This is the type of movie where you may laugh in spite of rolling your eyes. You're not laughing at the jokes, you're laughing at the wretched comedy team (Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo) and the ridiculous attempts at humor they make with this dumb story. It just reminded me of another Z-grade classic ("The Bride of the Gorilla") which I really found myself enjoying in spite of how obviously bad it was. It's all set on some deserted island where the Caucasian actors dressed as natives simply recite lines like "Ooga Booga" to make it appear that they are speaking a native dialect. Then, there's the New England born Charlita who speaks with no accent whatsoever and the heavyset midwestern born Muriel Landers who chases the Jerry Lewis rip-off Petrillo and tries to feed him just so she can get him as fat as her. It's all ridiculously silly, especially when Bela Lugosi is introduced into the plot as a mad scientist doing evolution experiments in a Pickfair like mansion on the other side of the island.On this island of dumb souls, Lugosi experiments with various forms of anthropoidic life, especially an adorable young chimp named Ramona who takes a shine to Petrillo. (Perhaps she just feels satisfied knowing that there's a human being she's actually smarter than.) Petrillo keeps getting locked in Ramona's cage (or ends up with Ramona in his bed) or chased by Landers while Mitchell falls for Charlita who is the unwanted recipient of Lugosi's affections. The jealous Bela decides to get rid of his romantic rival by turning him into an ape which leads to a few funny sequences where Petrillo discovers Ramona missing and the ape version of Mitchell in his place. One hilarious blooper occurs when Lugosi gives Ramona a shot to turn her back into a baby, and Ramona changes into a spider monkey!Every time Mitchell breaks into a rock song, I just wanted to cringe, and ultimately just fast-forwarded. Even so, in his ape suit, he is very funny while trying to croon a tune to let Sammy know who is really underneath all that hair. Then comes the chase between the bad guys and the good guys leading to a silly finale where a definite let-down is revealed, making you wish you were back on Gilligan's Island where there was at least a laughtrack to let you know where you were supposed to giggle or shake your head in reluctant amusement. Lugosi comes off as pretty unscathed here, although it is obvious he was starting to tire of the drivel he had been given since the early 40's, even though he never plays the role as anything but serious. One thing in Petrillo's performance which is interesting are the Jewish references he makes, starting off with a subtle "Oy vey" and moving to more obscure Yiddish phrases non-Jews might not know, like "oy gevalt" and finally referring to his fear of being considered "mashugana". As to Lugosi's name being listed in the title and his name not re-appearing in the credits, all it can be attributed to is the fact that without mentioning any names (including Lugosi or Dracula), Petrillo seems to recognize him as that fiend who goes around biting unsuspecting children on the neck.

If you choose to have a try at this movie for Bela Lugosi's sake, or for it being promoted as a 'horribly funny comedy' - let me warn you: it's ONLY worth the sacrifice of sitting through this idiotic 'spoof' for a TRUE fan of Bela Lugosi who (like me) can share his pain of being degraded from a horror icon and immensely variable character actor to a 'decoy' for luring audiences into the theaters to watch silly little teenager 'comedies'...From beginning to end, the movie is incredibly badly directed and acted (especially that little nerd Sammy Petrillo, a kind of Jerry Lewis for the VERY poor, doesn't stop getting on our nerves even for a moment), the 'special effects', namely the 'transformation scenes', make those in the silent version of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" 30 years earlier look REALLY modern, and the studio 'jungle' is as phony as the 'natives'.So, only those who are able to endure to sit through that whole 'film' will get to see the ONLY thing that's worth watching - and admiring: Bela Lugosi, the great, earnest, REAL professional who loved his acting profession SO much that he gave his best, as always, as the shady, jealous, crazy scientist, even in this cinematographic 'monster' that's not even 'so bad it's good'; it's simply BAD. So we REALLY must take our hats off to Bela, who, although this 'comedy' is MUCH worse than any of the nonsense he did a few years later for Ed Wood, manages to keep his dignity even here, among untalented teenagers and with a script that's not even worth the paper it was written on, acting with a MORE than admirable devotion to his role and with real professionalism.

This movie is like Chemotherapy; it sucks the life right out of your bone marrow. It wrecks you on a cellular level and there is nothing funny about it. Imagine watching Jerry Lewis run around a jungle set with a guy in a gorilla suit, screaming and making cross-eyed faces. Now, replace Jerry Lewis with a Jerry Lewis impersonator; who is, if you can believe it, more annoying than Lewis. Bela has about 15-min of screen time, and he is entirely wooden. The Dean Martin impersontar looks and sounds nothing like Dean Martin. The most captivating performance is from a chimpanze. Honest. You don't have to do this, people. Some doors are best left unopened. ---|--- Reviews by Flak Magnet

This was memorable for seeing Bela Lugosi in his latter life and Ray 'Crash' Corrigan as the Dr's assistant. The plot is delightful and ends with a nice twist dream sequence. I didn't know about the Martin & lewis knock-off group that appeared in this film but I know that's a Hollywood possibility. Go to this site and read more from the people who made this film. It's quite interesting! http://www.hermancohen.com/interviews/interviews-cohen3.html http://www.hermancohen.com/interviews/interview-attack1.html I have to write more about this film in order for it top be posted, so I am trying to fill up so this will go through.