Spoof movies like the gleefully outrageous gender-bending Queen Kong are a dime a dozen, but few share the crazy audacity that Queen Kong oozes during its 85-minute running time. Legend tells us that Queen Kong was produced at the same time that Dino de Laurentis was working on his epic King Kong remake and Queen Kong did much more than ruffle a few studio execs feathers at the time. Unseen by audiences across the globe for over 25-years, Retromedia has released Queen Kong onto DVD and it happens to serve as one of their finest looking DVD efforts to date.

After losing the lead actor in her jungle adventure, director Luce Habit (Rula Lenska) searches for a suitable cheesecake replacement. Upon her return to London, Luce discovers young and manly Ray Fay (Robin Askwith) easily convincing him to take the lead in her production. The crew then heads to the deepest darkest part of Africa into Lazanga - where they do the konga (one of the films longest running jokes). The crew happens upon a group of bikini clad Amazons (led by the always striking Valerie Leon) only to have Ray snatched right from their grip to be sacrificed by the lovely Amazons to Queen Kong. Ray is crammed into a cake to be served to Queen Kong who immediately takes an unnatural kinda liking to the beefy Ray (and who can blame her?).

With dollar signs in her eyes, Luce devises a plot to capture Queen Kong and turn her into a sideshow attraction in London (sound familiar?). One thing leads to another and Queen Kong manages an escape wreaking havoc on the city while Ray publicly expresses his thoughts on women's lib, encouraging all the ladies to come to Queen Kong's rescue. By the time all is said and done, we're treated to an outrageous feminist rally (with women holding up signs like Women Rule, OK) in support of Queen Kong as she freely hangs from atop of Big Ben.

Queen Kong stands as a truly outrageous spectacle that will likely leave many a viewer slack jawed and stupefied. It's outrageous b-movie fun that seems to miss the mark quite a bit, but in the end none of this will really matter to the die-hard b-movie fan. A lot of the humor is quite regional and/or topical to the times (quite a few moments verge on Benny Hill type humor), so over the heads of many viewers it may go - or it may just slip by as being irrelevant to some of today's viewers. Most comedic moments won't elicit more than a chuckle, but Queen Kong remains wholly entertaining for all of the b-movie goodness that it constantly exudes. Don't fret, because there's just as much recognizable or lowbrow humor to go around as well, including a few film parodies such as a bit poking fun at the Exorcist and another at Jaws.

Queen Kong is about a nutty as they come with every bit of craziness crammed in, even if it doesn't seem to always fit. There are a few impromptu musical numbers including the title inspired theme Queen Kong (She's a genie who ain't teeny, she's the queeny, queeny for my weenie) and the feminist tune Liberated Lady. This low budget production is loaded with special effects that range from the mildly amusing to the gloriously awful - from Queen Kong's huge picnic table and chair to the god awful (yet extremely amusing) battle between Queen Kong and a T-Rex. While the film is never overly dirty or sexual, there are all manners of politically incorrect humor (racial, ethnic you name it) thrown into the mix including some elements that would never be included in a film like this by today's PC standards.

Retromedia gets high marks for this release as they've provided us with an extremely attractive and clean transfer for Queen Kong that is sure to please. Print damage is minimal and colors are quite often sharp and vibrant, sometimes a bit bright or washed out, but quite pleasing nonetheless. This is easily one of Retromedia's most impressive transfers to date, very nice indeed. Audio is presented in a clean mono mix with relatively clear dialogue, music and effects.

Extras include a bizarre trailer along with a feature length audio commentary with Retromedia's head honcho Fred Olen Ray and director Frank Agrama. I have to give major props (whoop - whoop!) to Fred and Frank for providing a thoroughly entertaining audio commentary that I truly had a blast listening to. The commentary is very casual and light-hearted, but also very funny and informative, definitely an added value to this DVD purchase.

I enjoyed Queen Kong for reasons that may differ than what the filmmakers had originally intended, but this is not an all-together terrible thing. Queen Kong is a historically significant film and an enjoyable cheesecake romp with heaps of classic b-movie goodness thrown into the mix. There's nothing to be taken too seriously here, this one's just screaming to be played at your next b-movie night - and you certainly don't want to upset the Queen.