Panther Girl of the Kongo

One of the very last of the storied Republic Pictures cliffhanger serials, Panther Girl of the Kongo debuted in 1955 as a loose follow-up to the same studio's 1941 Edgar Rice Burroughs adaptation Jungle Girl. The title character is a leggy buckskin-clad adventuress (Phyllis Coates, whose stunt double does some impressive acrobatic vine-swinging) who is determined to get on film the "devil beasts" that are suddenly terrorizing her section of Africa. The "claw monsters" are actually common crustaceans, turned into giants by a local evil scientist to scare intruders away from a diamond mine. The scientist's henchmen fight running battles with the good guys, amid interpolations of loads of stock footage and Jungle Girl clips. Trick scenes of crawfish filmed in close-up amidst dollhouse-sized props aren't the best serial f/x, but they're not the worst either; much the same could be said for the characterizations of the "African" natives who are friend and foe alike to the Panther Girl. The innocent, naïve charm here partially compensates for the weak/clunky plot and budget-minded antics. A strong optional purchase. (C. Cassady)