Konga (or I Was a Teenage Gorilla) is a 1961 British/American science fiction horror film starring Michael Gough (of Batman fame) in the lead role of Dr. Charles Decker. After being assumed dead for a year, Decker returns home with several specimens of carnivorous plants and a baby chimpanzee, whom he dubs Konga. Decker had conducted experiments on plants during his time in the African wilderness, and seeing the potential of stimulating plant growth, Decker injects a serum into Konga's circulatory system, causing him to reach his adult size in less than a minute. However, when the dean of the Essex University threatens his research, Decker doubles the dosage and sends the primate to kill all of his rivals.
An obvious ripoff of King Kong, the film served as a basis for a comic book series, and a novel based on the film was published around the time of the film's initial release.
It received a sequel... in 2020, titled Konga TNT
.
This film provides examples of:
- Antagonist Title
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: "Konga! Ever-growing man-made beast!", who becomes almost as tall as Big Ben.
- Attempted Rape: Decker throws himself onto Sandra in a frenzy of lust when she declines his offer to become his assistant due to a lack of experience.
- B-Movie
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Decker uses seeds from the carnivorous plants to hypnotize Konga into subservience.
- Classic Villain: Decker's a mixture of Pride and Lust.
- Comic-Book Adaptation:
- Dick Giordano drew an adaptation for Charlton Comics.
- Konga also appeared in a three-issue miniseries that started off as The Return of Konga, before it was renamed Konga's Revenge with issue #2. The series ran from 1962 to 1964 AND was followed by a one-shot reprint of issue #3 in 1968.
- Dirty Old Man: Decker becomes obsessed with his young student, Sandra Banks (despite the massive age difference), taking note of how she changed physically when he was missing for a year.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Most of Decker's ordered murders fall under this, but one in particular is having Professor Tagore brutally murdered by the titular primate simply because he wanted to be the one to receive recognition for his research.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Not in the film itself, but in the novel, Decker attempts to save Sandra after she falls victim to one of his many Venus flytraps, to no avail.
- Faux Affably Evil: While he portrays himself as a respected botanist and university professor, Decker is actually a ruthless Mad Scientist, being willing to extinguish any rivals to his success.
- For Science!: Decker tries to justify his murders by claiming it was to test Konga's obedience.
- Freudian Excuse: After being abused and experimented on by Decker, Konga goes on a rampage through downtown London.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: Befalls both Margaret and Decker who are slain by the angry Konga.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Sandra completely misjudges Decker's insistence with being close to her.
- Kick the Dog: Decker shoots and kills Margaret's pet cat, Tabby, because he had drunk some droplets of the serum. He only gets worse from there.
- Killer Gorilla: Konga morphs into one after repeated doses of the serum.
- King Kong Copy: Konga is a shameless rip-off of King Kong.
- The Mockbuster: Of the 1933 film.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Decker, yet again.
- My Car Hates Me: Scooter, rather. Bob Kent has trouble starting up his scooter. After Konga kills him, his scooter finally starts, the rear wheel spinning while the scooter is on its side.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: While way over the horizon, Decker's murder of Bob Kenton stands out as noticeably petty.
- Novelization: A novel based on the film was written by Dudley Dean McGaughey under the pen name of Dean Owen.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Decker wants to be acknowledged as a genius by the scientific community, and is willing to eradicate rivals to accomplish this goal.
- Stripped to the Bone: Happens in the novel to the aforementioned girl.
- Too Dumb to Live: Affects several people in this movie, but Professor Tagore deserves special mention for telling the obviously obsessed Decker that he lives alone in an isolated area and never even locks his doors. It should be no surprise that he soon joins the other victims in the Konga line.
- Tragic Villain: Konga is really just an ordinary gorilla that was subjected to inhumane experiments.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Decker wants to kill Konga even though he would've died had he not have led him to the African village in the first place.
- Villain Protagonist: Antagonist Title aside, Decker himself is responsible for all of the bad things that happen in the film.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The film ends without showing whether Sandra freed her arm from the Venus flytrap. In the novel, Sandra ends up Eaten Alive and reduced to a skeleton.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Decker plans on destroying Konga as he already has the serum.
