The Monkey, a fresh new take on Stephen King’s short story hit theaters on Feb. 21, and it is one of the better horror comedy movies out there right now.
The film follows a set of twin brothers who stumbled upon a toy monkey that ends up being the cause of random shocking deaths around them.
The film stands strong and steady being on the shorter end at about an hour and 30 minutes long.
It was paced very well and you can spend enough time with different characters to understand their motives without it feeling like a drag, as well as maintaining a specific tone that stays consistent throughout the film.
The film holds a significant message that death is inevitable and inescapable.
Something to also note is that deadbeat fathers were a constant throughout the film.
The two main brothers have a father who left them, as well as another character we meet, Ricky, and lastly the son of Hal, our main character.
It’s something subtle and hard to catch at first watch, but by paying more attention, we see the way it affects them in different ways.
Compared to other horror films out currently, most notably Heart Eyes, the film smoothly maintains the horror comedy dynamic far better by having an authentic script, which makes the dialogue feel fitting, and gives life to these characters.
Compared to the previously mentioned Heart Eyes, which feels slightly studio-esque in the way that it was produced and made.
It seems as though horror films are embracing more gore incorporated throughout films, but we see the different ways each movie approaches it.
Horror films in the modern era tend to one-up each other when it comes to gore and kills, most of which involve an attempt at making everything more realistic.
However, The Monkey does the complete opposite and tries to make the kills as unrealistic as possible, which ends up being so shocking it’s almost hilarious.
In an interview with the director, Osgood Perkins, he says that he deliberately wrote every death to be as unrealistic as possible.
Watching the film, you see how successful he was at bringing that idea to the screen.
From having a head be cut clean off with a small hibachi knife, to literally blowing up after leaping into an electrified pool.
It’s very clear what Perkins meant when he said he wanted the kills to be the most absurd thing you’ve ever seen.
Theo James did a great job playing two different roles in the film who were inherently complete opposites.
Overall, the film is fun to watch but can also give you something to think about once you leave the theatre.
It’ll leave you thinking about your family and understanding that nobody is gonna live forever.
