Despite the lurid title, this isn’t a long-lost horror B-movie, but rather an engaging Italian picture from Marco Ferreri, the director of the classic La Grande Bouffe (1973) and the criminally underseen (at least these days) The Last Woman (1976).
Ugo Tognazzi plays Antonio, a grifter who is presenting a slideshow about missionaries in Africa at a convent. In the kitchens, while mooching some food, he meets Maria (Annie Girardot) a shy orphan who suffers from hypertrichosis, causing her to have hair growing all over her body. Antonio sees money to be made and convinces the nuns to let Maria come home with him. It’s not long before he’s displaying her as an ape woman discovered in Africa. Their relationship develops more than either would imagine, though.
However you approach The Ape Woman, either as a satire on misogyny or as a bizarre piece of exploitation itself, there’s no denying that Ferreri’s film is a marvellous achievement. There are massive jumps of logic – particularly for modern audiences – that border on the surreal, but it’s still touching, amusing, and utterly enthralling.
The Blu-ray release from Cult Films is packed with bonus features that give insight to the movie and the director. There is also the alternate version of the film, which is essential viewing since it has a completely different outcome to the proceedings. Usually, changed endings can negatively affect the viewing experience, but this one actually complements the original in a multiverse kind of way.
