10 King Kong Movies Ranked Worst To Best

6. Son Of Kong

King Kong 1976
RKO Radio Pictures

Released nine months after the original, Son Of Kong could well be the film that sent Hollywood down its current path of following up landmark movies with needless and forgettable cash-ins.

After contracting the mysterious disease known as “screenwriter’s contrivance”, Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) returns to Skull Island in search of treasure and immediately encounters unfriendly natives, dinosaurs and an albino gorilla he names “Little Kong.” The special effects include an earthquake and Little Kong fighting a dragon-like creature, but the film lacks the sense of awe and wonder (not to mention the creative energy) that made the original a landmark of cinema.

Running a slender 69 minutes, Son Of Kong is literally half the movie its predecessor was. Knowing they could never top the original’s Empire State Building grand finale, the filmmakers concentrate less on epic effects sequences and more on humour, which only lends the picture an air of quaintness and gentility.

Contributor

Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'