King Kong (1933) on screen (plus the return of Horrorshow!)

I can't give it fair credit as #1, but the second-most important film screening I ever attended, in terms of shaping me as a movie lover, was  King Kong, at the gym at my old elementary school in Maple Ridge, circa 1977, when I was about nine years old. #1, as I've written about somewhere back there, was a theatrical presentation of The Wizard of Oz that I'd gone to, some years previous, also in Maple Ridge, where I was so terrified by the flying monkeys (and so in fear for Dorothy) that I had to be removed from the theatre, shrieking and crying. Film has never since had such a powerful impact upon me; I figure the sheer trauma of the experience was what compelled me, as a child, to want to understand cinema more deeply, and set me on the road to horror film fandom. But I'm not a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz, or anything. It's a fun enough film but it resonates with me today nowhere near as much as that first experience of the original version of King Kong, when our teacher - a youthful, cheerful hippie named Mr. Hansen, who also played a formative role in getting me into song lyrics -- led the class into the gymnasium to see a film print being projected of King Kong. 

I was a huge fan of dinosaurs, but somehow was unaware of the film. We were, as I remember,  brought in late, so that we arrived shortly before the raft scene on Skull Island, which may have actually helped me get into the film: within a few minutes of getting comfortably cross-legged on the floor, there was a dinosaur on screen! I was rapt, and soon to be even more awestruck by the allosaurus (but usually identified as a T-Rex)-vs-Kong fight scene. I loved the movie, and much later, even liked Peter Jackson's remake of it sufficiently that I went back to the theatre to see it half a dozen times...

...but somewhat unbelievably, I have only seen 1933 King Kong projected one other time, in the 40-odd-years since that day in the gymnasium at my old school, at an outdoor screening in Stanley Park some ten years ago. Fitting, then, that I'll be seeing it again in Maple Ridge -- or, well, technically Pitt Meadows -- this Friday, for the (technically second) film to mark the return of Horrorshow, the Jonny-Bones-hosted late-night film series, which only recently recovered from its COVID-imposed lockdown. It's screening a bit earlier than the Horrorshows of yore, so it's possible for Vancouver residents to commute out to catch the film, which Bones will introduce. Bones is the frontman for two of Maple Ridge's best punk exports, the ska-inflected Bone Daddies and the more oldtimey-influenced Still Spirits. He took the time to answer a few questions about King Kong and his history with it. 

(And for the record, I had no idea that The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms predated Godzilla. I fact checked Bones, and the former is from 1953, while the latter 1954. I'm seriously impressed; Bones knows his stuff).

Jonny Bones by Kav Ronin

A: How did you first encounter King Kong? 

J: I first was shown King Kong by my mother as a very young age. Exactly what age, I don't recall, but likely between 1st & 3rd grade. I came from a very religious household; we also lived out in the sticks of the Stave Falls area, in a little trailer on a hill and had no cable TV, just a VCR and whatever came in through our 2.5 over the air TV channels, so what I had access to/ was allowed to watch was very limited. However, my mother was a big fan of classic black and white and early adventure films, many of which featured the exceptional creature effects work of Ray Harryhausen. Anyways, one day she put on King Kong, either as a TV broadcast or as a VHS rental, I cannot recall. Seeing that film however, I vividly recall. I was awestruck by the images in screen. My mind at that time couldn't comprehend how it all worked, it just looked real... Well, maybe not REAL, perhaps surreal is a better term. But the mastery of effects being blended and layered on that screen made a deep and lasting impression on me that set me forever on a course to keep seeking that feeling of excitement and awe, that surreal feeling of realistic unreality that only monster movies and horror can present. My very Christian and lovely mother had no clue what kind of creature she herself was creating that day in our living room. Without her realizing it, she was forming a lifelong Movie Monster fan. 

A: There was an interesting later-day interpretation of the film by which it is encoding a fear of miscegenation, with Kong as a stand-in for people of colour, from whom our white women must be protected! I think that anxiety might actually be relevant -- but it makes me love the film no less.

J: Yes, I'm very aware of the reading of the film in a racial allegory, and it's an extremely valid reading. From watching the film, you can't help but see the trappings of race and misogyny that are simply inherent in it as a product of the time. Women are the lesser sex, that need to only be rescued or desired, and people of color are only presented as uncivilized savages to serve as small antagonistic plot points. For a film from 1933, I don't really expect much less. I think the theory of reading Kong himself as an allegory for the struggle of the black man in America was likely popularized by the scene from Inglourious Basterds by Tarantino, and again, I think it's a very interesting and apt reading of the film. But, to me, I think viewing the movie only through that modern socio-political lens, robs the film of its pure marvel of original storytelling and industry changing special effects. 

