8. Ingagi
1930
King Kong is rightfully considered one to be of Hollywood’s greatest creations. Grand in scope and beautiful in execution, King Kong is to many the quintessential Hollywood film. Ingagi, which predates King Kong by three years, is almost the exact opposite. Sometimes referred to as an early example of the “found footage” motif, Ingagi purports to be a documentary about the African travels of Sir Hubert Winstead. While navigating the “Dark Continent,” Winstead comes across many fabulous creatures, such as the Tortadillo. More shocking is the fact that Winstead finds an isolated tribe of women who not only worship gorillas, but who also engage in carnal acts with the large primates.
Obviously, Ingagi is not a real documentary. It is a poorly disguised hoax, with the Tortadillo being a leopard turtle sporting wings and a tail that had beenglued on. Although Ingagi does use actual footage taken from an earlier documentary, most of the film was shot in Los Angeles on back lots that were more or less commandeered by Congo Pictures, an independent outfit run by Nat Spitzer. Because of this, Ingagi is a chaotic mess that doesn’t even try to synch up stock footage with its own actors and scenarios.
Despite this, Ingagi was one of the highest-grossing films during the Depression. Audiences flocked to see the film’s final minutes, which feature naked African “ape women,” who were actually white actresses in heavy makeup, being ritually sacrificed to a gorilla. The film’s poster left little room for doubt that its producers wanted to exploit the erotic aspects of this sacrifice to the hilt.
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