10 Blockbuster Rip-Off Films That Are Actually Worth Watching

10. Ape (1976)

Released in Christmas of 1976, the Dino de Laurentiis-produced King Kong was a $24 million folly for which a forty foot high, six and a half ton monster robot was specially constructed, even though the filmmakers decided not to use it. In theatres within a week was Ape, a no-budget Korea-lensed 3D knock-off whose star appeared to be an extra in a monkey mask and wool sweater. Leaving out the expedition to Skull Island, the dinosaurs, plus Kong€™s introduction and subsequent capture, Ape begins three-quarters of the way through the traditional narrative with the hirsute antagonist wading ashore to stomp model buildings and throw around vehicles that look suspiciously like Tonka toys. In a sequence strangely absent from its bigger-budgeted brethren, our antagonist, smitten by a hanglider, skips along merrily behind it, arms aloft, head moving from side to side. €œLet€™s see him dance for his organ grinder now,€ growls an unimpressed General, before sending in some wire-supported helicopter gunships. He€™s left open-mouthed, however (as is the audience), when Ape/ Kong swats them aside before giving him the finger.