El mono

I read the Stephen King short story in anticipation - which was a bad idea. The narrative is used more as a springboard for the further development of the concept. Don't get me wrong - I'm all on board for this expansion of the short story. I love the idea of the totem object that could possibly be a deity or god of some sort and how it follows the brothers into adulthood.

What I was sold was not what I got. I would say it compares to the use of the monkey drum toy for the poster of the film Monkey Shines (1988) by George A. Romero. Which is to say - they have nothing to do with each other - one is used to sell the other - and it's misleading. I blame the trailers. The Monkey - in terms of a film - is closer to a real bloody version of The Cable Guy (1996) or Very Bad Things (1998). If you go into the film expecting the tense horror/suspense of Longlegs, you'll end up a sad monkey.

As I walked away from the film I think I would have really enjoyed it if it was marketed more as a dark comedy (and sure some of this blame is on me as a viewer to do my research). As it stands - if you've seen the trailers you've already seen 90% of the suspense in the film. What you haven't seen is the absolute mayhem and chaos that surrounds those situations. I think the first 10 minutes of the film tells you exactly what it is - how the humor works - and how it plays out through the monkey.

If you're on board with the opening - it's a perfect roller coaster. My problem was that I thought I was on a rollercoaster and instead ended up tripping on a bunch of banana peels. Regardless, I think the film is worth viewing (and to continue using animal innuendos) you might find it a hoot! But in the end, the film is just monkeying around with the audience.

Evil-looking windup toy monkey causes someone's gory "accidental" death every time it beats its toy drum. That's it, for an hour and a half. Every ten minutes somebody dies in an elaborate fashion that nonetheless lacks the ingenuity or suspense of the "Final Destination" (or even "Saw") movies because it's all played as a joke. Even that would be fine if the director really had a flair for jaunty black comedy--something like early Coen brothers--or spectacular bad-taste slapstick. But he doesn't, so this just comes off as one dumb gag after another, played out by characters who are all cartoonishly one-dimensional, so there's zero emotional stake in their fates.

I enjoyed at least some of Perkins' prior movies, but this reminded me that the weakest thing about Stephen King books and writing is when they're trying to be funny (think "Maximum Overdrive"), which is not his strong suit. It's better crafted than a lot of low-budget movies in a similar vein, but given that it's not particularly low-budget and involves some talented people, its ideas should be better than that of your average lowbrow gore comedy. I was very disappointed. If my expectations had been lower, I would have found it an okay throwaway movie--but even so, one that's neither particularly clever or scary, just sort of mildly amusing.

The previews made this horror movie seem different and it peaked my interest.

In the end, the previews were better than the movie.

This seemed like a take on a couple of Twilight Zone episodes. The one with Talking Tina and the one with another doll that showed up in war zones and as evil charm.

The two main characters, the twins, were not likable characters. You didn't really get to know them, but what you do see in them, it's not something adorable or likable.

The killing scenes were just over the top unrealistic, made it seem like a cheap slasher movie made to attract a high school audience. We don't learn much about the monkey and not because of a cloud of mystery, more like and oversight. The plot in the end wasn't believable and the movie did little to make it believable. ...again, like they were more interested in just showing guts, buckets of blood, heads being blown up or removed, and deaths that defied the laws of physics . The other bright spot was I had the entire theater to myself with a bucket of popcorn and a Coke Zero.

3 friends and I were really looking forward to this movie for months. After LongLegs it was clear they were pushing Oz to be the next Spielberg but for horror.

I just walked out of the theater and got home and boy, this just was not a good movie at all.

I knew and expected camp and comedy, but this had a few "funny" scenes but there was zero tension and scares to balance out the lame attempts at getting a chuckle out of the audience.

The story - no spoilers because there barely is a story. It's a killer monkey. There's no hint at what's really going on, there's no lore; there is just a guy who has a killer monkey problem

And I was really hoping this one would land and in the end all it did was send me him a sad monkey.

My 3 friends also did not like the movie - not even a bit. This was a huge misfire by OZ.

Will it make money? I heard the budget was $10M so it has a pretty good chance, especially with the advertising and the hyping up of Oz. But for me - the next Oz movie that comes out I'm waiting a bit to see how it lands.

I went into The Monkey without high expectations. The trailer made it look like one of those generic horror movies that rely on jump scares and a ridiculous premise. And yeah, the premise is silly: A monkey bangs a drum-someone dies. But instead of a serious horror film, you get an over-the-top horror-comedy that tries so hard to be funny that it eventually gets in its own way.

The movie actually starts off well. The first deaths still have some shock value, the characters are entertaining, and there's a bit of that Final Destination appeal where you're curious about what's going to happen next. But very quickly, you realize: there's no real tension. Every death is just a setup for a joke. The first time it's funny, the second time too-but by the eighth time someone randomly explodes and the others just shrug it off with an "eww," it gets old.

And that's the problem. The film mocks horror clichés but doesn't offer anything thrilling itself. Scream proved that you can perfectly blend horror and comedy by keeping both elements grounded enough. Here, every serious moment is immediately undercut by a dumb joke. Even themes like the strained father-son relationship or the threat of the monkey carry zero weight because nothing in the movie has real consequences.

The second half starts to drag. The jokes repeat, and at some point, the film just feels like a series of TikTok skits where people die in the most absurd ways possible. The ending is the lowest point. I won't spoil it, but it feels like the writers had no idea how to wrap things up-so they went with the cheapest and dumbest option.

Is it a bad movie? No. It's entertaining if you just want to turn off your brain and enjoy some absurdity. But it could have been so much more if it had taken itself even a little bit seriously. As it is, it's a fun idea that eventually runs out of steam.