King Kong Lives
Dir: John Guillermin
1986
****
Not to be taken seriously but much like its predecessor, it's seriously entertaining. Okay, the original wasn't great in the classic sense but got by on 'So bad it's good' credentials although not without it's own credit. King Kong Lives is all out B-Movie 'So bad it's fantastic'. Yes, it's badly written, has a terrible story and poor performances but the scenes in which King Kong flirts with his newly found mate are hilarious and make the film worth watching alone. You also have the 'King Kong escapes' scene, the 'King Kong' steps on suburbia' scene, 'King Kong has a heart transplant' scene and my favorite, 'King Kong bites a group of camping red-necks in half' scene. It's B-Movie gold and quite frankly, what is King Kong if not the ultimate B-Movie? People say that producer Dino De Laurentiis was a mad man with unrealistic visions but I totally disagree. All good B-Movies should be played straight and all should give the people what they want. If you want to watch a serious film then a movie about a 100 foot Ape probably isn't for you anyway!