I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

The movie is wildly uneven but lively and timely - in its own surreal way

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Yes, this film was made on a shoestring budget. Yes, the plot is ridiculous. And yes, one of the best performances in the film is by a chimpanzee. But this is still a cute little film that can provide more than a few chuckles to any viewer who stumbles upon it.The wafer-thin plot involves two lounge performers named Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo who wash up on a tropical island. They quickly make friends with the native tribe, but when they turn to a mysterious scientist to help them get off the island, they become involved in his evil plot to reverse the process of evolution in primates. Legendary horror film star Bela Lugosi plays this evil Dr. Zabor who intends to turn the two Boys From Brooklyn into gorillas. Can they escape the island before he unleashes his evil plan? Obviously this is a plot that could only have been played for laughs, and it pretty much is. There is nothing remotely scary about any of this. The acting is often atrocious, but not completely so. Lugosi brings as much bravado as he did to any of his films, and his screen presence is as strong as ever. Even though this was one of his last films, he still seems to have some energy left. Sammy Petrillo's Jerry Lewis impersonation is in fact hilarious. So much so that Lewis himself sued his former protégé. On the DVD there is a brief interview with Petrillo who is still pretty bitter about his treatment by Lewis who had apparently once promised to take him under his wing in the business. Mitchell's singing voice isn't bad, but his acting sure is. Charlita, who plays the island chief's daughter is nice to look at, but doesn't act that terribly well either. And the gentleman who plays Lugosi's henchman gives perhaps the worst performance in film history. I mean it is bad! Cheeta the Chimp plays Ramona the Chimp, and he steals virtually every scene he's in. Can you believe that little monkey is still alive?? If you have 74 minutes to kill, and need a few chuckles, give it a try. In spite of Martin Landau's comments, this film is still better than anything Edward D. Wood Jr. ever made! I'll give it 5 of 10 stars.The Hound.

Okay, having just watched the first 6 of Martin & Lewis' films, I thought I'd take a break and see something else. Something that starred their impersonators. Something called Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla! That title was supposedly made up by the producer's kid and by giving it that name, Mr. Lugosi didn't have to worry that anyone would forget who the star is. Yeah, I'd say he's probably the main attraction, then and now, since he's the only one anyone would recognize here except, like I just said, there's two other people that look like a popular comedy team that had emerged during this era, only their names are Duke Mitchell & Sammy Petrillo. Now Duke does sing a couple of songs of which I thought the first was lame (and he really looked like he was mouthing to, I assume, his own recordings) and the second was okay though he really doesn't resemble Dean in looks or voice but his attitude is the same. And Sammy does resemble Jerry both in looks and attitude but the lines he's given were alternately a little amusing and mostly lame though I did like it when they did a bit about having seen Lugosi before. Oh, and unlike Lewis at the time, Petrillo does mention some Jewish terms. As for their leading ladies, Charlita as Nona, Dean's girl is sexy enough while Muriel Landers as Saloma (who Sammy sometimes refers as "Salami"!) has a pleasingly plump figure that doesn't completely drive Sammy away. There's also a monkey who was borrowed from the Tarzan movies that's good for some cuteness and a couple of men in gorilla suits that provide the amusingly lame climax. And Lugosi himself, despite being reduced to appearing in many of these low-budget productions late in his career, still provides some moments worth watching especially when he parodies his career reputation with Duke & Sammy. So on that note, Bela Lugosi Meets a Broklyn Gorilla is worth a look for anyone curious about this one-shot chance with these Martin & Lewis impersonators. P.S. I have to note that Ms. Landers was another performer from my birthtown of Chicago, Ill.

It is hard not to like this amusing little comedy chiller. Lugosi is in great form, given his age and health problems. There are some humorous exchanges of dialogue, in particular when Bela is explaining the finer points of his evolution experimentation to the Martin and Lewis wannabees Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo. The boys clown around a bit with very weak material, their jokes really only likely to amuse any kids in the audience. Ramona is one very talented chimpanzee and turns in a good performance larking about with Petrillo. I saw this film on the lower half of a double feature in a London suburban flea-pit around 1959. Released over here by New Realm Pictures Ltd. and re-titled " Monster meets the Gorilla ". The film benefits from the casting of the very pretty actress Charlita, and this was probably her finest hour, being that she is on screen in most of the scenes, where she is given plenty of dialogue and an opportunity to display her natural charms. Her other film credits were mostly fleeting cameos, or dance interludes. She often played waitresses, and she appeared in a few TV series entries.

I remember seeing this film as a kid and wondering who these two guys were who were doing this bad imitation of Martin and Lewis. Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo mercifully left the cinema after this horribly bad film which only left poor Bela Lugosi work for someone like Ed Wood.The sad thing I believe was that Bela probably took the part because he was going to be billed in the title of the film, the way his rival Boris Karloff was billed in Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff. Even though that wasn't one of A&C's best it still was miles above this grade Z shlock.Bela tries to make it work, hams it up in his best sinister manner. But even he noted that the classic horror film was killed by Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. It would not be revived until Hammer Films over in the UK started putting out those Peter Cushing/Christopher Lee bloodfests.Of course no songs were written of the caliber of what Dean Martin was singing at Paramount and Duke Mitchell is a bad high school version of Dean Martin. I can't remember any of them, probably that's a blessing.For Bela Lugosi completists only.