the island, likely survived island's sinking by flying to safety. Styracosaurus: a gigantic dinosaur that chases Charlie, Englehorn, and Helstrom into a cave, and later drowned when the island sank. The stop-motion model was originally used in test-filming for, but not included in, "King Kong". Triceratops: a gigantic dinosaur in a deleted scene, which later drowned when the island sank. This was another stop-motion model that was originally used in test-filming for, but not included in, "King Kong". Cave bear: a gigantic prehistoric mammal that chases Denham and Hilda, which is fought and forced away by "Little Kong", and which later drowned when the island sank. Nothosaurus: a prehistoric reptile that attacks Denham, Hilda and "Little Kong" after they uncover the treasure, and which is killed by "Little Kong". Elasmosaurus: a gigantic prehistoric aquatic reptile that attacks and kills Helstrom when he attempts to escape in the lifeboat, likely survived when the island sank by being a marine creature. The scene of the Elasmosaurus snapping its jaws is similar to the Brontosaurus snapping-jaws scene in "King Kong". Brontosaurus: a gigantic dinosaur that appears roaring during the earthquake and storm, before drowning when the island sank. The stop-motion model was also originally used in "King Kong". Release Home media The Son of Kong was released on VHS by Nostalgia Merchant in the 1980s and again in 1991 by Turner Home Entertainment. In 2005 it received a DVD release and was available both by itself and as part of a collector's set alongside King Kong (1933) and Mighty Joe Young (1949), with commentary by Ray Harryhausen. In the UK and in Italy it was released on DVD in 2010. In 2014 it was featured on Warner Archive Instant, a streaming service dedicated to the classic films and animation properties owned by Time Warner, Inc. Warner Bros released a Blu-ray version on October 27, 2015. Reception Critical response The film received mixed reviews. In the New York Times review of the film, they described it as a "low melodrama with a number of laughs" that were deemed to be satisfying, though they added that the vision of comedy by the producers would be open to discussion. Variety described it as "fair entertainment". Among modern critics, review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes reported that 42% have given the film a positive review based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 4.90 out of 10.