As many of you know, movies featuring angry, murderous gorillas were quite popular back in the proverbial day. The allure has somewhat tapered off, but for the longest time, apes were a guaranteed sell, often appearing in comic books as well (Batman #75 - The Gorilla Boss of Gotham City, and the famous Superman issues featuring Titano, an obvious King Kong rip-off, are some examples).

Here we'll look at as many gorilla movies as I can think of in chronological order. I've intentionally left out the Kong movies and Mighty Joe Young. Of course, I've probably left some others out too, but one's mind can only handle so much of this type of material. We'll give each an ape rating of 1 through 5, with five being the best.

The Monster Walks, featuring Mischa Auer, came out in 1932. It is extremely cheaply done, even by poverty row standards of the time. This completely forgettable film features a normal looking chimpanzee in a cage in the basement (is he the terrifying killer?!?!) as well as someone who goes around strangling people through walls with a massive set of fake ape hands. There are some standard old dark house moments, as well as comic relief from early black actor Willie Best. You should avoid this movie at all costs unless it is the last movie on earth you have not seen and you absolutely have nothing better to spend your time on, like a root canal. Rating - 1/2 Ape.

House of Mystery came along in 1934 and is at the very least a step up from The Monster Walks. Here we have an ancient Hindu curse (brought on when an adventurer kills a sacred ape in a temple), an old dark mansion, and a killer ape. Featuing Gabby Hayes, they character assortment here is quite diverse. Standard old dark house fare with a gorilla thrown into the mix for flavor. Much better than its predecessor. Rating - 3.5 Apes.

The gorilla movement really kicked off at the turn of the decade. 1939 saw the release of The Gorilla, starring Lionel Atwill and the Ritz Brothers. Atwill is being threatened by a killer known as The Gorilla (who would have guessed?) and hires, of all people, the Ritz Brothers to investigate. He'd have been better off with the Three Stooges, and this would have been a better film. Eventually, a real, recently escaped, killer gorilla shows up and confusion ensues. This is one of the Ritz brothers more forgettable efforts, though fans of Atwill may enjoy his performance (actually, you probably won't; this movie, which wasn't exactly a B movie in concept, certainly attains grandiose levels of B-movie schlock. One would expect better from the talent involved, but there's some real garbage here). Not to be missed by those looking for a serious ape-movie bomb. Rating - 2 Apes.

The Ape, starring Boris Karloff, came along in 1940 and really set off the genre, eliminating the annoying comedy premises of the Ritz Brothers and going for more all out horror. Karloff barely manages to keep this one from careening into disaster. He's a mad scientist, harvesting spinal fluid from his victims to cure polio. To catch people, he chases them around in a big ape carcass from an animal he killed. How fast can an old man in a gorilla hide be? Just watch and see. Also, a marauding circus ape has broken free and is terrorizing the town. Who's killing who? Karloff? The ape? Will either of them cure polio? Rating - 4 Apes.

You know if Karloff did it, Lugosi's not too far behind. He put his prescription bottle down long enough to sign the contract for The Ape Man, which came out in 1942. Actually, he might have been high as a kite for this one, because he got screwed in the casting. He plays a stooped over scientist who turned himself into a half-ape. Guess what will cure him? Spinal fluid! Must have just been discovered, because it was at a premium in the 1940's Hollywood B-Movie community. Another scientist and his gorilla go out to get some spinal fluid. This movie grinds to a rather abrupt and dissatisfying end, and serves mostly to show Lugosi's continuing downward spiral. At least he hadn't met Ed Wood just yet. Rating - 3 Apes.

1944 saw at least two gorilla movies. You had Return of the Ape Man (an early sequel effort), with Lugosi back for more punishment. Determined to deliever yet another shattering career blow, he stayed with poverty row studio Monogram through some terrible ideas, and you have a prime example right here. The poster said: YOU'LL BE FROZEN TO YOUR SEAT IN TERROR!! You'll be frozen to your seat alright, probably in total shock that this script was approved by anyone. Here's the premise; scientists thaw out a frozen prehistoric man. They then want to combine half of a modern man's brain with half of his current Neanderthal brain so that he can remember what his life was like and communicate with modern people as well. Lugosi goes a little over the top here. I guess he knew what he had to work with an made the most of it. He certainly upstages his companion John Carradine. This is a better film than the first Ape Man installment and shouldn't be missed, especially by Lugosi fans. Rating - 4 Apes.

