The Monkey

What's this then? Modern horror, I guess. Or just another addition to the relatively recent spate of animal-titled films: The Lobster, The Crow, The Whale, Pig, Lamb, First Cow, Black Dog, Red Dog, Dog Man, Monkey Man, Wolf Man, Cuckoo, Cocaine Bear, and Hundreds of Beavers. Whatever the reason for its existence, this Stephen King adaptation is a curious beast.

Osgood Perkins (son of old Norman Bates himself, Anthony Perkins) writes and directs here. He also has a pretty funny cameo. The story starts with a bloke in a pilot's uniform (Adam Scott) trying to sell a windup drumming monkey toy (DON'T CALL IT A TOY!!). A bloody event occurs, not for the last time in the movie. Cut to 1999 where we meet Hal Shelburn and his twin, Bill (both played by Christian Convery), who live with their mother, Lois (an in-form Tatiana Maslany).

The pilot of the opening scene is the dad/hubby who has done a runner, leaving the cursed monkey for the lads to find (though, to be fair, we find out later this entity has a way of reappearing). So, of course, the monkey silently inveigles itself into their lives and, after several suspiciously visceral incidents, we cut to 25 years later. 

Hal and Bill are now estranged and we learn that Hal has a teenage son, but only sees him once a year. During one of these annual visitations, Hal gets a call from Bill who tells him the monkey is back (they had tried to vanquish it all those years ago). A reckoning beckons.

There's an attempt at thematic metaphor in that the sons inherit violence from the father but this is given short shrift. It's not the worst premise - though it's also nothing new - and the performances are fine (adult Hal and Bill are played respectively earnestly and maniacally, by Theo James). But the crucial issue is one of pacing and tone. I found this extremely dull. Maybe I'm not the target audience but I prefer my horror comedies to be scary or funny, or ideally, both. I almost fell asleep in this screening. 

There are whole swathes of the film where nothing much happens, and when there are 'unusual' deaths, they're not really earnt. Something of a similar 'el cheapo' genre like Violent Night played these scenes with more skill and verve, as well as allowing the audience a satisfying, albeit naff, pay-off. The Monkey doesn't know if it's going fully creepshow, or ludicrous shits and giggles, and therefore doesn't quite sit on either stool.

I'm sure Perkins has better on his resume (Longlegs was well reviewed, but I'm yet to see that) and like I said, maybe I don't fit the demographic, but honestly, making a genre film this boring is pretty unforgivable.

The Monkey opens Feb 20th around Australia.

See also:

As far as murderous inanimate objects go, the killer car tyre in Quentin Dupieux's Rubber (2010) was kooky fun, and I remember having a nightmare after watching Eliot Silverstein's The Car (1977) when I was a kid.