled by Paul Leder and a bunch of other guys who never worked in the business again – sullying the reputation of the comparatively artful YONGARY by associating it with A*P*E seems a pretty low blow. Don’t think so? Watch A*P*E and you will . . .

THE FEATURE PRESENTATION: 7.5 / 10

ALIVE / CMV Laservision present A*P*E in a fine progressive and anamorphic transfer at an aspect ratio of approximately 1.95:1 [slightly more open than the listed 2.00:1] – framing looks spot on [IMDB lists the aspect ratio as 2.35:1, which I believe to be incorrect since A*P*E utilized the old Superscope process of shooting full-frame and cropping down to a Cinemascope-esque ratio]. Even for a film as inherently crude and ugly as this one, the transfer is quite good – contrast is consistent, colors well preserved [reds and blues are particularly vivid], and the level of detail healthy. There is heavy grain in some scenes and speckling, dirt, and debris throughout – particularly in the final reel. It appears that a theatrical print – reel change markers included – was utilized for this transfer, which is fine by me [who knows if the original elements to A*P*E even still exist? This reviewer, in his more cynical moments, tends to hope they don't.]. This undoubtedly looks as good as the film ever did in the theater and I doubt that anything short of a full-blown restoration could make the results any more palatable.

Audio is presented via two Dolby Digital 2.0 monophonic tracks – the original English and a German dub. The English track is acceptable but certainly not spectacular, sounding a bit muffled and flat throughout. The German dub actually fairs much better for the most part, being clear and with a bit of punch to the low end – I also find myself preferring the German language dialogue, but that’s probably just because the English dialogue is so horrifically handled to begin with. The German track is definitely not without its imperfections – there is some odd distortion to it at times and a few seconds of footage were obviously never dubbed for the German market – these have been augmented with the English language track and are supported with subtitles in German. There are no other subtitle options.

Unlike the other CMV Laservision releases I’ve reviewed, this disc is dual layered and definitely benefits from it. Encoding is strong throughout and I noticed no artifacts.

THE EXTRAS: 8.0 / 10

A*P*E was released in 2001 by Image Entertainment as a featureless DVD – ALIVE / CMV Laservision have certainly improved upon that disc here.

The chief extra and the big draw of this disc is the inclusion of the original anaglyph 3-D version of the film, as it was released in German cinemas. Black and white, cropped a bit to the left and right, sourced from VHS, and augmented with audio in German only, the presentation naturally leaves something to be desired – but seeing the pathetic attempts at 3-D effects in their intended format definitely adds a level of fun to the otherwise miserable proceedings. A pair of red / blue 3-D glasses are included in the package.

The only other extras pertaining directly to the film are the German theatrical trailer [awesomely for us, this is just the American trailer subtitled into German - "See ten tons of animal fury leap from the screen! Not to be confused with King Kong!"] and an image montage [much of which appears to have been sourced from Monstrula.de's file on the film]. Four trailers for other ALVIVE / CMV Laservision releases make for fun viewing as well – the German trailers for GAPPA, GORGO, ROBOTER DER STERNE, and KRIEG DER INFRAS. ROBOTER DER STERNE is presented full screen, while the rest are all anamorphic widescreen [odd in the case of GORGO, as this trailer is presented flat on that disc].

If you’re a fan of the film [do any of you really exist?] then this is definitely the DVD edition to get by virtue of the supplements alone.

THE OVERALL PRESENTATION: 9.0 / 10

A*P*E comes packaged in a standard Amaray-style case, white instead of black, with an attractive insert – the front of which is based off of the most common poster art for the film, which is as obvious a rip-off of de Laurentiis KING KONG as the rest of the film [note: there is also a slightly more expensive limited edition release of this title, which is the same disc only housed in a deluxe book-style case]. Menu designs are well done, lightly animated, and easy to understand even for those who, like myself, don’t understand a bit of German.

There is a great consistency between the packaging and menu design for the various ALIVE / CMV Laservision DVD releases I’ve covered that I’ve grown to appreciate – I wish more companies would follow in their example.

THE VERDICT: 6.6 / 10

A*P*E is an almost unbelievably terrible film in almost every conceivable way, but this ALIVE / CMV Laservision disc is definitely the way to go for those who wish to add it to their collection. I find myself inexplicably drawn to it from time to time [I owned it previously on a terrible Goodtimes Home Video VHS] and am happy to have this disc, if not the film itself, sitting on my shelf.

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