Son of Ingagi

Son of Ingagi (1940)

** (out of 4)

A female doctor lives in a large castle where she brought a few things back from Africa. One is a large sum of gold and the other is a half-man, half-ape creature. One day the doctor is killed by the creature and her home is left to a newlywed couple. It doesn't take long for the couple to run into the creature.

SON OF INGAGI is best remembered today for featuring an all black cast, which certainly wasn't the norm for 1940 and especially in the horror genre. I've seen a lot of the race pictures from this era and all of them suffer from having very small budgets and often time not having that much talent in front or behind the camera. This film here is actually pretty entertaining for what it is even with the limitations.

What I enjoyed most about this picture was the monster itself. If you're familiar with the horror films from this period then you know gorillas and killer apes were quite popular and they'd continue to be throughout the decade. If you've seen Bela Lugosi's THE APE MAN then you'll see a few similarities to this picture but I'd argue that the ape creature here is even better since the actor's entire face is covered here (unlike Lugosi who the studio obviously still wanted you to see).

Of course, there are several flaws in the movie, which is to be expected including some pretty fair to bad performances. I would argue that none of the performances are all that good but they had to work with what was available at the time. It should also go without saying that there wasn't too much suspense in the film and as a horror movie it's really not all that horrifying. Still, SON OF INGAGI makes for a decent way to kill a hour.

A newlywed couple is visited by a strange old woman who harbors a secret about the young girl's father.

"Son of Ingagi" is allegedly the first science fiction-horror film to feature an all-black cast. Even if the film had no merit (which it does), this alone would make it worthwhile as a historic film.

This is really the brainchild of Spencer Williams (1893-1969), who wrote, acted and helped behind the camera. While today perhaps best remembered as the latter half of Amos and Andy, he was a true talent and a pioneer in the category of "race films".

I would love to see this film properly released. Maybe it has been, but the public domain copy I saw was pretty unbearable and ruined what should have been a lost classic.

SON OF INGAGI is about a man and his new bride trying to enjoy their wedding night. Instead, a series of disasters -an explosion at the groom's workplace, a mad scientist and her go-rilla henchman on a rampage- threatens to derail the honeymoon.

A fun movie featuring an all-African American cast...

In reviewing movies involving people of color in chronological order for Black History Month, we're now at 1940 when Spencer Williams-future star of TV's version of "Amos 'n' Andy"-wrote and took a part in this horror/comedy feature. I'll just say right now that this isn't very good. In fact, the pace is just lethargic enough that I rarely laughed and was not scared at all. The fact is that the only time a score plays is when they show newspaper montages to advance the story. So that's a demerit right there. The leads of Alfred Grant and Daisy Bufford are as bland as you'd expect. Laura Bowman has some nice moments playing a mysterious character but she's not on screen enough. And vocal group The Four Toppers have some entertaining musical interludes when singing "So Long, Pal" and "You Drove the Groom Away". And even Williams has some amusing moments involving two disappearing sandwiches. But it's all for naught as the whole thing just falls apart past the 30-minute mark especially when a noticeable splice occurs there. So I'd only recommend Son of Ingagi if you're curious enough. P.S. Among the people involved from my now-home state of Louisiana: director Richard C. Kahn from New Orleans, Ms. Bufford from Franklin, Spencer Williams from Vidalia, and Zack Williams (the monster of the movie). Among supporting players from other black-cast movies I've seen: Ms. Bowman was also in God's Step Children, Arthur Ray was also in The Duke is Tops, Earle Morris was also in director Kahn's The Bronze Buckaroo, and Maggie Hathaway was in Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather.

This old flick is about a murderous half-man half-ape who lives in a secret basement unbeknownst to a young married couple who have just taken ownership of the property. This leads to a number of murders which casts all manner of aspersions on the husband.

Son of Ingagi is, along with Devils Daughter and Chloe, Love is Calling You, one of the earliest all-black horror films. Like the others it's strictly a poverty row affair which only really stands out as an example of early black cinema. While it does have a reasonably intimidating monster, it suffers from being very creaky, as many of the low-budget films from the period are. It combines elements of horror and comedy, which was something that was increasingly popular at the time. Although, even up to the present day, this approach has proved never to be easy to pull off successfully as the comedy deflates the horror and vice-versa.

Without doubt this is a movie primarily recommended for those interested in the development of black cinema. It also should be of interest to fans of old 30's and 40's low budget horror films. Others should approach with caution, as despite its significance as an early example of a minority race film, it might just be a little too unoriginal and antiquated.