What It’s About: A  36 foot tall gorilla escapes a freighter bound for Disneyland off the coast of Korea and begins a rampage.  When he gets to Seoul, he kidnaps American actress Marilyn Baker (Joanna Kerns) and beings his obligatory low rent rip-off of King Kong.  Unlike, Kong, however, he won’t face dinosaurs and biplanes, but troops, tanks, extras from a period epic who inexplicably attempt to kill him with bows, fire arrows, and battering rams, Great White sharks and whatever else the producers of this so-bad-its-good gem decide to throw at him, all rendered with special effects that make the worst Gamera film’s look like ILM in the 1980s.  Will Baker survive long enough to meet and marry Alan Thicke and bring up a brood that includes a future Christian Fundamentalist proselytizer?  

Why Watch it Today?: Joanna DeVaronna, better known to those who grew up in the 1980s as Joanna “Mrs. Seaver” Kearns, celebrates her 59th birthday today.

Where to Get It:  Netflix (Rental Only)

Other Choices:  Don’t like Kaiju films?  Famed French Director Jean Renoir died today in 1979.  Last year we highlighted his classic, The Rules of the Game.