[HorrorScience] «The Monkey»: A Failed Experience

When I sat down to watch The Monkey, I didn't have high expectations, but I was genuinely curious to see how Osgood Perkins, a director with interesting works like The Blackcoat's Daughter and Longlegs, would address this adaptation ofStephen King. However, what I found was a movie that can't decide what it wants to be: not scary, not funny, not memorable.

The premise is simple and absurd: a toy monkey that plays a drum triggers deaths every time it does so. It's an idea that could have worked if handled with more creativity or even a more serious approach. But from the beginning, the film seems to be fighting with itself. The story opens with Petey Shelburn trying to get rid of the monkey in an antique store, only for the toy to cause the grotesque death of the store owner. This opening sets the tone: over the top and chaotic, but not in a good way.

From there, the plot progresses without a clear direction. Petey mysteriously disappears and his wife Lois is left alone raising their twins Hal and Bill. Years later, the children find the monkey and the tragedies begin to pile up. The film jumps between the past and present, showing the adult siblings dealing with the consequences of the cursed object. But this time jump does not contribute anything significant; The characters lack depth in both their child and adult versions, and their interactions are so superficial that it is difficult to connect with them or feel empathy for their situation.

One of the biggest problems of The Monkey It's his inconsistent tone. At times it seems to want to embrace the ridiculousness of its premise and become a black comedy, but then it tries to be a serious family drama or even a psychological thriller. The result is a messy mix that never finds balance. The deaths caused by the monkey are so over the top that they should be fun, but they are clumsily filmed and lack the visual impact necessary to make them memorable.

For example, there is a scene in which a character dies from electrocution after falling into an electrified pool. In theory, this could have been a shocking or even hilarious moment if it had been handled with more style or creativity. But instead, it feels like something out of a cheap movie that tries too hard to be "shocking" and fails. It's like trying to make a movie with a similar tone to those ofTerrifier, and fail.

The performances don't do much to improve the experience either. Theo James plays one of the adult brothers and although he is a competent actor, he seems completely disconnected from the material here. His character should convey trauma and emotional tension, but all he conveys is boredom. The child actors do a slightly better job of showing the dynamic between the twins as children, but even they are limited by a weak script that doesn't give them much to work with.

Visually, the film has some interesting moments thanks to the cinematography of Nico Aguilar, who manages to capture certain disturbing details of the monkey and its constant drumming. However, these visual flashes are not enough to save a production that feels generic in almost every aspect. The monkey design should have been scarier or more memorable; Instead, it looks like a common toy that they tried to make sinister without any success.

Compared to other Osgood Perkins films such as The Blackcoat's Daughter either Longlegs, this adaptation feels like a step back in his career. While those films managed to build disturbing atmospheres and explore interesting themes with a certain degree of depth, The Monkey she seems content to be superficial and unimaginative. Even references to the director's previous work are difficult to find here; It's like he's completely lost the personal touch that made his previous projects special.

If I had to sum up my experience watching this movie in one word it would be "frustrating." Not because I had high expectations—I knew it was based on one of Stephen King's lesser-known stories—but because even within its limitations there was potential for something entertaining or at least interesting. But that potential is never realized; Everything feels rushed and poorly executed, from the acting (which is even ridiculously bad) to the key horror scenes.

Ultimately, The Monkey It fails to justify its existence either as an adaptation or as an independent film. It's hard to recommend even to die-hard Stephen King or horror fans because it doesn't really offer anything new or exciting. I came away disappointed and wondering how someone like Perkins ended up involved in something so mediocre when he clearly has the talent to do better things.

If you're considering watching it out of curiosity or because you're drawn to the absurd killer monkey premise... your time might be better spent doing something else. There are many better films out there waiting to be discovered; This one is simply not worth it.

Some curiosities about The Monkey

• In the movie they included Adam Scott and Elijah Wood only to appear in 1 minute scenes and being almost the only ones in the movie with a decent performance.
• According to the director, the decision to have the monkey play a drum instead of cymbals was because the rights to the cymbal version belonged to The Walt Disney Company, since the toy had appeared as a character in Toy Story 3. The cymbal monkey appeared in Toy Story 3 because its director, Lee Unkrich, is a fan of Stephen King.
• Based on a story from Stephen King's "Skeleton Crew" series.
• In the tradition of Stephen King, the majority of the film is set in a town in Maine, USA.
• The song that the Monkey performs is "I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside."
• There is a character in the film named “Torrance,” alluding to the Torrance family from “The Shining.”
• The hotel's sign "No eating after midnight" is a reference to Gremlins (1984).
• One of the characters is called Duchamp, like another protagonist of Stephen King's stories, specifically the short novel "The Body", which inspired Rob Reiner's film "Stand by Me".