Osgood Perkins' followup to Longlegs, The Monkey, is batsh*t crazy is the most hilarious and bloody way possible. Horror fans are in for a wicked treat.
The Monkey Review
If Final Destination, Shaun of the Dead, and Quentin Tarantino had a movie baby this would be it. Following up on one of the biggest horror hits of the 2020s, director and writer Osgood Perkins is back, this time teaming up with two kings of horror – James Wan and Stephen King – to bring genre fans The Monkey. As a longtime King reader, I've seen many adaptations of his wonderfully creepy and telling stories. Some have been great, iconic in their own right, while others… not so much. Book adaptations are difficult regardless of the content. However, King's approach to darkness and light, the way the two intertwine in our lives, as well as his knack for conjuring images that will haunt you for a lifetime, make it extremely difficult to replicate outside the pages of the book. Perkins however understood the assignment, maintaining King's macabre humor and penchant for vivid butchery from start to bloody finish.
The Monkey is batsh*t crazy in the most hilarious and gory way possible. It never shies away from the ridiculousness of the story – a toy monkey as a harbinger of death – and never disappoints with the creativity of the kills or its deadpan humor. It's insanely entertaining while also ensuring creepy clowns aren't the only thing you're going to hate about circus imagery by the end. Just like the monkey itself, the film is creepy as hell but also intriguing enough that you can't help but watch, excited to see what happens next (and who the unlucky victim will be). And in this story, no one is safe. They took their tagline, everybody dies seriously, even if the ways they meet their ends are anything but.
Like any good horror film, The Monkey opens with a scene that sets the tone for the carnage that will follow. Before the title is even shown, a desperate man, covered in blood, is trying in vain to dispose of a “don't call it a toy” monkey holding a drum. Naturally, the other unfortunate man in the scene shrugs off his talks of unnatural death. That's when the monkey begins playing its drum and we just know something awful is coming. Fast forward to 1990s New England and we find out the monkey is alive (?) and well, set to spread more destruction as the next generation unwittingly turns its key.
That man from the prologue had a family. His twin sons Hal and Bill Shelburn (played in their teens by Christian Convery) couldn't be more different. Hal is smart, quiet, and timid while Bill is a proud bully. The only thing they have in common is their love for their mother, Lois (Tatiana Maslany), a snarky, lively woman who has an interesting outlook on life and death. When the boys discover the monkey amongst their father's possessions, “freak accidents” begin happening to those around them. 25 years later, adult Hal (Theo James) has lived a pretty lonely life out of fear that the cursed toy will hurt anyone he cares for. But that didn't stop him from having a son Petey (Colin O'Brien) whom he only sees once a year. During their yearly visitation, another “accident” occurs proving that the monkey has returned. Hal is forced to reunite with Bill in an attempt to stop the monkey from claiming anymore lives.
Perkins' Longlegs was an unnerving, serious serial-killer thriller whose villain (Nicholas Cage) was gradually revealed for maximized disconcertment. And this time around, Perkins is taking a drastically different approach. It's unabashedly campy, splattering blood in ways that would make The Splat Pack proud, as the monkey terrorizes its way around a small town. It's clear Perkins wants you to laugh at just how insane these murders are rather than be scared. And although some are played purely for laughs there are a few that are actually quite gut wrenching. Those are the little reminders that despite the chaos and the cheerleading for Death, there are very human stakes at the center of this story. The gruesome scenes never overstay their welcome, keeping the plot zipping along to the beat of its own drum. In a way that speaks to how death can come for you at any time while also having you anticipate what background object will kill someone next.
The Monkey is never bogged down by any lore, no need for heavy exposition to explain the how's and why's behind its demonic presence. Perkins simply veers away from unnecessary dialogue and allows the viscera flying to drive home the point: monkey bad. Cinematographer Nico Aguilar along with editors Graham Fortin and Greg Ng employ interesting camera angles and cuts to elevate the monkey's terrifying presence. Whether you see him directly in frame, hearing the clicking of his gears, or he slowly comes into focus with those uncanny eyes, the monkey is creepy as hell.
The deadpan humor and the beating heart would not work without a cast fully committed to the bit. Most of this falls on James' shoulders who pulls double duty as both Hal and Bill. These two are wildly different characters, one is a mousy, deadbeat dad, for a good reason while the other clearly never grew up or worked through his trauma, making him completely unhinged. James manages to melt into the roles, trading his English accent and handsome persona for glasses and a mullet. Hal's chagrin at the carnage is hilarious, as if cleaning up more blood is somehow worse than what happened to the person in front of him. Bill is one crayon short of a full box, becoming an incarnation of what we all assume those creepy online conspiracy theorists look like. Whatever he's doing on screen, James looks like he is having a lot of fun with the material. Maslany though is a scene-stealer as the boys' mother, utilizing each moment she has to leave a lasting impression.
Verdict
The Monkey is a batsh*t crazy good time that is not only dripping with dark humor but also is one of the goriest films we've seen in a long time. It balances the blood with the laughs, for an irresistibly outrageous story that holds strong from the first absurd kill to the last. Theo James is excellent in his dual roles, perfectly acting against himself. Perkins' manages to infuse spectacle into the grim aesthetic he established in Longlegs, making the two mash together seamlessly. Horror comedy can be difficult to balance but Perkins proves he has what it takes to deftly handle them both, as easily as the monkey made those freak accidents happen. With a third film on the way, it's exciting to imagine what Perkins' will subject us to next.
The Monkey drums into theaters February 21. It is rated R for strong bloody violent content, gore, language throughout and some sexual references with a runtime of 98 minutes.
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