"King of the Lost World" review

King of the Lost World (2005)

Directed by Leigh Slawner
Writing credits Carlos De Los Rios

Bruce Boxleitner.... Challenger
Rhett Giles.... Roxton
Jeff Denton.... Malone
Steve Railsback.... Larry

My friend and I drove to the video store the other day to pick up a movie. We wanted to watch a mainstream flick to make up for all of the bad B-movies we've been suffering through lately. I needed to remind myself why I like movies in the first place. As we pull into the parking lot, my friend turns to me and says, "How many "King Kong" rip-offs do you think are on the shelf?" I said there had to be at least one but we must stay strong and rent a mainstream flick. So I'm cruising down the new release wall when I hit the K section and there it is: "King of the Lost World". It was such a blatant B-movie rip-off of "King Kong", I couldn't possibly resist. In a moment of weakness, I rented it.

"King of the Lost World" is exactly what you would expect from a straight to video flick that comes out a day before "King Kong" hits the movie theater. It's a cheap, cheesy "King Kong"/ "Jurassic Park"/ any jungle survival flick rip-off. I don't think you could use the term "rip-off" enough to describe this movie. A plane crashes in the Amazon and a bunch of people wander through the jungle looking for the other half of the plane. Along the way, they run into all kinds of cheap monsters. There is the cheap giant spider attack. Then there is a cheap killer vine that kills people cheaply. Then you've got these really cheap giant scorpions which scurry around and then leave. Oh, and then you've got this giant gorilla who thinks he's the King and wanders into the movie for about five minutes. He was Lost Kong of the B-movie world or something. I'm not sure because no one bothered to give him a name. They couldn't afford one.

The other key word to describe "King of the Lost World" is cheap. Here's a classic case of a B-movie stretching itself far beyond its limits. If you can't afford to show at least half-way decent effects, don't bother with the big budget rip-off. I would have been happier if they had shown a guy in a gorilla suit attacking the people. Anyway, if you rent "King of the Lost World", you're going to get what you deserve. It's a cheap rip-off that needs to be avoided.

SCORE: 1 out of 4 cheap gorillas