Film Review: The Monkey (2025)
Gore-galore horror comedy overflows with memorable deaths
Director: Osgood Perkins
Lois: Everybody dies. Some of us peacefully and in our sleep, and some of us... horribly. And that's life.
I’ve come to a place with horror films where I’ve seen enough of them to make a judgement call early on if I’m going to enjoy it or not. Films like the 1998 Japanese film adaption of Ring spring to mind as the pinnacle of masterfully crafted terror. On the other end of the spectrum are generic jump-scare riddled movies found in an endless carousel of the streaming service of your choice. Then there’s a third category where everything is absurd and doesn’t take itself too seriously. The Monkey is one of these films, and the premise of an organ grinder monkey toy as the harbinger of doom sounds exactly like something Stephen King would write.
Theo James and Christian Convery do a fantastic double act of playing the old and young versions of identical twins Hal and Bill, with a hilariously unhinged cameo from Elijah Wood; but my favourite performance goes to Tess Degenstein as Barbara, a wonderfully chirpy and intense estate agent who can’t help but peek into locked wardrobes to her detriment.
Anyway, it turns out The Monkey is an adaption of a Stephen King short story.
This review originally appeared in Dispatch Edition #4.
The Dispatch is a monthly roundup by British speculative fiction writer, Jordan Acosta. News, short reviews and more, published every first Thursday. You can subscribe at jordanacosta.co, and read previous editions, here.
