‘The Monkey’ Review — Outlandishly Gory Horror Pounds Its Way To Greatness
The Monkey stars Theo James (Archive, Dual) as twins Hal and Bill Shelburn. Hal and Bill’s father, Petey Shelburn Sr., (Adam Scott) attempts to return the monkey toy in 1999 to an antique shop. The transaction ends brutally, and, seeing how he’ll never get rid of it or its curse, Petey bails on his wife, Lois (Tatiana Maslany), to raise Hal and Bill on her own.
Hal and Bill discover an organ grinder toy monkey in Petey’s leftover belongings in their attic. Whenever they turn the key, the monkey pounds on its drum, and somebody dies horrifically. After they realize the connection and a few friends and family members die, the twins throw the monkey, in its box chained shut, down into a well.
25 years later, Hal and Bill haven’t talked in years. Hal has a kid named Petey (Colin O’Brien), whom he named after his father and only sees him once a year because of his family’s involvement with the monkey. Upon this visitation, Hal finds out that Petey’s stepfather, Ted (Elijah Wood), plans to adopt Petey. As Hal and Petey go on their last road trip as father and son, Hal gets a phone call from Bill. And the strange and gruesome deaths begin piling up once again.
The Monkey is written and directed by Osgood Perkins (Longlegs) and is based on a Stephen King short story from 1980. The Stephen King version featured the popular monkey toy with cymbals. But since that version was copyrighted by Disney for Toy Story 3, the monkey was switched to having a drum in this film.
For those unaware or who haven’t seen the trailers, The Monkey is a horror comedy. There are some gushy kills in the film and some downright creepiness, but its dialogue is ridiculous while its deaths are even more outrageous. The film is a lot like if the monkey was the Grim Reaper in the Final Destination films. These kills aren’t calculated as anyone nearby becomes a target as soon as that key is turned.
The film plays out like an extended segment from Creepshow and ends similarly to the original short story. Nothing is truly resolved as things are left open for a possible sequel. Nobody in the film is likable, which always seems to be done on purpose in a film like this. One of the taglines for the film is that “everybody dies,” and even the few survivors at the end of the film are in danger if the story ever continues.
Bill has been bullying Hal since they were born. He’s three minutes older and ate the majority of his mom’s placenta, so he viewed himself as the older and more dominant of the two twins. Hal does the right thing in the worst of ways. He has spent so much time cutting people off to distance them from possible death that he has no actual people skills.
Lois is forced to date after Petey Sr. leaves and does nothing but complain about the guys she meets. Petey Jr.’s defining quality is that he’s crapping all the time, and you’re fairly sure he has IBS. After the monkey is dropped in the well, he’s found by a Maine local named Ricky (Rohan Campbell, Halloween Ends). Ricky discovers the monkey at an estate sale and wants to keep it because it reminds him of his father, who (like Petey Sr.) abandoned his wife and sons.
The downside of The Monkey is that it loses some of its steam with repeat viewings. The jokes don’t land as well, and the film is unbelievably mean spirited. Setting aside the fact that a bloodthirsty figurine is killing people at random, everyone is miserable in the film. The film features so many funerals, broken families, and grown men who have either become obsessed with the monkey or have been forever changed for the worse by its involvement in their lives.
The deaths in the film are nuts. The film opens with a harpoon landing in someone’s stomach, suddenly going in reverse, and ripping out all of their intestines. There’s a beheading at a Benihana-type restaurant and someone falling into a box of fishing gear, lighting their head on fire, and then impaling themselves on the front lawn. That doesn’t cover the explosive deaths like the pool sequence and the shotgun in the closet.
What makes The Monkey fun is not only the fact that it doesn’t shy away from crazy gore but also its unpredictability. Anyone can die at any time, whether they turn that key or not. The fact that the film doesn’t take itself seriously is just a bonus.
It has flaws, but this organ grinder monkey could be a terrifyingly unstable horror icon in a potential franchise. Give me a dozen more of these films with more kaleidoscopic nightmare sequences, unnerving death stares from the shadows, and unhinged music cues that are so loud they crumble part of your soul.
The Monkey (2025), NEON
PROS
- The monkey itself
- Fun, innovative deaths
- Hal's nightmare sequence
CONS
- Isn't quite as entertaining with repeat viewings
- Anything outside of the main Hal/Bill storyline is lackluster
- A lot of the humor loses its bite
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