What people don't often understand about Kong is that nothing had ever existed like it before. It's a completely original concept and story. It was not based on a book or a play or any other pre-existing piece of art. It was created, whole cloth, for the screen (a concept which was rare then and almost non-existent today, especially from any major studio), and the effects work that Willis O'Brien did are nothing short of groundbreaking. This film incorporated, invented and remixed every single form of special effects known at the time, from stop motion, jump cuts, matte painting, rear projection, glass paint overlays and more, all mixed together and combined, sometimes mixing all of them at once in ways that had never been seen or done before (refer to the snake fight scene inside of the mountain lair to see what I mean) and through the combination of all of these things, the film achieved the rare occurrence of puncturing the general pop culture zeitgeist and created the first giant movie monster ever. That even now, 91 years later, still looms large in our minds. Hell Godzilla x King: The New Empire comes out in theaters later this year! And without this film, none of the giant movie monsters we know and love, from Godzilla to Cloverfield, or any variety of Japanese Kaiju would exist. 

So, while I think the modern viewing of King Kong is an important reading of the themes on screen, I think it is a short sighted view of just what exactly this film is and what it has done for cinema as a whole. One certainly should watch it, and they would be remiss to write it off due to any sense of social "insensitivity", as they would be losing far more for modern culture than they would gain for moral stature. However, that's the beautiful thing about art. You can enjoy it, consume it, discuss it, dissect it, criticize it, and more. The only thing you should never do it ban or dismiss it. If you don't like it. Simply don't engage with it.

A: Do you have other favourite stop-motion films?

Yes, I'm a huge stop motion fan. To me O'Brien will always be the king, as I think Kong looms largest over all of the art form. However, Harryhausen is another favourite (himself a student of O'Brien, they even worked together on Mighty Joe Young, itself a direct descendant of Kong). So films like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Clash Of The Titans, Jason and The Argonauts, Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (itself the precursor to Godzilla), It Came From Beneath The Sea and many, MANY more are all very near and dear to my heart. Luckily for us the artform is still alive and well, with such modern offerings as Henry Selick's: The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and of course Coraline, which marked the birth of what I think is the greatest stop motion animation studio currently working today: Laika Animation Studios. If you haven't seen their incredible outpouring of work: ParaNorman, Kubo and The Two Strings, Boxtrolls, The Missing Link, and of course the aforementioned Coraline, you should stop reading this and just go watch one of their films. It's breathtaking work and how they are advancing the medium is truly stunning.

A: Yeah, it's great stuff -- I'm particularly fond of ParaNorman. Any comments on the return of Horrorshow? I'm very glad it's back. 

J: Horrorshow is back as a regular monthly event for the foreseeable future. It was shutdown due to the pandemic and I'm glad that I was finally able to get them back on board with the events. I highly encourage everyone to go and support the Hollywood 3 Cinema at all times, not only for Horrorshow. We need independent cinemas in our community. They are vitally important, and are our last bastion against only having mega corporations such as Cineplex, and to a lesser extent, Landmark, as our sole rulers of all cinema screens. I cherish going to the theater to see films the way they were intended to be seen, but the mass takeover of cinema screens by Cineplex and the like is a serious problem. Media and our access to the art held within shouldn't be a monopoly, but it's what we're seeing more and more these days, from our food stores to our movie houses to our film studios and of course our online connection. Independent companies are important. Independent cinemas are important. So, yes, I'm very proud to be back at the Hollywood 3 Cinema, I'm proud to be able to do these nights to share the films I love while also being able to highlight a unique and independent theater in my local area. Please, go support them, they truly need the help and we truly need them in our community!

A: Any gigs to plug? Will the Still Spirits be playing anytime soon? Are the Bone Daddies still active?

J: Currently no gigs. The Still Spirits are on hiatus until our lead singer/banjo player, Skiff, gets back from his deployment on Kuwait. In the meantime, I'm still playing solo shows, which I do whenever I don't have other gigs. You can follow me on instagram: @BonesJonny, I post there about what I'm up to. Follow The Still Spirits on all socials or music platforms of choice, we'll be back this spring/summer. The Bone Daddies are the same group of guys in the Spirits. We just didn't have time for both bands anymore, Spirits was getting more gigs and we were writing more songs in that style currently, but who knows, we may rise from the grave again sometime. We'll see. 

A: Ever write a song inspired by King Kong? You'd figure there would be a few of them, but I only know the Tom Waits cover of the Daniel Johnston song...

J: No, I have never written a song about King Kong. I did write one about Lovecraft's short story, "The Call Of Cthulhu," though. So that's fun. Come see me play a solo gig and maybe I'll play it sometime if you want to hear a sea shanty about monsters and madness! I think that's it mate. Cheers! Hope to see you tomorrow for the show! It's truly a marvelous film and if you've never had a change to see it on the big screen, I hope we can change that for ya. 

Follow Horrorshow on Facebook here; check out other listings for the Hollywood 3 Pitt Meadows here. See you in Pitt Meadows (film screens at 9:30).