Stephen King’s most recent book-to-film adaptation, “The Monkey,” was announced months ago. Following this, phenomenal marketing drew horror fans in with its silly atmosphere yet disturbing concept. Directed by Osgood Perkins, it sets the stakes high after the lackluster release that was “Longlegs.”
The film follows twin siblings, Hal and Bill, both of which are portrayed by the lead Theo James as adults and Christian Convery when seen as children. The pair start the film living with their mother, but when a mysterious windup toy monkey is found, their lives are changed forever. When the key is turned on the Monkey’s back, it slowly spins its drumstick and plays a short beat. When the Monkey is done playing, a seemingly random person will have a sudden and untimely death.
When bullying drives Hal to turn the Monkey’s key in the hope that it will kill his twin, the Monkey kills his mother instead, leaving the boys orphaned. After one more death within the family, the twins decide to hide the Monkey so no one can ever use its power again.
This decision takes us to the present, with Hal being an adult gearing up to spend a week with his son Petey for his birthday. Though things go awry when his aunt dies, the Monkey returns and his brother Bill calls for the first time in years.
Straying from original plans, Hal and Petey go to his hometown to sort through the aunt’s belongings and find the Monkey.
When another death happens and the Monkey is nowhere to be found, Hal realizes his brother is orchestrating the whole thing — and with Petey’s safety in jeopardy, it is his responsibility to stop him.
“The Monkey” is an overwhelmingly silly film. From its atmosphere to its concept, there is this heightened level of humor that really works. Though, from here, everything starts to fall flat. The story progresses too fast and leaves out too much. There is a great intro with the twins as kids, but it skips over where the Monkey is actually from. But the time skip leaves moviegoers with too many unanswered questions.
The kills in this flick are wildly creative — from the babysitter’s death during a hibachi dinner to the cheerleaders being sideswiped by the semi-truck. The kills stay consistent and fun, but they are nothing more than that. There are no consequences for any of the deaths; the watcher does not care for any of these people. There is no impact to the story when you see anyone die — this really hurts the film’s success as a horror.
All things aside, the Monkey’s design is perfect. Its beady eyes truly glare into the audience’s soul. With various lingering shots, it almost feels as if the Monkey is actually alive — staring right at you.
“The Monkey” fell flat on many notes, but the performances by James and Convery are more than stellar. Sadly, other than performances and the Monkey, not much in the film is enticing — cementing another underwhelming release by Perkins.
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