A granite-jawed hero sets out to rescue a damsel in distress from a mad scientist deep in the jungles of Nairobi, in this low-budgeter that throws in a little something for everyone.

This picture begins like a gangster flick with four guys returning from a bank job. They are immediately set upon by their partner, Albert , who kills them all with his new gang (which he promptly disposes of after shooting his old gang). Turns out he left one guy alive, Burt. This was a huge mistake, as Burt has the memory of an elephant and the physique of one of those guys who played Hercules in those 1960s flicks.

Burt tracks Albert to Nairobi, where he renews his acquaintance with an old friend, Robert, and his sister, Diane. The pair invite him on an adventure to seek out the “Sacred Monkey.” Burt only has eyes for Albert, though, and he pooh-poohs this interesting side venture. This turns out to be a big mistake, as the group is attacked by radio-controlled gorillas who make off with Diane. Burt decides to rescue Diana when her dad offers him a wad of cash (he may be tough and buff, but he is no dummy).

The new safari goes straight to where the old one got held up. They are also set upon by the gorillas. Everyone is run off or killed and now Burt is on his own. Luckily, he runs into a “Jungle Girl’ who provides him with food and even folds his shirt. She is also rocking some jewelry of Diane’s, so Burt manages to convey to her that he is searching for the missing girl.

She leads him to Albert’s jungle camp and it is quite the set-up. It appears to be a cave, but it has been hollowed out and hooked up with electricity. Now it sports a laboratory complete with giant mechanical brain that controls gorillas via radio signals (those gorillas aren’t going to control themselves). Burt is able to free himself, thanks to Jungle Girl, and he even frees the gorillas by shooting the mechanical brain. Albert takes off but soon finds that his gorillas have a last bit of business they want to square away with him.

This is a fun slice of cheese thanks to slipshod production values and the worst dubbing job this side of a kung-fu flick. The jungle scenes are 50 percent stock footage, so you are left wondering if any of these so-called thespians ever got to actually see the Dark Continent. The music is terrible, unless you’re that one guy who likes riding in elevators for the tunes.

The cast is mostly unknown, except for a couple of Americans in key roles. Brad Harris top lines as Burt. He may be from Idaho, but he made his film career in Italy, where he started out in Hercules films. He even drops his shirt a few times here to thank the ladies for enduring the movie. Marc Lawrence is also on hand as Albert. He had a huge Hollywood career as gangsters and bad guys. He lived to be 95 and made his last appearance as an ACME board member in 2003’s “Looney Tunes: Back in Action.”

Spoiler alert: Jungle Girl turns out to be the Sacred Monkey, who knew?

This movie may be cheap but it is also economical and can be found in several boxed sets that won’t set you back more than 10 bucks.

1968, unrated.

Best lines

• “You know, I can hardly wait to find out if there is a Sacred Monkey.”

• “You’ll have the honor of being the first man to become my slave.”

• “Are you the Sacred Monkey? What is your name? My name is Burt.”