Stephen King’s 1980 short story The Monkey has now been adapted by director Osgood Perkins for the big screen, starring Theo James. Some of our Phoenix Film team share their thoughts below.
Dáire’s review
From director Osgood Perkins, who brought us last year’s Longlegs, comes a horror of a different kind.
Based on Stephen King’s short story of the same name, we follow twins Hal and Bill as they realise one of
their dad’s old souvenirs is cursed and try to get rid of it so it can’t hurt anyone else, only for it to re-emerge 25 years later.
With an irreverent and wickedly humoured opening, featuring Adam Scott – one of many
cameos – we hear how the young boys came into possession of the toy while seeing what it can do.
Christian Convery shines in his performance as younger versions of the twins as they try to piece together and comprehend the horrors unfolding. Similarly, Theo James matches the adult Hal we see to the unfortunate events-like childhood we witness, a quiet nervous man who’s kept to himself. That is until, while on a weekend with his estranged son, he gets a call: The Monkey is back.
With well done effects and cinematography, similar in quality but not kind to Osgood’s previous work, that
add to a twisted humour ever present in the film, The Monkey stands out for all the right reasons.
Gloriously gory and comically chaotic, The Monkey is a must watch for any and all horror fans.
Dean’s review
Based on a short story by Stephen King, The Monkey contains plenty of gore and surprises as his books
usually do. The director of this film, Osgood Perkins, who directed last year’s phenomenal Longlegs, brings us a different kind of horror which shows his expertise in genre.
The film was not particularly scary when compared to Longlegs, here we have a Final Destination-like comedy film with ridiculous deaths caused by a drumming monkey. We start with our leads as kids (played by Christian Convery) who find a cursed toy monkey belonging to their dad that he collected on his travels. Out of curiosity, they turn its key and all hell breaks loose.
While over the top and zany throughout, there is still a serious underlying tone maintained, showing the
effects this life has had on our main characters as adults (played by Theo James). A riot of a movie, taking
inspiration from the likes of scary movie, I give this film a 7 out of 10.
The Monkey is now playing in Irish cinemas
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