The Beast of Borneo (DVD)

Convinced that the glands of the orangutan secrete a substance that will inhibit human aging, Dr. Boris Borodoff travels to Africa to capture a specimen. He enlists famed big-game hunter Bob Ward, who at first refuses, but then succumbs to the charms of the doctor's beautiful assistant, Alma. Eventually the trapper catches one of the elusive creatures. Bob has been promised that the primate will be unharmed, but Borodoff immediately prepares for surgery. A fight ensues in which Bob is carried off deep into the jungle by the huge orangutan. Alma finally realizes that her employer has gone completely insane, and rushes off in a desperate attempt to rescue Bob.

Beginning in 1920 with The Forbidden Woman, ultra low-budget producer Harry Garson directed a string of exploitation features which would culminate with 1933's The Beast Of Borneo. Many of these sexually provocative features starred actress Clara Kimball Young including What No Man Knows (1921) and The Worldly Madonna (1922). Speculation has it that following Karloff's rise to stardom in Frankenstein (1931), "Boris" became the "go-to" name for screen villains as in Beast of Borneo's Boris Borodoff.

• action
• adventure