Oz Perkins’ ‘The Monkey’ is an absolutely horrific and hysterical experience. The movie’s phenomenal pacing delivers a sinister gore-fest from beginning to end, making for a wonderfully crafted satire horror film. Admittedly, the plot has a couple of holes and starts to fall apart a bit, especially towards the end, but that’s not the focus of this movie. It is made clear throughout the runtime that it’s not meant to be taken extremely seriously and is mostly just supposed to be a fun movie that provides riveting entertainment with its on-screen violence and incredible use of practical effects. The movie understands what it’s trying to accomplish, which is to be a bloody, fun-filled horror adventure, and it does this very well.
The underlying theme, “Everybody dies,” is reiterated verbally and physically throughout the movie, to the misfortune of many people in the film. The movie is based on Stephen King’s short story “The Monkey.” This movie feels like Stephen King wrote a “Final Destination”-esque story, making for a dark and twisted yet delightfully fun movie.
The movie continually juggles between going for things you don’t expect to happen because it’s a genuine surprise and subverting your expectations by not subverting them at all. This tends to be more surprising in an age where movies overuse “plot twists” and “subvert expectations” to the point where it’s actually what you expect. The best surprises come when there is no surprise at all.
Currently, “The Monkey” has a 61% rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes and a 78% rating from critics. In conclusion, it’s a very fun movie and an excellent choice for anyone who wants to watch an enjoyable horror satire in which people die in horrific and grotesque ways.
Rating: 4/5
