FAQ

First, only the title references a gorilla. If Raymond Burr changes into anything at all it's the sukurat, or jungle demon, that the police commissioner (Lon Chaney Jr.) mentions.

Despite a few indistinct shots of the beast at the end, the director Curt Siodmak leaves this to our imagination. Bride of the Gorilla is a more ambiguous variation on the 1941 film he co-wrote, The Wolf Man (1941), in which Lon Chaney is indisputably changing into a supernatural beast. The telling moment is when Burr attempts to sign the marriage papers. He sees his own hand become that of a beast, but no one else does.

In other words, this horror film is more like those of Val Lewton--full of suggestion and innuendo--rather than the ones he wrote for Universal, which relied on makeup and other effects. Siodmak was not unfamiliar with Lewton's style. He had co-written one Lewton film, I Walked with a Zombie (1943) (1943).

No major distributor has released it, but several small companies have. This film seems to be in the public domain, which means any distributor can legally sell copies without paying royalties. Beware. Some small distributors market copies of public domain films with poor picture and sound. Others are more reputable and deliver good transfers of the best available prints. Shop around.

You can begin your search here at Amazon.com.

Watch Bride of the Gorilla (1951) on:

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