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THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN
In light of Peter Jackson’s popular KING KONG remake, there’s no better time to revisit this bad movie classic that likewise attempts to remake the immortal KING KONG. An agreeably trashy Hong Kong production from the seventies, THE MIGHT PEKING MAN is a camp classic of Kong-sized proportions.
The Package
KING KONG remakes/parodies/tributes were all the rage during the sixties
and seventies--in addition to the Japanese KING KONG VERSUS GODZILLA (from 1962)
there was KING KONG ESCAPES (1967), KONG ISLAND (1968), APE (1976), QUEEN KONG
(1976), the animated TV series KING KONG (1966) and of course the big budget
Dino De Laurnetiis KING KONG (1976), of which 1977’s THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN
(a.k.a. GOLIATHON) was conceived as a blatant rip-off. It was created by Hong
Kong’s ever-opportunistic Shaw Brothers, who it seems never encountered a movie
property they couldn’t exploit (fans of the present film might also want to
check out the Shaws’ shameless ULTRA MAN copy INFRA-MAN, which stars PEKING
MAN’S lead Li Hsui-Hsien and is actually more fun than its inspiration).
THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN is also notable as a sterling release of Quentin
Tarantino’s late lamented Rolling Thunder Pictures, which actually gave this
jaw-dropper a theatrical release in 1999. Rolling Thunder did the same for
other essential films like CHUNKING EXPRESS, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS, HARD CORE LOGO
and THE BEYOND…at least until Tarantino and Miramax lost interest (sniff).
The Story
An earthquake occurs in a rural Indian village, opening up a large hole in
the ground and releasing a giant dude in a cheesy ape suit who wastes no time
destroying everything in his path. Years later the sleazy Hong Kong businessman
Johnny Feng leads an expedition into the jungle in search of the “Mighty Peking
Man,” where he and his companions are beset by rampaging elephants, a vicious
tiger and a steep cliff that claims several lives. Eventually the expeditioners
decide to turn back, but Johnny stays on, having fallen for the “charms” of
Samantha, a way-hot blonde whose parents were killed in a plane crash several
years earlier and who now lives in the jungle wearing an animal skin bikini.
Her companion, it seems, is the Peking Man, and Johnny somehow convinces her to
bring the PM back to Hong Kong so he can be put on display.
As you might guess, this is the beginning of the end
for all. The trip back is a disaster, with the Peking Man chained to the deck
of a ship while inside Johnny tries to entice Samantha into ditching her
increasingly skimpy animal skin wardrobe in favor of something “more
appropriate”: a skin tight leather mini-dress! Back on
land the Peking Man is forced to perform at a monster truck rally as Samantha is
wined, dined and eventually raped by horny locals. It’s the latter act that
really sets the Peking Man off, inspiring him to break free of his confinement
and embark on a rampage of mindless destruction through the streets of Hong
Kong. Eventually he climbs to the top of a tall skyscraper, where he’s shot at
by planes and blown up(!), crashing to earth in a fiery ball. Johnny and
Samantha, of course, live happily ever after.
The Direction
Like all truly bad movies, everything in THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN is of a
piece. This is to say that every element is uniformly inept,
unintentionally hilarious and insanely wrongheaded, from the outrageously clumsy
performances, ridiculous dialogue (rendered even more so by worse-than-usual
English dubbing), mismatched stock footage and mind-bogglingly crappy “special”
effects (dig those blatantly fake-looking miniature sets the Peking Man plows
through). The real special effect is of course the mouth-watering
Evelyne Craft as the female lead, who spends literally the entire movie running
around in various states of undress (for which I’m NOT complaining!).
The orchestrator of all this was director Ho Meng-Hua, a Shaw Brothers
regular who also helmed BLACK MAGIC, THE FLYING GUILLOTINE and THE RAPE AFTER,
and was already a twenty year veteran when he made THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN--NOT
that it shows! Throwing all notions of taste, logic and continuity out the
window, Ho makes a point of concentrating on wholesale destruction and sex
appeal above all else. Whenever the action threatens to flag he simply has the
Peking Man destroy something or inserts a gratuitous close-up of Kraft’s
ass…which in this movie turns out to be more than enough!
Vital Statistics
THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN (a.k.a. HSING HSING WANG; GOLIATHON)
Shaw Brothers Limited/Rolling Thunder Pictures
Director: Ho Meng-Hua
Producers: Yi Kuang, Vee King Shaw
Screenplay: Yi Kuang
Cinematography: Tsao Hui-chi,
Wu Cho-Hua
Editing: Chiang Hsing-Lung, Thom Noble,
Pepita Noble
Cast: Evelyne Kraft, Li Hsui-Hsien (Danny Lee), Chen Cheng-Feng, Ah Wei, Huang
Tsui-Hua, Lu Tien, Chen Shi-Yu, Ah Lung, Ah Pi, Chen Ping