Other Releases Available:

Releases Reviewed:

Once again The Ape, like other old public domain flicks, has enough different releases to choke a monkey. Which ones are worth it?

Answer: none of them. One of them says it's “digitally remastered,” but otherwise there is nothing to make one version stand out from another so it becomes more of an exercise in finding the best bargain.

I got mine in a pack of 50 “Horror Classics.”

Video:

1.33: This is the TV standard “full-frame” ratio. The video quality is horrible at times with numerous skips that kill any flow the story might be trying to create. When it's not skipping like a schoolgirl on the playground it's only held back by the quality limitation that all these old unrestored movies have.

Audio:

1.0 mono: The sound is no better. It skips along with the video and drops out completely a few times along with having some annoying pops.

Packaging:

This particular disc is housed in a cardboard sleeve contained in a Velcro-fastened box. You can read about the set as a whole in great detail in the Horror Classics (50 pack) guide.

The run time is about 57 minutes compared to a time of 62 minutes which is what most other releases list.

Extras:

There are no extras of any kind.

Other Editions:

All of the releases I saw mentioned the same specs and made no mention of any extras. As I said earlier, there is one one that says “digitally remastered” from Digiview, but I wouldn't expect much out of it (except perhaps a presentation that doesn't skip).

Final Thoughts:

While the 50 pack is a good bargain bin collection it offers an inferior version of The Ape. With a shorter run time and annoying skips I can't recommend this version. However, the most I can tell you to hope for is one that doesn't skip; none of the versions appear to be anything special so just watch for the best deal.