Nabonga, also released in 1944, is an entertaining in the 'white queen of the jungle' film genre so popular once upon a time. The daughter of an embezzler winds up in the jungle, where she holes up the money and is protected by Crash Corrigan in the guise of a monster gorilla. He seems to be having a good time. Buster Crabbe pops in, but his performance is neither as memorable nor as convincing as Julie London or Crash. All in all, well done for a predictable poverty row jungle escapade. Rating - 3.75 Apes.

The White Gorilla came out in 1945 and should be universally considered as one of the worst movies ever made. There's a white gorilla who is bullied by some black gorillas because he's not the right color (how ironic considering the period). To keep costs down (way down) a ton of footage from 1927's Perils of the Jungle was spliced in. So you have really cheesy sound footage, filmed in 1945, mixed with well shot silent footage, very nearly incoherently, and all to tell the story of a racially discriminated white gorilla. Quite humorous, though not intentionally. Great for drinking games; take a shot every time it switches from 1945 to 1927 and vice versa. Rating - 1/4 Ape (Rates a 5 if used for drinking).

The Monster and the Ape, starring poverty row pro Ralph Morgan, also came out in 1945. It's a serial, and really delivers the goods. Morgan has created a robot (The Metalogen Man, who runs on a substance called Metalogen). He shows it to a colleague, who then kills some associates with a mad gorilla monster named Thor (Crash Corrigan again, complete with 'This-ape-for-rent' suit. The guy has a thing for playing apes. If you've ever seen his acting, you know why) and shanghai's the robot. Then the chase starts. Like most serials, it's tedious in one sitting, but definitely a worthwhile entry in the genre. Rating - 4 Apes.

!951 saw Bride of the Gorilla, starring Lon Chaney Jr and Raymond Burr. The script, about a curse changing a man into a monster was written by Curt Siodmak, composer of many classic horror scripts including The Wolfman. Chaney's definitely on the decline here, though Burr does a decent job (maybe this is how he got his Godzilla role). The ape is actually almost never seen in this movie, and for the most part you will listen to either Chaney or Burr talk. Definitely does not live up the expectations one would have of a Chaney/Siodmak production. Rating - 2.5 Apes.

Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla came out in 1952 and sports one of the worst title's in film history. I believe studio execs were trying to draw an extra buck by using Lugosi's name, but he was pretty far gone at this point. Ths movie struggles to hold even B status, though Lugosi is in rare form to be so late in his career/life/non-stop drug bender. He's a mad scientist on a remote island with a crush on his co-worker. Two NY'ers wind up there; one gets turned into a monster ape by Lugosi, who then spreads rumors that a killer ape is on the loose. Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin impressions abound, and in the end, guess what? It was all a dream. All I can say is 'WOW'. Rating - 3 Apes.

1953's The Killer Ape featured none other than Johnny Weismuller. Jungle Jim is accused of a murder, though the killer is a ferocious man-ape-beast terrorizing the jungle. Probably the most fun of anything we've looked at so far. Should have been called 'Jungle Jim's Hide and Go Seek'.' There are so many chases here. People are running away and people are chasing them. People are hiding and not being found out until they pop out (should have just stayed were you were, because the chasers' standard tactic to find someone is to race around as fast as possible, preferably without actually looking anywhere). The hiders camp out in caves or bushes and happen to pop out at inopportune moments. At any given moment, you are guaranteed to have no idea what is actually happening. Appears to have been filmed almost completely indoors, perhaps in a large shed or out-building. Not to be missed; invent your own drinking game on this one, the possibilities are endless.

As the gorilla trend was winding down, Gorilla at Large was released in 1954. It features a stellar cast including Anne Bancroft, Lee J. Cobb, Lee Marvin and even Raymod Burr back for some more gorilla action. Someone gets murdered gorilla-style at a circus bearing the ominous title 'The Garden of Evil'. Quite a few suspects here and love triangles abound. This one's in color and is definitely a fun watch; above average compared to some we've seen previously. Rating - 4.5 Apes.

Now that that's over, I apologize if I missed one or two, but this is a good start if you're just now discovering gorilla films.