Adapting the works of Stephen making to the big screen has seen more than a few mishaps over the decades. While television event movies gave the time needed to tell the stories, having to tone down the content to meet broadcast standards left much to be desired.
The results were far too many bad adaptations and fans had grown frustrated with the inability to capture the essence of King’s works in a visual medium.
This started to change with “IT” which split the tale over two films and while not a spot on adaptation; contained enough to keep fans happy.
In the new film “The Monkey” King’s short story is turned into a gory symphony of comedy and gore with winning results.
Twin brothers Hal and Bill (Theo James), find their lives upended when they discover a toy monkey left by their long-absent father amongst his belongings.
When wound up; the monkey springs into action with a musical drum solo that always leads to a gruesome a tragic death when the drumstick falls.
Tragedy leads the boys into a bitter rivalry and years of separation where one denies the other even to his estranged son.
When the horror thought to be behind them returns twenty-five years later; the past must meet the present to stop a new round of deaths.
Director Osgood Perkins has crafted a incredibly funny yet over-the-top gore fest where my preview audience would move from shrieks of shock and disgust to full-on laughter and applause after many of the sequences.
I do not remember a horror fill that delighted me as much as this did as I went in expecting a gory good time based on early buzz; but was hooked from the start.
While the ending segments may have been a bit anti-climatic and formulas for my taste; the stinger at the end left the audience applauding.
You will not want to miss what should be a new horror classic.
4 stars out of 5
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