For those who think the 1933 King Kong was the first film to have a sexual suggestion between a woman and an ape are in for surprise. As it turns out, three years earlier, the film Ingagi explored that idea with an arguably stronger suggestion.

Ingagi is a 1930 pre-code documentary style film about an expedition consisting of hunters and cameramen, which is led by “Sir Hubert Winstead,” that goes to the Belgian Congo in Africa to investigate reports of a tribe, called the Ingagi where the women worship gorillas. The tribe performs a ritual where they sacrifice virgin women to one extra-large gorilla who carries them away to apparently mate with her. At least that is what is implied.

For much of the film, at least 90% of it is nothing but footage of African tribes and animals being hunted, killed or captured along the path to the Ingagi country. At one point, I was wondering if I was watching a different movie because about an hour in, there was no Ingagi!  When the expedition finally does arrive, Ingagi displays what the picture is infamous for: ample nudity and the clear hints of women mating with one big gorilla (Charles Gemora, known for playing gorillas and apes throughout his career).

For those who did think the film was shot in Africa, you have another think coming! It was shot in Los Angeles, California! The film incorporates footage from actual documentaries with the added, phony “documentary” footage shot in Los Angeles. But you know what, despite the hodge-podge, it is still a compelling film, especially if you enjoy watching animals roam the countryside! Ingagi had its share of controversy over the fact that this was not an actual ethnographic film, which caused the distributors to disown the film!

Kino Lorber, in conjunction with Something Weird Video, unearths Ingagi, which is Volume 8 of the Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture series. The film receiving a 4K master from two 35mm prints provided by the Library of Congress. The video is still rough in plenty of spots with print damage, vertical lines, blurry shots and dirt speckles throughout. However, there are some intervals where the picture is clear without damages and looks fantastic. I would say it is a real revelation seeing it look so clean. The color tints to the image made for a nice added touch to make the viewing experience much more enjoyable.

English LPCM 2.0 mono is the audio applied for this release. The dialog, which is just narration and other noises are clear overall but there are spots where the audio shows signs of wear and tear with dialog is a bit muffled, with hissing and crackling but it is serviceable. English subtitles are offered for this release.

Extras for Ingagi include two commentary tracks. Brett Wood, and Kelly Robinson provide information about the film, as well as films that contained apes, and ape-men and the film’s restoration in their respective commentaries.

“About the Restoration” is a short 5-minute comparison of the image before and after the restoration. The images are side by side on your television screen.

Trailers for Ingagi and Forbidden Fruit releases including Marihuana, Mom and Dad, and Narcotic round out the extras.

Ingagi is a crude but entertaining early exploitation film. I personally enjoyed the parts even before we see the big gorilla! This release by Kino Lorber is about as good as it will get. Im happy to see films like this see the light of day on Blu-ray and let’s hope more will arrive in HD in the future.

Ingagi

Director- William Campbell

Cast- Sir Hubert Winstead, Charles Gemora, Arthur Clayton

Country of Origin- US

Distributor – Kino Lorber

Number of Discs – 1

Reviewed by – David Steigman

Date-3/27/21