The Monkey is currently in theatres.
Kris's review
Bad Monkey, seriously bad. I sat through the latest film from Osgood Perkins, so you don’t have to. The Monkey is so bad, so boring, so nonsensical that if I wasn’t reviewing it, I would have walked out of the theatre.
The film is an adaptation of the 1980s short story of the same name by Stephen King, directed and with a screenplay by Osgood Perkins (son of the late great Anthony Perkins).
Perkins is the man behind 2024's Nicolas Cage thriller Longlegs which he also wrote and directed.
The Monkey, Longlegs and his first feature, The Blackcoat's Daughter, all have the same problem running through them which is poorly-written scripts hiding under cinematography and set/costume design. It’s the typical “all show no go” set up.
Having looked at a bunch of Perkins' work both as a director and a writer I've concluded, he isn’t good at either.
The Monkey's story has no tension for a movie with this much violence. It's boring and the violence is either over quick or almost cartoonish when the camera does dwell on it.
The story is full of plot holes and the characters are so unlikable I couldn’t care if all of them died just to get it over with.
Do not waste your money on this film, I cannot stress this enough.
Scott’s review
Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey isn’t a great film, but it’s definitely a fun one.
If I had to pitch it in an elevator, I’d say it’s Friday the 13th meets Final Destination—the kind of horror movie where we don’t really care who the characters are, just how creatively they’re going to meet their demise.
At a brisk hour and thirty-eight minutes, Perkins packs a lot into the film. Maybe a little too much.
There’s a wealth of material that could have been explored—particularly the backstory of the characters—giving us more reason to care about them before they inevitably become victims. Instead, the film moves at a relentless pace, prioritizing its elaborate, over-the-top death sequences over deeper storytelling.
That being said, The Monkey delivers where it counts: thrills, suspense, and wildly inventive kills. Theo James does an impressive job pulling double duty as twin brothers, adding an extra layer of intrigue to the film. His performance gives the movie some much-needed gravitas, even if the script doesn’t always slow down long enough to fully develop his characters.
If you’re looking for a horror film that demands deep emotional investment, this probably isn’t it. But if you just want to turn your brain off, grab some popcorn, and watch an onslaught of creatively staged, Tom Savini-esque demises, The Monkey is the kind of gleefully chaotic horror ride that will scratch that itch.
Scott Veiga and Kris Langford are friends and movie lovers that host the Cambridge-based podcast How’d You Like that Movie?, a show full of hot takes on current blockbusters, indie darlings and classics. For a deeper dive into these film and others, check Scott and Kris out at Howdyoulikethatmovie.com, on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.