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Batshittery… When saying something is batshit ain’t enough. This is a film by deeply disturbed people. People who should be on a list. People who eat the crust and throw away the rest. Basically, they are awesome people. Based on the short story by Stephen King from 1985’s Skeleton Crew, we have a film which may not be entirely faithful but manages to capture the deeply dark, morally wrong center of some of his work.
The Monkey tells the tragic story of Hal (played by Theo James from Divergent) and his brother and what happens to their life savings when they come across an old wind-up Monkey. Seems innocent enough, right? Well, it turns out that if you turn the key on the Monkey, someone nearby will suffer the most gruesome of deaths. If you think you can get rid of it, that’s not possible either. Not by any method. The Monkey will return. Hal sets out to see if that is true or if he can indeed free himself and his family from the curse.
The film is over the top, darkly hilarious and will forever make you nervous about monkeys playing the drums. Written for the screen and directed by deviant Osgood Perkins (who recently brought us the phenomenal Long Legs), we get the most entertaining Stephen King adaption in a long time. Sure, people can whine that it’s not like the short story, but I think it captures enough and puts its diabolical twist on it.
I was very impressed by Theo James, who I knew of but hadn’t seen before, as I’d rather drink paint than watch the Divergent series. He has a voice that is perfect for this kind of voice-over, and I need to check if he does audiobooks. Perkins realizes here something lost on many; you need someone you root for. We are also blessed by the insanely talented Tatiana Maslany (from Orphan Black and She-Hulk), who may not have a lot of time but is always welcome.
And the gore, the ridiculous, looney tunes style indeciminate, over the top gore. Bliss. Hm, I should talk to my therapist about this. Anyway, Perkins leans into the over the top blood and guts and is unashamed to try to find the comedy in a cheese grater of violence.
Perhaps its not for everyone. It’s in the end. Fun. It takes itself just seriously enough and that’s all. Some people may not agree but there is very much a place for dark humor in horror.