By Geno McGahee
I saw trailer for this film with a gorilla climbing up a rollercoaster holding a girl in his arms. That sold it for me right away and I put it on my Netflix que. Around this time, the theme for many movies was the beast going after the hot girl. Who can forget Gill Man in CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON going after the hot babe, and of course, the most notable is KING KONG. So, the gorilla in GORILLA AT LARGE climbing up a rollercoaster with girl in tote was not a shocker, and it appealed to me. I like gorillas. I don’t particularly enjoy the way that they show dominance on other gorillas, but I do like them overall. When a movie comes out featuring a crazy gorilla going on a rampage, I need to see it.
On top of a crazy gorilla, this film featured an all star cast. One of my favorite actors of all time, Lee J. Cobb once again steals the show as Detective Garrison. He brings the same spirit he brought in 12 ANGRY MEN. He is arrogant and delivers his lines very well. This guy was just amazing, but it doesn’t end there. We also have Raymond Burr as the carnival owner, Cy Miller. Burr may be best known for his portrayal of lawyer, Perry Mason in the show by the same name. Now, this is not a big budget films by any means, but it presents great actors taking it seriously and when you have Burr across from Cobb, you cannot lose.
The film begins with the main attraction at the carnival, Goliath. He is a wild gorilla that is paraded around for the audience. He seems very dangerous and he is, but it doesn’t stop the girl on the trapeze, Laverne (Anne Bancroft) from swinging dangerously low over him, within reach…or so it seems. The trick of this attraction is that Goliath actually doesn’t get into contact with her. There is a switch between Goliath and Joey (Cameron Mitchell) in a gorilla costume, which makes him the lead suspect when a person in a gorilla costume begins killing people at the carnival.
The lead suspect seems to be Kovacs (Peter Whitney), the strongman and only one that can control the gorilla. The theory is that either he is killing the carnival workers in the gorilla costume or he is commanding Goliath to do it. Detective Garrison has his hands full, and he has his suspicions about nearly everyone and everyone has motives, and that includes carnival owner, Cy Miller.
Miller has some blood on his hands from the past where an ex partner died under mysterious circumstances and had a bone to pick with each and every one of the victims. All signs point to him, but this is a whodunit and if you bet on the favorite in these types of films, you will usually come up short. I do really enjoy the fact that we have two things going on at the same time. We have the killer on the loose and a crazy gorilla raising hell. If that is not a recipe for success, I don’t know what is.
This movie may have been mediocre, but with Burr and Cobb involved, it is a very enjoyable film. I highly recommend this one. I really enjoyed it.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7.5/10. I like Gorillas.