BA_Harrison Michael Conrad (Michael Gough) is the tyrannical owner of a successful private zoo that would give today's PETA activists a coronary, with wild cats in cramped cages, and a chimpanzee theatre-the act of Michael's downtrodden wife Edna (Jeanne Cooper)-that sees the chimps dressed in clothes and forced to perform circus tricks, the show culminating with one of the poor primates being rewarded with a cigarette. Amazingly, Conrad is convinced that he is treating the zoo's attractions with love and respect, and even belongs to a cult of animal worshippers who believe in soul transferrence. Clearly off his rocker, the zoo owner uses his obedient beasts to kill anyone that might threaten their way of life, sending a tiger to pounce on a snoopy reporter, a lion to maul a pushy property developer, and getting his gorilla (played unconvincingly by a man in an ape suit) to bash in the skull of Jenny Brooks, an entertainment agent who offers a circus job to her friend Edna. When Edna learns of Jenny's death and finally realises the true extent of Conrad's cruelty, she decides to skedaddle, convincing Conrad's mute son Carl (Rod Lauren) to join her. Of course, Conrad isn't about to let that happen if he can help it...To put it simply, Michael Gough makes this film. The actor goes so over the top in his performance as the bitch-slapping, lion-hugging maniac that he takes the film into camp territory, making it a whole lot of fun despite the somewhat trite set-up. Gough chews up the scenery and spits it out with relish, his hammy histrionics hugely entertaining, with his meal-time altercation with Edna being particularly memorable, the argument resulting in a hilarious spot of casserole hurling!Other highlights include Conrad inviting his big cats into his study where he entertains them with his organ (oo-err!), the zoo owner dealing with a sadistic employee by feeding him to a lion, and the eerie night-time funeral of Conrad's beloved tiger Baron.7.5/10, rounded up to 8 for the completely pointless but welcome inclusion of three pretty young art students who come to the zoo to draw the animals.

Scott LeBrun The deliciously theatrical Brit thespian Michael Gough is at his scenery devouring best in the role of Michael Conrad, owner of a private zoo that specializes in big cats. Michael is insanely devoted to these creatures, and is also mad enough to sic them on any nuisance in his life - including an extremely pesky realtor (Jerome Cowan). He keeps his wife Edna (Jeanne Cooper, 'The Young and the Restless') and mute employee Carl (Rod Lauren, "The Crawling Hand") completely under his thumb, to boot.Very nicely shot in Panavision by Floyd Crosby, the man who was who doing such exemplary work on those Roger Corman Poe pictures during this time, "Black Zoo" is decent, but that's mostly due to Gough. Overall, director Robert Gordon ("It Came from Beneath the Sea"), working from the script by Aben Kandel and producer Herman Cohen, just doesn't make this that much fun. It might have helped if the animals had been let loose upon a couple more victims; as it is, the story is only mildly entertaining most of the time. Still, there's camp value in the presence of an obvious "man in a costume" styled gorilla (played by George Barrows), the absurdly touching funeral for one of the big cats, and in the laughable meeting of a cult of cat worshipers called The True Believers - a definite highlight of silliness. And those felines appear to be extremely well trained.Unlike Gough, much of the cast is required to play it straight, and it is delightful to see such familiar faces as "Maltese Falcon" cast members Cowan and Elisha Cook Jr., Edward Platt ('Get Smart'), lovely Marianna Hill ("Messiah of Evil", "Blood Beach"), Byron Morrow ("Colossus: The Forbin Project"), and Warrene Ott ("The Undertaker and His Pals").This is fairly enjoyable schlock that might play well alongside another Cohen-Gough collaboration, "Konga".Six out of 10.

Ted Newsom This was actually the first time George Barrow himself worked for Herman Cohen. The first time out, KONGA, Barrows sent his ape suit over to London. When it returned the worse for wear, he decided he'd never do it again. BLACK ZOO was shot in Hollywood. For producer Cohen to have arranged for a foreign actor to come to Hollywood and take a job that could have been done by any number if US actors must've been quite an argument to both SAG and the Imigration Department. "Sirs, you must understand, my script calls for the zoo keeper to be the maddest, most outlandish, least subtle character ever to grace the movie screen. We just don't have an actor anywhere in the country who can do this. There is no one n the world who can out-mug Mr. Gough. I know, I've used him twice, and every time he gets bigger and badder."

BaronBl00d Welcome to the Michael Gough School of Dramatic Acting where subtlety is as foreign as class is for Roseanne Barr. Gough teams up with producer Herman Cohen for one more time(previously making Horrors of the Black Museum and Konga together). The result is a fun if not flawed film. Gough plays Michael Conrad the owner of Conrad's Animal Kingdom and one man accustomed to getting his way in life. Seems to also have quite a good relationship with his zoo pals, especially the big cats: a lion, a lioness, a pair of cheetahs, a tiger, a black panther, and also a fake looking gorilla(George Barrows AGAIN!). Gough plays organ music to his animal friends in his living room, belongs to a cult group of animal worshipers, and uses his friends to kill any personages that get in his way. To say Gough overacts is an incredible understatement. He bellows his lines with ferocity in scenes that do not need such vigour, but he is always fun to watch. The film is really very interesting as the cats are real and they have been trained very nicely. The acting, aside from Gough, is uniformly good with a nice performance turned in by Rod Lauren(The Crawling Hand) as a mute assistant forced to aid Gough. Jeane Cooper is lovely and does well as Gough's wife, and the character acting of Elisha Cook, Ed Platt, Virginia Grey, and Jerome Cowan all enhance the film. Make no mistake though, even though he wildly overacts, Gough is the film's main attraction. You have to look a ways to find a more over-the-top performance and a bigger slice of ham! The film also boats a wonderful scene where a tiger gets buried. Amidst the swirling fogs and moody backdrops, Gough, with mute assistant and wife, gives a eulogy before all the big cats. Effectively eerie.