Son of Kong Year: 1933 Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack Written by: Ruth Rose Threat: Island Monsters Weapon of Choice: Shotgun Color: Black & White IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
King Kong

Rish's Reviews
So, beauty killed the beast, and Carl Denham is in a media circus. What's a man to do but jump on a ship and get out of Dodge. He crosses paths with an evil German (please, no jokes), a lovely lady and her father, and Charlie the Chinese Cook. Eventually, they make their way back to Skull Island and encounter the title character . . . just in time, it would seem.
Many of the original participants return for this sequel--easily the quickest follow-up to a hit movie I'm aware of (even Saw II, kids). I don't want to say that it's dull, but it's certainly slower-moving and less action-packed than King Kong was. And the movie is only sixty-nine minutes long! The effects aren't as seamless this time around, probably due to the short production schedule.
Robert Armstrong is really likable as Carl Denham. His relationship with the new girl is odd, though, bouncing from fatherly to romantic, but never seeming to satisfy on either count. In my notes, I wrote, "The gay bastage doesn't even kiss her."
Little Kong, as they call him, fights a bear and a dinosaur(esque) monster this time around. Little Kong is cutsie and cartoony, either because he's supposed to be a baby, or because they decided to change the target audience this time as far as the giant ape was concerned. Much more of a kiddie picture than the first one was (I'm sure the Hayes Code had no cuts they demanded on this film once they reared their ugly little heads), it is silly, sappy, but still good once they (FINALLY) get to Skull Island.
There is a huge destruction-of-the-island sequence that is impressive, but completely illogical. Were the filmmakers just bound and determined to screw RKO out of more sequels? It seems you could've gone on and on like the later Universal Monsters movies did.
The movie grinds to a screeching halt early on for a song, but I suppose a lot of flicks did that back then, showcasing the still-new addition of sound. There is an annoying story point where Denham makes up a lie to get out of a jam and that lie ends up being true once they get to the island. It seems like there actually was a horror film I saw once that used that silly device to good effect, but I don't remember what it was. Maybe it was actually a story I wrote, I don't remember. Hmmm.
Something I tend to think while reviewing these old films is that you can't compare them to the entertainment of today; you have to judge them by the mores of the time, the stories that had already been told, the silly rules they had to abide by in those days, and the technical expertise available at the time. With that in mind, Son of Kong is a pretty entertaining, and well-done film. The thing, though, is that the original King Kong, though made at the same time, is a great film NOW, on its own merits, even compared to the entertainment we have today. Son of Kong is a fine enough movie, but you have to squint to appreciate it. King Kong is good even under a microscope. There's a reason some films become classics and are still appreciated generations after they are made.
Best Scare: None.
I'd Recommend It To: If you're a huge fan of the original and you're curious about this one, check it out. Otherwise, just watch the original again.
Posted: April 5, 2006

Total Skulls: 6

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?