FILM REVIEW: ‘The Monkey’ is a gory Stephen King delight

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — “Longlegs” director Osgood Perkins returns to the big screens with a Stephen King co-written story about a killer Monkey “artifact” found by two twin brothers in their late fathers’ closet. The Monkey has supernatural and violent tragedies tied to any time someone “winds him up”. Time passes and the boys, now grown up, are revisited by this entity and will have to try destroying it for good… but can they before the last drum of The Monkey destroys them?

Theo James is playing dual characters with twins Bill and Hal and does a great job of differentiating them. Hal is a very cautious and lonely man, only allowing himself time with his son once a year. He’s paranoid of the horror that can be unleashed if he stays with anyone for an amount of time. Bill is mostly explored in his youth, as a bully to Hal that seems to enjoy the cruelty. There are some pretty funny moments with adult Bill and Hal, but I do wish we got to see more of them together.

In flashback scenes, we’re introduced to Bill and Hal’s mother Lois played by Tatiana Maslany. This is where we get a lot of Stephen King’s writing and signature character types that work well with director Osgood Perkins. Tatiana Maslany gives a great performance here and I think she is one of the great actors of her generation. She is playing a mother who tells it like it is, maybe too morbidly at times but loves her kids. Lois has a few interesting lines of dialogue about mortality and is featured in one of the best moments in the film.

The majority of screentime with Theo James is with his son, played by Colin O’Brien. This is what to me is the weakest point of the film because I couldn’t buy this relationship. I understand the need for Hal to have someone he cares about and Colin was great in “Wonka”, but their chemistry here felt forced and might have been better suited with his ex-wife played by Tess Degenstein, and her partner played by Elijah Wood. They both only have one scene in the film and it’s a shame because Elijah Wood’s character was interesting and could’ve had more.

What makes “The Monkey” so fun is its unseriousness. The reactions to people being chopped up, blown up, or any of the other creatively fun ways people perish in the film are deadpan and intentionally comedic. I love the gore and there is lots of it. There was a fun level of anticipation in my screening every time The Monkey wound up and started drumming, as you know someone will die, but you have no idea in some scenes who or what will be their demise. The kills feel similar to “Final Destination”, mixed with the silliness of the original “Scary Movie”, except more elevated and less satirical. Did the jokes always land? Towards the end not really, but the ones that do are so random and silly I can’t help but laugh.

The design of The Monkey is uber creepy. It all looked to be practical and mechanically functioning, I’d be curious how they designed the smile, and specifically the way Osgood Perkins focuses in on the eyes is so uncomfortable but trance-like that you can’t look away from it.

Overall, “The Monkey” is a great time in the theaters for horror fans and non-horror fans alike. If you don’t like blood or gore it might be worth skipping, but if you love dark comedies with a unique style as well as writing by the great Stephen King, then this is worth watching in a packed theater.

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