The Monkey: Horror Meets Humour by Osgood Perkins

The Monkey: Horror Meets Humour by Osgood Perkins

Introduction

The Monkey offers no answers, only a blood-soaked reminder that some playthings defy innocence. This cursed windup organ grinder—with its crimson eyes, jagged teeth, and malevolent grin—is no mere toy. It’s a harbinger of chaos, a furry little executioner that turns life’s randomness into a macabre game of chance.

Directed by Osgood Perkins (Longlegs, Gretel & Hansel), this adaptation of Stephen King’s 1980 short story plunges audiences into a world where sibling rivalry collides with existential dread.

Perkins, known for his gothic atmospherics, trades dreamy visuals for a grimy, earth-toned palette, mirroring the fractured psyche of twins Hal and Bill Shelburn

A Horror Movie Review by Hope Madden & George Wolf

Why is it that so many kids’ toys are creepy? Not that you should call The Monkey a toy. You should not, ever. Because this windup organ grinder monkey, with its red eyes and horrifyingly realistic teeth, is more of a furry, murder happy nightmare. It sits there, motionless, waiting for an unsuspecting child to pull its string, releasing a disconcerting melody that pierces the stillness of the room.

As it begins to move, the clattering of its jointed limbs creates an unsettling rhythm that echoes an eerie semblance of life. With each spin of the crank, you can almost feel a sense of dread growing in the pit of your stomach, as if it’s about to spring to life and unleash its hidden malevolence upon the world, lurking in the corners and watching you with that unnerving gaze.

The film itself is a match made in horror heaven. Osgood Perkins (Longlegs, Gretel & Hansel, The Blackcoat’s Daughter) adapts and directs the short story by Stephen King about sibling rivalry and the unpredictability of death.

The delightfully low-key Christian Convery (Cocaine Bear) carries the first half of the film as young Hal and Bill, twins who discover their dad’s old closet full of knickknacks and collectibles, one of which will indiscriminately kill a lot of people. They boys eventually believe they’ve eliminated the beast, but decades later, the adult brothers (played with deadpan precision and one impressive mullet by Theo James) must contend with bloody monkey business once more.

Perkins surrounds his deliberately low energy leads with bizarre, colorful characters—even more colorful when they catch fire, explode, are disemboweled, etcetera. The film is laced with wonderful bursts of Final Destination-like bloodletting, as the Monkey’s executions are carried out via Rube Goldberg chain reactions that quickly become fun to anticipate.

Yes, fun. And funny.

There is a different tone at work here for Perkins. It’s one that is somehow both bone dry and silly, creating a dark humor that wallows delightfully in the pulpy carnage. His usual aesthetic of dreamy Gothic beauty is replaced by a more grimy, Earth tone palette that seems purposefully at odds with the stated time stamps.

And yet, underneath all of it you’ll find a meaningful layer that speaks to absentee fathers and generational trauma. There are disjointed moments, but only a few, thanks mainly to grounded reminders about the monkey’s shoulder-shrugging mantra: “everybody dies.”

Indeed. And if sometimes they need a little help, well, you can always wind up Furious George and take your chances.

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