A rushed, inferior (and pretty darn goofy) sequel in all respects, Son of Kong clocks in at barely 70 minutes, leaving little room for the menacing natives of the original. Although the movie posters show a rain of spears threatening our heroes, the Skull Islanders here are allotted all of one minute of screen time — first, shooing our heroes away from one part of the island and later, at the end of the movie, when a sudden earthquake sinks the island into the sea they’re shown running around (presumably falling to their deaths). Several of the main black actors — Noble Johnson, Steve Clemente, Nathan Curry — return from King Kong, but while they’re much less threatening here, the callousness with which they’re treated is possibly even more disturbing. Their entire homeland crumbles into the sea, but we’re supposed to shed a tear for the ape (who, incidentally, dies saving the white hero). What about Son of Chief Ooga-Booga?
