Starring Danny (THE SUPER INFRAMAN) Lee, Evelyne (LADY DRACULA) Kraft, Ku (THE WEB OF DEATH) Feng and Lin Wei-Tu, directed by Ho (THE OILY MANIAC) Meng-Hua for Shaw Brothers.

An expedition brings back a gigantic ape-man to Hong Kong, where he (surprise) runs amok. His jungle girl companion (Kraft) tries to help the hairy vandal, but it all ends in tears.

Shaw Brothers released this fantasy flick, also known as GOLIATHON, in the wake of 1976’s KING KONG remake and did rather a good job. Though the special effects have been ridiculed in such publications as The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film, I found the sets and model work to be on par with similar scenes in Toho’s Godzilla movies. The Hong Kong city set is pretty large and decently detailed, with the usual pyrotechnical destruction occurring at the movie’s climax.

Though the titular Peking Man is obviously a man in a costume, of a standard far below that of Rick Baker’s simian creation seen in the ‘76 KING KONG, the model face used for close-ups of Peking Man’s visage is up to snuff.

One of the movie’s plus points is Evelyne Kraft who, as the loincloth-wearing amazon, is a fetching addition to the cast. Other ingredients include an elephant stampede and a man who has his leg bitten off by a tiger!

Surprisingly, a certain amount of pathos can be found in Peking Man’s plight because, generally, the ape-man is shown to be friendly, at least in the company of Kraft, thus adding to the tragedy of the finale, as the furry fury and his diminutive dame companion come under fire from buzzing helicopters.

Here are some posters…

Here’s a final shot: the jungle gal sitting in the Peking Man’s hairy paw…