Last year, Osgood Perkins produced one of the creepiest films, the psychological horror Longlegs. Continuing his trait with horror, we now have The Monkey, based on a short story by Stephen King and as different a film as you could get from his previous outing. While Longlegs is a film built around atmosphere and being incredibly creepy, The Monkey is an out-and-out gory splatter of a movie with the darkest humour, proving that Perkins is not a one-trick pony.

Twin brothers Hal and Bill have different personalities and find a toy monkey in their father’s belongings. When the monkey is activated, gruesome deaths occur. No matter how hard they try, they cannot get rid of the toy. Years later, when they believe it has gone from their lives, and the brothers have become estranged, they find they are being connected once again by a series of unexplained deaths that can only mean one thing: the return of the deadly toy.

Using the source material as a skeleton for the script, Perkins has taken the premise and used it for a much more humourous film. It still deals with some serious issues, like sibling rivalry and bullying, but these never interfere with the story’s root: that of a horror comedy that goes as far as you can with the blood and guts. Perkins said he took his influence from the Robert Zemeckis comedy, Death Becomes Her. The film touches on Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead and John Landis’s dark humour from An American Werewolf in London.

The first half, which is the better, involves the younger Hal and Bill. Hal is a mousey, quiet young boy who’s an easy victim of bullying, particularly a group of girls in his school. These are being led on by his much more confident brother, Bill, who disrespects his brother and is out to make his life a misery. Having the monkey in their lives leads to more disjointed behaviour, especially when Hal wishes that the curse would lead to his brother’s death, but it doesn’t work that way and ends up killing someone else in their lives.

When we get to older Hal, he is now a divorced man with a teenage son whom he gets to see once a year and who has lived without a thought about the toy until things start becoming weird again. It is this part of the film that Perkins goes all in with the inventiveness of the deaths, as the body parts go flying (in one scene literally). All of these scenes are played out for laughs, and unlike some horror films, there’s no lingering over the images unless it can raise a smile.

That’s what comes across with this film. It is never to be taken seriously; the whole thing is as entertaining as possible. Some might squirm at the sight of the grisly scenes, but you can tell that Perkins has his tongue rammed in his cheek. Even needle drops like Let The Good Times Roll set the piece’s tone.

Taking on the dual roles, Theo James as the older Hal and Bill conveys a man with two personalities well. Hal is a confused man who has been pushed around all his life, while Bill is a weird mix of anger and a man on the edge of madness. Meanwhile, young Christian Convery is magnificent, just like the younger version. They are very different in both characteristics and looks for one so young (he is 15). It is a performance that deserves more recognition.

You will be sorely disappointed if you go into The Monkey expecting another Longlegs. If you go with an open mind, you are in for a horrific treat. A blood-splattered blast of entertainment that will have you grimacing and laughing in equal parts. Osgood Perkins is an interesting director we will be watching very closely.

4 out of 5

Director: Osgood Perkins

Starring Theo James, Christian Convery, Tatiana Maslany, Colin O’Brien, Elijah Wood, Rohan Campbell, Sarah Levy, Osgood Perkins, Adam Scott

Written by Osgood Perkins and (based on his short story) Stephen King

Running Time: 98 mins

Cert: 15

Release date: 21st February 2025