Night of the Bloody Apes ia a 1969 Mexican horror film directed by Rene Cardona and Jerald Intrator. A doctor transplants a gorilla’s heart into his son’s body to try and cure his lukemia. This turns the son into a murderous and very nubile half-man, half-ape type hybrid who wreaks havoc.

Night of the Bloody Apes is a piece of cheap and cheerful horror that reminds me of Blood Feast and it’s ilk in which the colour palate and gore are very camp, over the top which makes the movie very endearing because of it.

We even get a spot of lucha libre thrown into the mix, which is always welcome.

The actual transplant scene is just that- a scene of actual open heart surgery and so the film veers into the world of ‘mondo’ documentaries which is interesting and very risque for 1969. This was also controversial for the time and also a few years later, when the film would appear on the Video Nasties list. Apparently, Cardona made hundreds of films like this, most of which were quickly forgotten when they stopped playing in theatres, but this film was lucky enough to be immortalised forever.

An endearing film that has a strong army of fans. And for good reason. How many people would have seen this film if it wasn’t embroiled in the Video Nasties moral panic?

3 out of 5 stars