'The Monkey' review: Theo James winds himself up in Osgood Perkins' comedy horror

SF Studios

Is it the year of the monkey? You could think so if you've been keeping up with movies in the last 12 months, right? Luckily for us, there's been enough variety on that front and The Monkey, which is written and directed by Osgood Perkins, is another welcome addition.

Based on Stephen King's short story of the same name, this dark comedy horror introduces us to teenage twins Hal and Bill Shelburn (both played by Christian Convery) who find a toy monkey that their absent dad Petey (Adam Scott) owned. This toy, of course, is insanely cursed, causing a series of gruesome deaths after you wind it, such as that of Hal and Bill's single mom Lois (Tatiana Maslany). 25 years later, Hal, now played by Theo James who also narrates the film, has cut ties with Bill (also James) and is getting ready to cut all ties with his son Petey Jr. (Colin O'Brien) whom he rarely sees since he fears that the toy will return and cause Petey Jr.'s death. However, on their possibly last road trip together, they return to Hal's aunt Ida's (Sarah Levy) house as she has just died in violent fashion, drawing suspicion that the toy has been unearthed and someone's been using it.

This movie definitely begs to mention the comedic side of things first as Perkins' adaptation is mostly going for laughs, ridiculousness and gross, twisted humour; leaving bloody violence to bring the horror, although you do get the classic evil spirit or possession that haunts our characters' lives. What's fortunate is that as a gutsy comedy, The Monkey very much delivers. Perkins (who also portrays Hal and Bill's uncle Chip in the movie) and his collaborators use every possible chance that he gets to create eccentric characters, deploy physical comedy, elevate the gruesomeness of the kills and use the editing (by Graham Fortin and Greg Ng) to accentuate the literal or figurative punchlines. All the ludicrous kills are not just funny in a shocking sense but they're also excellently staged and designed, as extreme FX makeup and appropriately tacky VFX help to bring Perkins' vision to life.

While the overall vibe is great and there's no room for boredom, The Monkey does not quite fulfil its full potential. One of the main reasons for this is James in the lead role, who's not only oddly cast (by Perkins and casting directors Erin Elizabeth Lally and Rich Delia) and doesn't exactly inhabit Hal's characteristics (nervousness, self-doubt, cautiousness), but he also gets outshined by most actors in the film, including young Convery playing those same roles, Maslany, as well as both Perkins and Nicco Del Rio (as Rookie Priest) in their short-lived outings. The other main reason is the hazy motivations that drive the person controlling the toy in the present day and therefore it is rather hard to get a grasp on the stakes, particularly in the final act. It's undoubtedly amusing to watch the madness unfold, but it does feel like there's a tighter story with more interesting characters lying around here somewhere.

As far as the story itself goes, it mostly becomes about the randomness, unpredictability and cruelty of death, and how you can't exactly control even if you badly want to—generational differences in terms of parenthood and one's handling of their anguish are thrown into the mix but less successfully due to the reasons mentioned above. But in conclusion, The Monkey is a bloody good time thanks to its wicked sense of humour and solid execution. It may not warrant any rewatches, but for a fleeting moment, you can have fun laughing at terrible things. You could do worse than that right now.

Smileys: Humour

Frowneys: Nothing too disappointing

I'm sure that one lady can pool herself together. It didn't look that bad.

3.0/5

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