The Monkey

'The Monkey' has a great concept and I enjoyed the wacky nature of it, I did almost lose interest in the human characters towards the end though. That isn't the best sign given the short 90 minute run time, but the end does come when desired so that saves it.

Theo James is pretty good in this, for sure the most I've liked seeing him. I haven't seen him act much (five films now), my main thought of him is actually with human excrement up his nose (yep) in 'The Inbetweeners Movie'... hopefully this performance will override that memory (it won't).

The gore shown for all the titular character's escapades is very cool and rather creative to be honest, the 'freak accident' angle is a fun one to watch play out onscreen. Everything with the red-eyed fellow is definitely what makes this movie, as it ought to really. A stronger overall story and I probably would've loved it.

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://movieswetextedabout.com/the-monkey-review-a-chaotic-blend-of-tones-and-genres-that-misses-the-mark/

"The Monkey teeters between ingenuity and frustration. Osgood Perkins crafts moments of inspiration and gets the best out of a solid cast, but the lack of a cohesive identity prevents its erratic blend of tones and genres from reaching its true potential.

For some, this chaotic, blood-soaked mix of horror, satire, family drama, and comedy will feel refreshing and daring; for others, it will be simply exasperating and disorienting.

Personally, it didn't work... at all."

Rating: C-

This takes for ever to get going and once it does, it’s really an unoriginal semi-comedic horror drama centred around yet another not-so-menacing puppet. This time, it’s squabbling brothers “Hal” and “Bill” who discover an old hat box after their father dies and in it is what looks like a toy monkey. They wind it up and next thing, their babysitter is no more and that’s the just the start of it’s malevolence. Putting two and two together, they decide it’s best to drop the thing down a well and get on with growing up. Scoot on years later and now “Hal” (Theo James) has a son of his own “Petey” (Colin O’Brien) and is trying to rebuild some bridges with him after his marriage collapsed. Equally estranged is his twin, so he’s not impressed when, out of the blue, he is called and told their aunt has died. He now has to drag the reluctant lad along to the home they grew up in and guess what is in the wardrobe? At times it’s quite funny, but I’m not sure how intentional that is as James delivers a seriously flat performance and the epitome of sibling rivalries involves a frankly risible degree of menace. It’s not that the idea is rubbish, though it is derivative, it’s that the acting and writing are poor and the scenarios - familial discord, new stepdad (Elijah Wood) etc. are all just too predictable and it provides virtually nothing new over a lacklustre one hundred minutes. I could certainly think of a few good uses for the chimp, though!

What a Deliciously Gory and Most Horrific intro to the film, just simple beauty. This has to be the Silliest Horror film I've seen since "Army of Darkness," and I'm assuming the silly "Goosebumps" + Gore will get more creative and intense. A Satisfyingly Hilarious Gory film and a must-see for fans of Comedic Horror.

"The Monkey" is by turns amusing, startling, unexpectedly humorous and unashamedly great fun. It will leave you in a head spinning state of comical disbelief at what you have just witnessed. It is superb how it effortlessly wrecks all manner of havoc and becomes increasingly bizarre and undeniably gross every time the creepy looking cursed monkey toy starts playing its drum. This exhilarating exercise in bad taste will certainly be disagreeable for those people with weak stomachs whereas for the rest of us more hardy souls it is invigorating to watch a film which is so resolutely steadfast in its determination to push against and blatantly defy the restraints of decorum and good taste to give us such a wonderfully enjoyable and gore drenched guilty pleasure.

(CASTELLANO)

Hay películas que a los diez minutos ya te han enseñado exactamente qué quieren ser, y esta es una de ellas. Un mono de juguete inquietante, una cadena de muertes absurdas y grotescas, humor negro, sangre a chorros y la sensación constante de que la muerte puede aparecer de la forma más ridícula posible. La idea funciona. De hecho, durante bastante rato me lo pasé bien. Osgood Perkins toma el relato de Stephen King y lo lleva hacia un terreno mucho más gamberro que terrorífico, casi como si Destino final hubiera decidido reírse de sí misma. Hay algo liberador en esa falta de solemnidad: aquí la muerte llega, hace una barbaridad y continúa. El problema es que una buena ocurrencia no siempre aguanta una película entera.

El mono, eso sí, funciona de maravilla como presencia. Tiene algo profundamente desagradable incluso cuando no está haciendo nada. No necesita moverse demasiado ni enseñar grandes trucos: basta con verlo ahí, esperando, con esa expresión inmóvil, para que la escena ya tenga mal rollo. Perkins entiende muy bien ese poder visual y juega con él, igual que juega con los encuadres, los cortes bruscos y la anticipación de unas muertes que casi nunca ocurren como uno espera. Algunas son tan exageradas que dejan de dar miedo y entran directamente en lo cómico. Y ahí está buena parte de la gracia: no pretende que suframos por cada cadáver, sino que nos preguntemos hasta dónde va a llevar la siguiente barbaridad. Hay momentos en los que esa mezcla funciona estupendamente y uno se ríe casi con mala conciencia.

Por eso la comparación con Destino final me parece inevitable. No porque las historias sean iguales, sino por esa lógica de fatalidad en la que sabes que algo horrible va a ocurrir y el verdadero juego consiste en descubrir cómo. Hay muertes ingeniosas, otras directamente delirantes y alguna que me hizo reír precisamente por lo excesiva que resulta. Esa mezcla de gore y comedia negra es, con diferencia, lo mejor de la película. Theo Ja...