Movies Like The Ape (1940)

The Ape is a 1940 horror, mystery, science fiction film from William Nigh with a MovieMagicScore of 4.8/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Captive Wild Woman and Blood Monkey.

Horror Mystery Science Fiction

Captive Wild Woman

1943

An insane scientist doing experimentation in glandular research becomes obsessed with transforming a female gorilla into a human...even though it costs human life.

5.2

MagicScore

Blood Monkey

2007

Six American grad students have arrived in Africa to study apes with a renowned professor. But after setting up camp in a jungle clearing, they soon become witness to the carnage inflicted by the strange and remote species.

5.6

MagicScore

37 Seconds

2019

23-year-old comic book artist Yuma, physically disabled due to profound cerebral palsy and emotionally stunted by her well-meaning but overly protective mother, forges her own unusual path to sexual awakening and independence while at the same time discovering love and forgiveness.

7.2

MagicScore

Blood Salvage

1990

Twisted tale about a crazy, preaching redneck named Jake who kidnaps people off the highway and performs sick medical experiments on them. He then proceeds to sell their organs on the black market to Mr. Stone. Everything is fine until he kidnaps the handicapped April and finds that she is harder to control than the others.

5.5

MagicScore

Night of the Bloody Apes

1969

A surgeon transplants the heart of an ape into his ailing son with horrific results.

5.4

MagicScore

Horror Hospital

1973

Following his forced retirement from an appalling rock band, Jason decides to vacation at Brittlehouse Manor, a health farm run by the leather-gloved, ex-Nazi scientist Dr. Storm. Along the way, Jason meets Judy, also on her way to Brittlehouse Manor to visit her aunt, who married Dr. Storm some years ago. Once they arrive, the pair realise rather quickly that something is wrong, probably because the other guests have had their brains surgically removed, or all the blood pouring from the sink, or possibly just because the creepy midget keeps telling them to brush their teeth.

5.2

MagicScore

Island of Lost Souls

1932

An obsessed scientist conducts profane experiments in evolution, eventually establishing himself as the self-styled demigod to a race of mutated, half-human abominations.

6.9

MagicScore

The Man with Nine Lives

1940

Dr. Leon Kravaal develops a potential cure for cancer, which involves freezing the patient. But an experiment goes awry when authorities believe Kravaal has killed a patient. Kravaal freezes the officials, along with himself. Years later, they are discovered and revived in hopes that Kravaal can indeed complete his cure. But human greed and weakness compound to disrupt the project.

6.2

MagicScore

The Mad Ghoul

1943

A university chemistry professor experiments with an ancient Mayan gas on a medical student, turning the would-be surgeon into a murdering ghoul as part of a plan to steal his lover.

5.9

MagicScore

#10

House of Dracula

1945

A scientist working on cures for rare afflictions, such as a bone softening agent made from molds to allow him to correct the spinal deformity of his nurse, finds the physical causes of lycanthropy in wolf-man Larry Talbot and of vampirism in Count Dracula, but himself becomes afflicted with homicidal madness while exchanging blood with Dracula.

5.5

MagicScore

#11

The Head

1959

A scientist invents a serum that keeps a dog's head alive after its body dies. When the scientist dies of a heart attack, his crazed assistant cuts off his head and, using the serum, keeps the doctor's head alive and forces it to help him on an experiment to give his hunchbacked nurse assistant a new body.

4.9

MagicScore

#12

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

2008

Dr. Henry Jekyll is a well-regarded physician whose evenings are spent researching a rare and sacred Amazonian flower so potent it's said to literally separate the soul, giving life to man's Dark Self. The obsessive experiments to isolate its psychotropic properties happen to coincide with a series of brutal murders gripping the city with fear. Jekyll knows it's no coincidence. While his nights are lost to him, he awakens with bloody mementos and violent memories of the screams of his victims.

4.6

MagicScore

#13

Mad Doctor of Blood Island

1969

A man who loves to travel, travels to an island where a mad doctor is creating zombies.

4.0

MagicScore

#14

The Monster and the Girl

1941

After a young woman is coerced into prostitution and her brother framed for murder by an organized crime syndicate, retribution in the form of an ape visits the mobsters.

5.6

MagicScore

#15

Charlie Chan at the Circus

1936

While visiting the circus with his family, Charlie is recruited by the big top's co-owner to investigate threatening letters that he's received.

6.2

MagicScore

#16

Teenage Zombies

1959

A crazed scientist creates a nerve gas that turns the local teenagers into her unquestioning slaves.

3.5

MagicScore

#17

Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla

1952

The Singer Duke Mitchell meets Sammy Petrillo in this parody of Martin & Lewis. They arrive on a jungle island, where a mad scientist played by Bela Lugosi makes human experiments.

3.3

MagicScore

#18

Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam

1985

Evil baddie Dr. Otto Von-Schnick-ick-ick tries to take over the planet by first destroying all of our financial systems, collapsing the world's economy and sending populations across the globe into mass panic! Only one goody-goody can stop him.. or can he? The oblivious Lance Sterling is on the case! With the aid of his underappreciated assistant Doris, will Lance manage to save the day and defeat Doctor Otto before the mad scientist's megalomaniacal plan is fulfilled? Or will the villain succeed in distracting them to their doom with his many convincing costumes, courtesy of his own convenient Changing Coffin? Tune in to find out!

5.0

MagicScore

#19

The One and Only Ivan

2020

A gorilla named Ivan who’s living in a suburban shopping mall tries to piece together his past, with the help of other animals, as they hatch a plan to escape from captivity.

7.4

MagicScore

#20

Maniac

1934

An ex-vaudeville actor is working as the assistant to a doctor who has Frankenstein aspirations. The ex-vaudeville actor kills the doctor and decides to assume the identity of the dead physician.

3.8

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Ape?

The top films similar to The Ape by MovieMagicScore are Captive Wild Woman (5.2), Blood Monkey (5.6), 37 Seconds (7.2). Each shares horror/mystery/science fiction themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Ape worth watching?

The Ape holds a MovieMagicScore of 4.8/10 from 40 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is The Ape?

The Ape (1940) is a horror, mystery, science fiction film directed by William Nigh, starring Boris Karloff, Maris Wrixon, Gene O'Donnell.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Ape?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more horror recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Captive Wild Woman Movies like Blood Monkey Movies like 37 Seconds Movies like Blood Salvage Movies like Night of the Bloody Apes Movies like Horror Hospital

About movies like The Ape

This ranked list pairs The Ape (1940), a horror and mystery and science fiction film from William Nigh, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Boris Karloff take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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