Deep in the Latin American jungles, plantation manager Barney Chavez (Burr) kills his elderly employer in order to get to his beautiful wife Dina Van Gelder (Payton). However, old native witch Al-Long (Gisela Werbisek) witnesses the crime and puts a curse on Barney, who soon after finds himself turning nightly into a rampaging gorilla-like beast. When a wise but superstitious police commissioner Taro (Chaney) is brought in to investigate the plantation owner's death and a rash of strange animal killings, he begins to suspect that all is not as it seems. Taro interviews local farmers who have seen the bloodthirsty animal; they identify it as the "Sukara," a mythical jungle demon resembling a gorilla. Meanwhile, Dina is also becoming suspicious of Barney, who seems to be more in love with the jungle than with her. She follows him one night into the jungle, only to be attacked by the feral Barney. Taro and his friend Dr. Viet (Conway) follow her screams in the jungle and shoot Barney. Before he dies, Barney peers into his reflection from a pond and sees sukara staring back at him.
The film was shot in 10 days. Edward G. Robinson Jr. was originally cast in the film but was fired by the producers after his arrest for writing a bad check for $138 to the Laguna Beach Garage. The gorilla of the movie's title only appears in the last few minutes of the film. The film's working title was The Face in the Water. Curt Siodmak considered switching the roles of Lon Chaney Jr. and Raymond Burr, but because of Chaney's deteriorating appearance, the idea was dropped.[citation needed]
