From 1976: The novelization of QUEEN KONG. Really.
When I found out a few years ago that the plucky Brits had actually made a film called QUEEN KONG... and it starred Robin (sex Comedies-a-plenty) Askwith, Rula Lenska and Valerie Leon... I decided immediately that I HAD to see it. Fortunately, Amazon came to my rescue with a R1 DVD release paired with another movie. QK even came with a commentary track. Hurrah.
I had low expectations but a bad flick is usually no impediment to enjoyment (I'm slowly working my way through the Cannon back catalog... and really enjoying it... even SUPERMAN IV) and, sure enough, I thought this spoofy take on women's lib (apparently conceived through the prism of a very Seventies Benny Hill-esque world view) was a great deal of fun and miles better than it might have been.
The one low point, but all part of the fun, was the wretched effects work... a haphazard combination of traditional bloke-in-a-suit stomping and some hopeless CSO that would shame the BBC.
I'd assumed the film had passed without making much of dent on popular culture (although, as you'll see above, it did keep the lawyers busy for a while) so i was amazed to stumble across the NOVELIZATION in a second hand book store. Instant purchase. I was even more chuffed to see that the original owner had tucked a newspaper clipping (source unknown but clearly dated) into the front cover.
what an amazing find ! I've never heard of or seen this oddity but even this one had a spin-off novel. I've had similar finds myself, the lilustrated marvel adaptation of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK still had inside a movie ticket from 1980 ! And a Gene Wolfe novel had a ' with compliments from the publisher ' slip inserted.
ReplyDeletethe movie is on youtube...even the trailer makes it look bizarre to say the least !
ReplyDeleteRIP SIR CHRISTOPHER LEE
ReplyDeleteWhat a man, what an actor, so many roles in so many movies...farewell good sir.