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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Serviceable DVD of Ed Wood-scripted gorilla-love oddity, July 7, 2002
This review is from: Bride & The Beast (DVD)
Bride and the Beast, co-produced by Adrian Weiss (ex B-movie editor/producer) and (father?) Lewis Weiss (ex silent and cheapie western producer), and scripted by Edward D. Wood Jr., never really replicates the manic delirium of Wood's directorial efforts (Plan 9, Glen or Glenda, Night of the Ghouls, etc.) Unlike those films, the fun here results not so much from breathless incompetence as from the ludicrousness of the overall concept. Bride and the Beast is a campy, immensely entertaining melange of jungle thrills, domestic melodrama, and past-life regression/reincarnation hokum, with a touch of implied bestiality thrown in to give it that Woodian je ne sais quoi. Lance Fuller moves up from his supporting role in the equally enjoyable jungle-horror opus Voodoo Woman to star as Dan Fuller, big-game hunter, who returns home to his jungle "mansion" with newlywed bride Laura, played by gorgeous, sultry Charlotte Austin (Gorilla at Large, Daddy Long Legs, Frankenstein 1970). Johnny Roth is houseboy/guide Taro, one of those Natives of Indeterminate Ethnic Makeup (apparently a member of that B-movie caste who refer to white men as "bwana," Taro's skin color varies throughout, he has Caucasian features, and wears a turban). Veteran monkey-suiters Steve Calvert and Ray "Crash" Corrigan play the gorillas. The excitement starts as soon as the honeymoon begins: Laura reveals her fur fetish to Dan; she and his full-grown pet gorilla, Spanky, are strangely affected/attracted by each other; Laura has disturbing dreams about gorillas; Spanky breaks out of his cage during a thunderstorm to menace (?) her; Dan awakes, shoots and kills Spanky, then later takes Laura to a shrink who hypnotically regresses her and determines that she was a gorilla in a previous life! (Hypnotic regression was a hot topic at the time because of the famous Bridey Murphy case; see Corman's The Undead, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Fright, etc.) Progressing from a man-eating tiger hunt in the jungle to Laura's abduction by a pair of horny gorillas (one is blonde like White Pongo) and final showdown at Bronson's Canyon, Bride ultimately surprises with an incredible ahead-of-its time 'downbeat' ending. Crazy as it sounds, Bride and the Beast really isn't a knee-slapping Bad Film atrocity; in spite (or perhaps because) of the offbeat subject matter I actually found it quite absorbing, yet hugely entertaining on a camp level as well. The younger Weiss's actually fairly competent, if pedestrian, direction keeps the plot moving along briskly, and the substantial stock footage is integrated into the movie rather well for a cheapie of this type. (People with animal-cruelty sensitivities may be offended by a few clips.) The musical score is by an apparently slumming Les Baxter (famous for his 'exotica' LPs and numerous AIP soundtracks) and Harry Thomas (Frankenstein's Daughter, Night of the Ghouls) did the makeup. Highly recommended for fans of cheesy jungle thrillers, gorilla freaks, and Ed Wood completists. Makes a great co-feature with Curt Siodmak's Bride of the Gorilla. With the Allied Artists catalog in DVD limbo due to Warner Home Video's apparent indifference and foot-dragging, this will likely be the only disc release of this movie in the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, the transfer appears to be from a 16mm source print, and while the tonal values range from very good to excellent (a little worse in some of the stock footage) and the black level and shadow/highlight detail are pretty acceptable, the print has a slightly soft, dupey look; no worse than a typical TV print, but probably a bit of a letdown to those spoiled by the typically tack-sharp Image/Wade Williams DVDs. Fortunately, physical damage is limited to some light speckling and spotting, leaving the picture very watchable overall. The mono audio is clear and the included 35mm trailer looks generally excellent, if also a bit soft and exhibiting some light speckling and lining. Six chapter stops and a nicely done if somewhat skimpy gallery of about a dozen stills and lobby cards (accompanied by some jarringly inappropriate music) are also provided. Another 'bonus' is a pretty awful (bad acting, unfunny 'comedy') 3.5-minute sequence from the aborted Wood-scripted Beach Blanket Bloodbath, featuring Forrest J Ackerman and Bobbie Bresee, which completists may care about but that will probably not impress anyone else. Also (dis)gracing the disc is an interview with and some shorts by one David "The Rock" Nelson, whose miserable home videos (that have insanely been compared by some to Ed Wood movies) are so embarassingly putrid they make Beast of Yucca Flats look like Citizen Kane. A complete waste (I fast-forwarded through most of it) and definitely INessential; consider yourself warned. In total an acceptable if less than ultimate package that will have to tide gorilla fans over till someone digs up and transfers some crisp 35mm elements (don't hold your breath).
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3.0 out of 5 stars
beauty scenery & the apes, March 8, 2009
This review is from: Bride & The Beast (DVD)
i like the continuity-lots of different closeup and wideview visual scenery/scenes; the story is decent with ape action in the beginning and suprisingly in the end when you thought it may have been edited out. but it wasnt. so far the best ed wood film ive seen; and good dvd pic quality. good differently done.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Clip footage galore !, November 22, 2005
This review is from: Bride & The Beast (DVD)
The Bride and the Beast (1958) - 2 B-stars
1 star for Ed Wood's horrible script and plot
1 star for the feeble attempt to tie together clip footage with the rest of the film.
Ed Wood did not direct this movie, but he did write the screenplay, and it's really the screenplay - and the low budget - that really sinks this movie. This is one of those "Aftrican safari" movies that are half made of clip footage, and you can obviously recognize the difference. It's always entertaining to see how the poor beleagued director tries to pierce together the movie from Ed Wood's horrible script and the horrible clip footage, and the constant continuity errors.
Things I've learned from The Bride and the Beast :
* Gorillas can detect telepathic brain waves and know about people's past lives.
* Gorillas are the most fearsome animals in the jungle.
* If suitably angered, a gorilla can bend iron bars.
* Hypnosis unlocks a person's past life, and eventually make them literally become their past life (such as : a gorilla).
* The African savannah is also half Brazilian rainforest. In this weird hybrid, you don't need machettes because there are already clear paths from one place to another.
* South American natives live in Kenya, and are always on hand to teach weaving to rich white women.
* Leopards hunt during the day.
* A man can fight off tigers AND gorillas, hand-to-hand, and only have scratches.
* Gorillas live in giant caves, like Fred Flintstone.
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