I didn’t know who Osgood Perkins was until last year when I saw Longlegs and read about all the buzz surrounding it. I’m not the best film nerd person, as my brain is mainly filled with superhero universe continuity, video game stories, and all of Saved by the Bell from the nineties (no reboot for me). So, while I was pleasantly surprised by Longlegs as I saw it in an AMC theater room with a broken A/C unit in the summertime, I wasn’t let down or came into it with any real idea of who he was or what was building around it. It was good. I reviewed it, and it was done.
While I think the bloom came off a bit from Longlegs, I did notice the excitement for The Monkey, the second film from Perkins in a year. It is a pretty wild theater experience with a mix of Looney Tunes and Final Destination. This adaptation of Stephen King‘s short story from the eighties was a gory and eye-covering fun time in the theater. Yet, I’ve had trouble compiling my thoughts to review this movie.
The Monkey starts with Pilot Petey Shelburn, played by Adam Scott, as he tries to get rid of this turnkey toy monkey at an antique shop when things go left when the Monkey causes the death of the guy working there in a very absurd way that sets the tone for what you’re about to see. You learn that Pilot Petey was the father of two twin sons and never came home. The two boys, Hal and Bill (played by Christian Convery), end up with the Monkey and turn its key, which causes chaos. The dynamic between Hal and Bill is that Hal is the picked-on “nerd” of the two, and Bill is his bully. They both love their mom (Tatiana Maslany) very much, but Bill kind of sees their mom as “his” mom more than Hal’s.
After a tragic accident, the boys end up estranged after tossing the Monkey down a well. Decades later, with Hal down and out and not having a good relationship with his son, the Monkey returns, and Hal has to connect with Bill to figure out how to destroy it once and for all.
The story in the film is mostly about father issues and guilt, and it’s repeated through generations, which is clumsy and, at times, boring. The film’s crux is about Hal and his strained relationship with his son Petey (Colin O’Brien), who doesn’t hold up to mental scrutiny while you’re watching it. Why did you have a kid if you have a curse? You don’t even call your kid? Your kid is seeing all this wild stuff happen out of nowhere, and you are still mad at your dad for staying away! C’mon, bruh, he cursed out here.
Our star here, Theo James, plays Hal and Bill well enough for them to feel different. While Hal is always sad and scared, Bill is just a weirdo. The costuming for Bill does well in showing that. To me, James’ look in this is like a mashup of James Franco and Ryan Reynolds, and in many ways, these two characters might be the reason I felt this way. Hal has that Mint Moblie Reynolds look.
The visual effects and makeup teams deserve all the accolades here, especially with just how creative and nasty the gore and deaths look in his movie. Perkins really did go out of his way to make stomach-curling yet hilarious setups for fatalities. The Monkey was cool, and while not really my thing, I can’t say I wasn’t entertained and that there wasn’t serious craft put into this movie.
Score: C+
