Time: 98 Minutes
Age Rating: R16– Horror, graphic violence & offensive language
Cast:
Theo James as Hal and Bill Shelburn
Christian Convery as young Hal and Bill
Tatiana Maslany as Lois Shelburn
Colin O’Brien as Petey Shelburn
Rohan Campbell as Ricky
Sarah Levy as Ida Zimmer
Adam Scott as Captain Petey Shelburn
Elijah Wood as Ted Hammerman
Director: Osgood Perkins

I was interested in The Monkey. It was the next movie from Longlegs and The Blackcoat’s Daughter director Osgood Perkins, and the trailers had me curious. I had a lot of fun with it.

The Monkey is very different from Osgood Perkins’s last movie, Longlegs, especially when it comes to tone and pacing. One thing to establish, The Monkey is definitely not a scary movie. Yes, it is a movie about a scary toy which does bad things and when the monkey toy begins beating on its drum, there is a sense of anticipation as to who will be killed next and how. However, it is a really goofy, absurdist and wacky movie that’s mean spirited and darkly comic, especially with its death and gore scenes. The story and character are simple and aren’t anything special but are solid enough to carry the movie. It also benefits from a relatively short runtime at under 100 minutes, and I found it to be pretty entertaining from beginning to end.

Theo James gives the best performance I’ve seen from him. He plays two twin brothers, both characters feel like distinctly different people, and James sells both parts and lands the deadpan line deliveries and reactions. Credit should also go to Christian Convery who plays the younger version of the brothers. The supporting cast are really good, including Rohan Campbell and especially Tatiana Maslany in her scenes

The direction from Osgood Perkins is strong and really shows his range considering how different it is from his past two movies. It has some very over the top gory and bloody death scenes, the kind of things you would see in a mainline Final Destination movie. Perkins also does well with the dark comedy, especially with the editing.

The Monkey is a darkly funny, absurdly silly and entertaining horror comedy, well directed and led by a great Theo James.