The Monkey

Such intricate genre mechanisms are fundamental to The Monkey’s construction, but the film also has a heart that beats with authentic human emotion.

A sick and twisted work of comic genius where the punchlines punch so hard you’ll explode.

Putting the film’s thesis statement in the mouth of its maternal figure feels intentional; so does the laissez-faire tone. As a result, we laugh so that we may not cry.

It’s a good time, but not a great time – though within the canon of Stephen King adaptations, it’s definitely among the more fruitful offerings to make it to screen.

Theo James plays twin brothers on the run from a toy monkey with blood-splattering murder on its mind. Director Oz Perkins doesn’t disappoint with his ferociously funny take on Stephen King’s short story even if he never reaches the horror heights.

Given its overabundance of empty shock humor, the movie seems afraid to be about much of anything except its toy monkey’s prankish body count.

All this could work, but Perkins never finds the proper tone in what is almost a spoof of the horror genre.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

I didn't know what to expect with this one. The short story was fine but nothing to write home about. They decided to go full blown insane with this and it worked, I was expecting some sort of shlocky gorefest and was suprised by just how funny it got.

first english, below spanish: english: 'terrifier' with coherence and polish. 'the monkey' opens with a magnetic beginning, striking in its natural flow, that grips the audience from the very first moments. what follows is a slasher that, without abandoning the conventions of the genre, builds itself with a distinct identity: dark humor running through every scene, hypnotic cinematography, and a script unusually solid for this type of film. the score, precise and immersive, works as an emotional anchor, enhancing every turn of the story. the film dazzles in its opening, with a narrative rhythm that borders on the memorable, and finds in its cast an essential ally: committed performances that lend credibility to a spectacle unafraid of excess or the grotesque, always in service of a coherent aesthetic. it embraces transgression and carries it to its fullest extent, recalling recent references ('terrifier') but with greater narrative consistency. as it progresses, the pacing shifts toward more reflective ground, a change that may divide the audience. what feels like a necessary pause to some, may strike others as a loss of momentum. yet beneath its surface of stylistic excess and macabre humor beats a bitter reflection on the fragility of existence. the ending, deliberately open and disconcerting, avoids the comfort of closure. it leaves the viewer suspended between doubt and fascination, in that ambiguous terrain where only films that aim to linger in memory choose to remain. spanish: 'terrifier' con coherencia y refinamiento. 'the monkey' se presenta con una apertura magnética, de una naturalidad sorprendente, que atrapa al espectador desde los primeros compases. lo que sigue es un slasher que, sin renunciar a las convenciones del género, se construye con un sello propio: un humor negro que recorre la obra de principio a fin, una fotografía de fuerza hipnótica y un guion que destaca por su solidez, inusual en propuestas de este tipo. la música, precisa y envolvente, funciona como un ancla emocional que acompaña cada viraje del relato. el conjunto deslumbra en su arranque, con un pulso narrativo que roza lo memorable, y encuentra en su reparto un aliado imprescindible: interpretaciones entregadas que aportan verosimilitud a un espectáculo que no teme lo excesivo ni lo grotesco, siempre al servicio de una estética coherente. el film juega con la transgresión y la lleva hasta sus últimas consecuencias, evocando referentes recientes ('terrifier') pero con una mayor consistencia narrativa. conforme avanza, el ritmo se transforma y se orienta hacia un terreno más reflexivo, un cambio que puede dividir a la audiencia. lo que para algunos será una pausa necesaria, para otros representará una pérdida de inercia. sin embargo, bajo esta superficie de exceso estilístico y humor macabro late una reflexión amarga sobre la fragilidad de la existencia. el desenlace, deliberadamente abierto y desconcertante, rehúye la comodidad de la conclusión cerrada. deja al espectador suspendido entre la duda y la fascinación, en ese terreno ambiguo en el que solo permanecen las películas que buscan perdurar en la memoria.

Elijah Wood is fun, and so are a few of the monkey's antics. Otherwise, nothing in "The Monkey" quite fits together, which led to frustration and boredom for me after half an hour. The story would be perfect for a "Tales from the Crypt" episode, but what Perkins made of it is unsuitable and irritating as a horror comedy. Theo James and his younger self, however, played their dual roles quite well.

Acting was good, but the script was poorly written. There were a ton of set ups that were never paid off. Elijah Wood was barely in it. Critics keep saying the film is funny, but it isn't. And the CGI is very, very bad, especially for a modern film. Some of the deaths were ok, while others made zero sense logically. All in all it's not worth seeing in theaters.