Black Zoo

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!

As there was Tod Browning - Lon Chaney or Vincent Price - Roger Corman for the Edgar Allan Poe's adapted novels films cycle, you also had at a lesser scale the duo Herman Cohen and Michael Gough for movies such as KONGA, HORROR AT THE BLACK MUSEUM and BLACK ZOO; same trademark in evey film, and Michael Gough as some kind of poor man's Vincent Price or Peter Cushing. It is fun, tense, never boring despite those so simple and basic plots. Here, in this film, Gough is the villain but for whom you can feel some empathy because of his desperate fights to save his zoo and animals against greedy and nasty estate brokers, business men or other ambitious land owners seeking to get rid of him. Plus, you have good characterization. I like those early sixties films. The opening scene is, I guess, a tribute to Val Lewton - Jacques Tourneur's CAT PEOPLE and LEOPARD MEN.

Welcome to the Michael Gough School of Dramatic Acting where subtlety is as foreign as class is for Roseanne Barr. Gough teams up with producer Herman Cohen for one more time(previously making Horrors of the Black Museum and Konga together). The result is a fun if not flawed film. Gough plays Michael Conrad the owner of Conrad's Animal Kingdom and one man accustomed to getting his way in life. Seems to also have quite a good relationship with his zoo pals, especially the big cats: a lion, a lioness, a pair of cheetahs, a tiger, a black panther, and also a fake looking gorilla(George Barrows AGAIN!). Gough plays organ music to his animal friends in his living room, belongs to a cult group of animal worshipers, and uses his friends to kill any personages that get in his way. To say Gough overacts is an incredible understatement. He bellows his lines with ferocity in scenes that do not need such vigour, but he is always fun to watch. The film is really very interesting as the cats are real and they have been trained very nicely. The acting, aside from Gough, is uniformly good with a nice performance turned in by Rod Lauren(The Crawling Hand) as a mute assistant forced to aid Gough. Jeane Cooper is lovely and does well as Gough's wife, and the character acting of Elisha Cook, Ed Platt, Virginia Grey, and Jerome Cowan all enhance the film. Make no mistake though, even though he wildly overacts, Gough is the film's main attraction. You have to look a ways to find a more over-the-top performance and a bigger slice of ham! The film also boats a wonderful scene where a tiger gets buried. Amidst the swirling fogs and moody backdrops, Gough, with mute assistant and wife, gives a eulogy before all the big cats. Effectively eerie.

Michael Conrad (Michael Gough) is the tyrannical owner of a successful private zoo that would give today's PETA activists a coronary, with wild cats in cramped cages, and a chimpanzee theatre-the act of Michael's downtrodden wife Edna (Jeanne Cooper)-that sees the chimps dressed in clothes and forced to perform circus tricks, the show culminating with one of the poor primates being rewarded with a cigarette.

Amazingly, Conrad is convinced that he is treating the zoo's attractions with love and respect, and even belongs to a cult of animal worshippers who believe in soul transferrence. Clearly off his rocker, the zoo owner uses his obedient beasts to kill anyone that might threaten their way of life, sending a tiger to pounce on a snoopy reporter, a lion to maul a pushy property developer, and getting his gorilla (played unconvincingly by a man in an ape suit) to bash in the skull of Jenny Brooks, an entertainment agent who offers a circus job to her friend Edna.

When Edna learns of Jenny's death and finally realises the true extent of Conrad's cruelty, she decides to skedaddle, convincing Conrad's mute son Carl (Rod Lauren) to join her. Of course, Conrad isn't about to let that happen if he can help it...

To put it simply, Michael Gough makes this film. The actor goes so over the top in his performance as the bitch-slapping, lion-hugging maniac that he takes the film into camp territory, making it a whole lot of fun despite the somewhat trite set-up. Gough chews up the scenery and spits it out with relish, his hammy histrionics hugely entertaining, with his meal-time altercation with Edna being particularly memorable, the argument resulting in a hilarious spot of casserole hurling!

Other highlights include Conrad inviting his big cats into his study where he entertains them with his organ (oo-err!), the zoo owner dealing with a sadistic employee by feeding him to a lion, and the eerie night-time funeral of Conrad's beloved tiger Baron.

7.5/10, rounded up to 8 for the completely pointless but welcome inclusion of three pretty young art students who come to the zoo to draw the animals.

BLACK ZOO marks the third and final teaming of producer Herman Cohen and actor Michael Gough and the results are definitely mixed. This is a pity because the other two movies, the incredibly lurid HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM and the deliriously outrageous KONGA are guilty pleasures of the first order. ZOO doesn't quite measure up to the other two although it does have its moments which I will mention later on.

Although responsible for the first two films, screenwriters Aben Kandel & producer Herman Cohen ran out of steam this time around. This screenplay is not lurid or outrageous enough and it recycles themes and plot development (young assistant to do his dirty work, unhappy female partner) from the others. It may have been cheaper to shoot it in America (and these were certainly not big budget productions) but this one does look cheap due to the claustrophobic sets in pastel colors (the colors are recycled from KONGA) but at least there is some creative background lighting.

Fortunately BLACK ZOO is graced by a number of fine performances from Jerome Cowan's sleazy developer to Gough's tormented wife as played by future soap opera star Jeanne Cooper. Former child star Virginia Grey is very good in her small part as Cooper's agent and Elisha Cook Jr is...Elisha Cook Jr. There are a few outstanding scenes that linger long after the film is over. One is the sequence where Gough entertains his big cats with an organ recital while they lounge on furniture just like domestic ones. Another is the funeral of a tiger which is staged as if it were one of Roger Corman's Poe films. Finally the gathering of the animal worshipers must be seen to be disbelieved.

When I first saw this back in the mid 1960s it was on TV and it was in black & white. This Warner Archive DVD-R is a high quality transfer that preserves the original widescreen aspect ratio as well as the early 1950s color scheme. I only wish that it contained subtitles so that I could really follow and enjoy the "remarkable" dialogue. While not his best, this rarity is still a must for fans of Michael Gough...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.