Link, der Butler

I think this was a break-through movie for Elizabeth Shue. It was the first time I heard of her as an actress. I think I saw the movie back in 1988, but it made quite an impact on my young impressionable mind. After watching the movie, I had a real fascination with primate intelligence. The psycho-sexual interaction between Shue and the monkeys stayed in mind all this time. In particular, I remember quite vividly the bathroom scene. It was strange from me to see that back then. And, everytime I see anyone take a bath or shower with a pet in the bathroom on a movie or commercial, I think of that scene.

This movie started off very well, and I was beginning to think that I had stumbled across a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, things weren't nearly as interesting in the second half, and so I can't quite recommend this one. The best scenes are when the chimps are displaying their remarkable talents. In fact, the pleasure of watching the chimpanzees is almost enough to make up for the otherwise mediocre story. The novelty does wear off, though, and the film suffers badly as a result. Shue and Stamp are both effective, but the script simply runs out of steam in the second half. Watch only if you love chimps.

I was about 8-9 years old in the late 80s and I remember having a huge crush on Elisabeth Shue… She starred in one of my favorite childhood movies called "Adventures in Babysitting" (a.k.a. "A Night on the Town") and I remember being crazy in love and simultaneously jealous because the babysitters that I had those days nearly weren't as cool as she was. Anyways, back then I didn't know that Miss Shue previously already starred in a horror movie that I wasn't allowed to watch yet. With a bit of crazy imagination, "Adventures in Babysitting" is actually similar to "Link", since in both movies Elisabeth Sue gets into serious trouble whilst babysitting, only in "Link" she's babysitting a rather different type of animal species.

"Link" is an entertaining and unpretentious '80s horror creature-feature, well-written by the Aussie genre veteran Everett De Roche ("Long Weekend", "Razorback") and well-directed by the Aussie genre director Richard Franklin ("Patrick", "Psycho II"). After attending just one lecture, the ambitious American zoology student Jane Chase eagerly accepts the rather eccentric Professor Steven Philip's proposal to come and work for him in his spooky old mansion somewhere high up on the cliffs in the middle of Scottish nowhere. Jane gets welcomed by Link, a clever orangutan in a butler's outfit, and Prof. Philip also has two other apes running around: the chimpanzees Imp and Voodoo. Both Link and Voodoo are getting a bit too old and difficult to work with, so Dr. Philip arranges for a sleazy animal trader to come take them away. Soon after he mysteriously vanishes and Jane remains trapped at the estate with the apes. She discovers that Link knew what fate Philip had in store for him and suddenly it's no more Mr. Nice Orangutan… Richard Franklin built his entire career around the fact that he's a massive Alfred Hitchcock fanatic and he once again demonstrates it in this movie as well. Apart from a couple of 'Hitchcockian' plot aspects, Franklin also copies a lot of stylistic and visual trademarks of The Master of Suspense. Jerry Goldsmith's catchy score also reminded me quite a bit to the legendary music used in "Psycho". All the action and suspense takes place during the last half hour, or even less, but Franklin cannot be rushed and patiently takes his time to build up towards a dazzling climax. Of course, the crew member who deserves the most praise remains Ray Berwick, as he was the animal trainer and thus responsible for the impressive stunts that Imp and Link perform.

A young Elizabeth Shue plays Jane Chase,an American student studying at the London Institute of Sciences,who accepts a holiday job as housekeeper for anthropology professor Steven Philip at his house on the remote Cornish coast.Steven has three trained chimpanzees named Link,Voodoo and Imp.When professor mysteriously vanishes Jane is left alone in the house with Link whose behaviour has become increasingly more menacing."Link" is a surprisingly effective killer ape flick.It offers some great shocks and the monkey Link looks very sinister.The score by Jerry Goldsmith is splendid.Unfortunately the explanation of Link's murderous behaviour is not particularly clear.Director Richard Franklin has also made "Patrick","Road Games" and "Psycho II".8 out of 10.

College student, Jane Chase (Elisabeth Shue) gets what should be a dream job as assistant to her primatology professor, Dr. Phillips (Terrence Stamp). All she has to do is move into Phillips' remote castle, and help him with his ape experiments. Jane is amazed by the two chimpanzees named Imp and Voodoo, but is really intrigued by the orangutan "butler" named LINK. Everything goes smoothly, right up until Dr. Phillips goes missing, leaving Jane at the mercy of an increasingly menacing Link!

Any other human visitors are dealt with rather savagely, and the injuries and deaths begin to mount.

Ms. Shue's character is charming, and even manages to be firm with Link when necessary. Stamp is superb as always, though his role is more of an extended cameo. This is a superior "animals run amok" movie, with some actual terror generated by the simians involved. Link (Locke the Orangutan) himself is quite convincing in his intimidating role! An unexpected treat...