yes it does not hold up on a second watch but i still have allot of fun with this film, its good gory fun.
(also watch my newest film https://boxd.it/VbxI )
The Monkey
Everybody dies. And that's fucked up.
Rating
3.5 (3)
Release Date
2/10/2025Runtime
98 minsOverview
When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy.
How It Feels
Read from this film's synopsis, keywords and credits, and used to work out what it sits beside.
A grotesque family tragedy wrapped in pitch-black comedy, where an innocent toy becomes the instrument of escalating, body-horror mayhem across two timelines. It's a film that finds dark humor in the absolute worst outcomes, then forces its characters, and you, to sit with the devastation underneath.
Mood
AbsurdDread-soakedMournful
Themes
FamilyGriefMortalityObsession
Pacing
Brisk
Look
Stylized genreHigh-contrast
Structure
Framed flashback
Heads up
Graphic violenceBody horror
Recent Reviews
I see the problems, every complaint everybody has had with the monkey is justified but with that said im a sucker for shlocky and weird horror movies.
It has allot less practical effects then i expected wich is kinda dissapointing.
I love the design of the titular monkey.
I don't really like the final destination movies but somehow i liked this, probably cause i enjoy the directing style of osgood perkins but this far weaker then longlegs in writing and direction because while i just said that, the monkey's tone is all over the place.
Straight off the success of last year's <I>Longlegs</i>, Oz Perkins delivers another dark horror hit with <I>The Monkey</i>, a film based on a Stephen King short story.
Where the film lacked in dialog, mostly monotone voiceovers, it made up quickly with creative, dark kills, which grew more brutal as the film moved on. The gore factor was fine, even better than expected, but the characters needed more depth, and it ultimately didn't deliver throughout. I didn't like that they just casually strolled through while all hell broke loose around them, and acted as if it's (the random accidents/kills) a normal occurrence. Still, as a result, a decent watch as Perkins continues to be a director to keep your eyes on.
<B>Final thoughts</b>:
Keep beating that drum.
I like my horror movies to be heavy on the comedy, but this is a comedy with splashes of horror. Literal splashes, if you know what I mean. I like that though, so I mean it complimentarily. The easy comparison is Final Destination, except the kills here are so quick and specific that it didn't leave me with any new phobias like FD always did.
Tatiana Maslany is wonderful as always, and this performance made me especially want to see her in some dark comedies or a Tim Burton movie. It's always fun to have Elijah Wood. Theo James was solid as the lead, but I'm not sure why they gave one twin such a bad haircut.
Popular Reviews
yes it does not hold up on a second watch but i still have allot of fun with this film, its good gory fun.
(also watch my newest film https://boxd.it/VbxI )
I see the problems, every complaint everybody has had with the monkey is justified but with that said im a sucker for shlocky and weird horror movies.
It has allot less practical effects then i expected wich is kinda dissapointing.
I love the design of the titular monkey.
I don't really like the final destination movies but somehow i liked this, probably cause i enjoy the directing style of osgood perkins but this far weaker then longlegs in writing and direction because while i just said that, the monkey's tone is all over the place.
Straight off the success of last year's <I>Longlegs</i>, Oz Perkins delivers another dark horror hit with <I>The Monkey</i>, a film based on a Stephen King short story.
Where the film lacked in dialog, mostly monotone voiceovers, it made up quickly with creative, dark kills, which grew more brutal as the film moved on. The gore factor was fine, even better than expected, but the characters needed more depth, and it ultimately didn't deliver throughout. I didn't like that they just casually strolled through while all hell broke loose around them, and acted as if it's (the random accidents/kills) a normal occurrence. Still, as a result, a decent watch as Perkins continues to be a director to keep your eyes on.
<B>Final thoughts</b>:
Keep beating that drum.
I like my horror movies to be heavy on the comedy, but this is a comedy with splashes of horror. Literal splashes, if you know what I mean. I like that though, so I mean it complimentarily. The easy comparison is Final Destination, except the kills here are so quick and specific that it didn't leave me with any new phobias like FD always did.
Tatiana Maslany is wonderful as always, and this performance made me especially want to see her in some dark comedies or a Tim Burton movie. It's always fun to have Elijah Wood. Theo James was solid as the lead, but I'm not sure why they gave one twin such a bad haircut.
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