The Gorilla Gang is a 1968 West German krimi murder mystery film in which rich men are murdered for insurance money.
Directed by Alfred Vohrer (The College-Girl Murders; The Hunchback of Soho; Dead Eyes of London) from a screenplay co-written with Horst Wendlandt [both credited as “Freddy Gregor”] loosely based on a novel The Dark Eyes of London by Edgar Wallace. Produced by Horst Wendlandt.
The Rialto Film Preben-Philipsen production stars Horst Tappert, Uschi Glas, Uwe Friedrichsen, Hubert von Meyerinck and Herbert Fux.
The soundtrack score was composed by krimi regular Peter Thomas.
Reviews:
“It’s the odd comic approach that is the most disconcerting; the (badly dubbed) dialogue is almost a non-stop barrage of clipped, snippy humor, and the character names include a Doctor Jeckyll and a Sgt. Pepper. No, it’s not very good (in fact, it may be pretty bad), but it’s more entertaining than I would have guessed.” Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings
” …The Gorilla Gang is colorful with its criminals, both in characterization and eye-popping appeal. Going down smooth, just a tad naughty and (in case you weren’t paying attention the first time) involves murderers disguised as goddamn gorillas, this is one Bacardi-and-dice-game of a killer krimi.” Flick Attack
“Vohrer’s direction is, in itself, nothing to be ashamed of. It’s brisk and efficient and contains enough self-conscious stylish moments and images without becoming self-indulgent. But there’s also little he hasn’t done before […] not a good krimi but one which is certainly entertaining and which proves to offer a lot to talk about…” Giallo Fever
” …its crude, wild mixture of frivolous comedy, crime fiction and horror is a prime example of the joys that German exploitation has in store. The logical vaults that the film makes to generate sensations are always cute…” Remember It For Later [translated from German]
” …the story of this is wild and inconsistent and lacking in logic, but that at least one has come to expect from the German Edgar Wallace cycle […] this is not an awful movie, it’s very competently put together, and you’ll quite probably find much to laugh about here, not always for the right reasons, but it’s still a laugh.” Search My Trash
“Vohrer paces the film a little slower than other entries. As always though the real pleasure lies not in the plot, which is absurdly convoluted, but the weird detours, witty dialogue, colourful characters and strange little eccentricities strewn along the way […] It is worth watching for the lively finale and hilariously surreal and suggestive coda alone.” The Spinning Image
Cast and characters:
Horst Tappert … Inspector David Perkins
Uschi Glas … Susan McPherson
Uwe Friedrichsen … Sergeant Jim Pepper
Hubert von Meyerinck … Sir Arthur
Herbert Fux … Mr Sugar
Inge Langen … Mother Superior / Oberin
Beate Hasenau … Cora Watson
Albert Lieven … Henry Parker
Ilse Pagé … Miss Mabel Finley
Hilde Sessak … Sister Elizabeth
Ralf Schermuly … Edgar Bird
Maria Litto … Gloria
Claus Holm … Doctor Jeckyll
Ingrid Back … Patsy (as Ingrit Back)
Franz-Otto Krüger … Police Doctor (as Franz Otto Krüger)
Eric Vaessen … Gordon Stuart
Catana Cayetano … Dorothy Smith
Filming locations:
London, England (background stock footage during driving scenes)
Mansion House Place, London, England (external location of ‘Love and Peace for People Organisation’)
CCC-Atelier, Spandau, Berlin, Germany (studio)
Technical details:
94 minutes
Eastmancolor
Aspect ratio: 1.66: 1
Original title:
Der Gorilla von Soho
Alternate title:
Ape Creature
English language trailer:
Longer German trailer:
