The Monkey's Paw

The bottom line: don't waste your time. This should not be called "The Monkey's Paw." This has nothing to do with the original story. I am so very disappointed! I was hoping that the story was brought to the big screen. I could not be any more wrong. I highly suggest for viewers who like the original story NOT to view the movie. However, if you have never read the original story or do not like the original story, watch the movie an decide for yourself how bad the movie REALLY is. Truly, it id REALLY bad. If you decide to waste your time with this movie, I hope you have the chance to do something else constructive in parallel. I hope somebody decides to remake this movie the way it is supposed to be.

The Monkeys Paw is a tale that has been covered cinematically several times over the years including as far back as the early 30's. It tells the story of a paw that grants wishes but the twist is that it corrupts whatever it provides.

The original story always told of a parent who wants a deceased child returned from the dead, this version tweeks that slightly but is still loyal to its source material.

Stephen Lang brings life to the rather dull cast and brings forth a performance only rivalled by his in Don't Breathe (2016)

Not the best version and a tad slow this is one of those premises where you could do a lot with it but here they fail to do so.

Perfectly watchable but perhaps should have been somewhat better.

The Good:

Stephen Lang

The Bad: Oddly boring

Things I learnt from this movie:

Monkeys Paw would make a great television series!

+1 for Stephen Lang's performance here Such a great character actor and a pleasure to watch him play just about any part

-1 For the Ending Where a certain So and So stopped beating another certain So and So...no spoilers, haha

Okay a Story told fairly blandly and ends up being pretty average and really only saved by the additions of Lang and an underused Charles Dutton

I had never heard of the story before, so I didn't have any preconceptions. It's not too bad, but it switched back and forth between dead serious and camp and not very effectively.

Thomason and Lang both do a job, but Thomason plays it completely seriously while Lang plays it like a Freddy Krueger.

There's also a hint of a subplot that goes nowhere, where the cops and others suspect Thomason's character is doing the murders. Not the newest plot and it would take it in a Hitcher direction, but it could have worked here. The cops SHOULD have suspected him.

The Monkey's Paw was written in 1902 by W. W. Jacobs, but if you didn't know that and you read the message board for this film, you'd be tempted to think it was originally a Simpsons or Goosebumps episode.

While so many iconic stories like the one Jacobs penned lend themselves to parody or adaptation, the writers of this version actually created something original - which is why, I would guess, the ratings here are so much lower than they should be.

Instead of giving us one more pass through of the "be careful what you wish for" scenario, the filmmakers take us in a different direction. Saying much more would ruin the story, so I'll only point out that it's not only the protagonist who suffers for his choices.

All aspects of this film are competent or better. The length is also very appropriate to the overall arc and pacing. I'll also mention that the connection to the original story is so subtle that many will miss it.