Night of the Bloody Apes (1969)

A doctor tries to save his son's life through a complicated heart transplant operation, the involuntary donor being a gorilla. Eventually, the young man turns into a violent hybrid beast.

Director:

René Cardona

Writers:

René Cardona Jr. (story and adaptation), René Cardona (story and adaptation)

Stars:

José Elías Moreno, Carlos López Moctezuma, Armando Silvestre

Cast

Cast overview:
José Elías Moreno	...	Dr. Krallman
Carlos López Moctezuma	...	Goyo
Armando Silvestre	...	Lt. Arthur Martínez
Norma Lazareno	...	Lucy Osorio
Agustín Martínez Solares	...	Julio Krallman (as Agustin Mtz. Solares)
Javier Rizo
Gerardo Zepeda	...	Monster (as Gerardo Cepeda)
Noelia Noel	...	Victim
Gina Morett	...	Woman in shower

Storyline

This cheap Mexican horror film is a remake of Cardona's Doctor of Doom (1962), spiced with nudity, medical footage, women wrestling, and cheap gore shots. Female masked wrestler Lucy (who looks like the devil) beats the stuffing out of an opponent - a wrestling lady with a red costume like Catwoman. Lucy finally hurls her opponent from the squared circle and knocks her out cold. Although Lucy's cop boyfriend tries to convince her that it's all part of the show, Lucy can no longer handle the stress of wrestling. Meanwhile, a mad scientist (Dr. Krellman) attempts to cure his son's leukemia by doing the first 'ape-to-human' heart transplant. He decides to put a gorilla's heart into the lad and orders his flunky to "prepare the gorilla!". There is actual footage of a graphic open heart surgery inserted in the ape operation scenes. This of course causes the boy to turn into a big stinky man-ape. He becomes deformed and mutated, as he sprouts excessive facial hair and takes on the ...

---

Plot Keywords:

female wrestler | surgery | transformation | blood splatter | monster | 

---

Taglines:

Nobody sleeps the... Night of the Bloody Apes

---

Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rreleased on DVD by Something Weird Video as part of a double feature with another Spanish-language horror movie, the Argentine production Placer sangriento (1967) ("Bloody Pleasure", a.k.a. "Feast of Flesh"). It was released uncut on DVD in the UK by Redemption in 2007, and Nucleus Films released the remastered and uncut version on DVD on October 8, 2012.

---

Goofs

When the girl is attacked in the park, the fake "grass" is accidently pushed aside, revealing the hard studio floor beneath.

---

Quotes

Dr. Arturo Martinez: Prepare the gorilla.

---

Alternate Versions

Although some VHS copies of the film inadvertently appeared in the UK on the Vipco label in 1993 it was not an officially sanctioned UK release. The film had been submitted to the BBFC earlier in the year and, although it was passed with cuts, the edits were never implemented by the distributors and the film was therefore not classified as a legal or official release. According to viewers of the movie the tape itself appears to be quite heavily pre-cut and little more than a few seconds longer than the official 1999 Satanica/Sovereign VHS version.

---

Connections

Featured in Shiver & Shudder Show (2002)

User Reviews

"Perhaps you have been seeing on your television too many pictures of terror."

An incredibly successful combo of the Mexican 'Lucha Libre' genre with 70's style horror. And a dash of 'Mad Scientist' cliché's tossed in for spice.

The original Mexican title was 'Horror y Sexo.' Tell me it doesn't fit perfectly.

Great chase scenes.

The gorillaman's make-up was horrible in both senses of the word. It ended at the neck. But it WAS ugly. And like a lot of classic horror films, it did make you nervous during the night scenes.

The Mondo style heart surgery footage was a tinge gross. It didn't hurt the film, it didn't help either.

Graphic (and I do mean GRAPHIC) violence will put some of you off. But I still liked it.

Details

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Night of the Bloody Apes

Filming Locations:

Estudios Churubusco Azteca, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$171

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinematográfica Calderón S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min 83 min (dubbed)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1