Fun with “freak accidents”

The Monkey turns Stephen King’s short story and turned it into a blood-soaked slapstick routine.

The movie’s cast is solid:

• Theo James narrates most of the films as Hal, a stunted adult man who basically refuses to live any sort of life in fear that the monkey will take his loved ones away. James also plays Hal’s adult brother, Bill, an asshole who wears terrible mullet wigs.
• Adam Scott steals the movie in the opener as he finds and uses a flamethrower on the monkey toy. I’ve never seen Scott so unhinged.
• Young Hal and Bill are played expertly by Christian Convery; I honestly thought it was two different kids. He’s great at distinguishing the two characters, whereas it’s a bit harder in Theo James’ case.
• There’s Hal and Bill’s mom, played by scream queen Tatiana Maslany.
• The hilarious Elijah Wood as Ted, Petey’s stepdad. His part is all of five minutes, and like Scott, Wood completely steals the scene.
• Petey (played by Colin O’Brien), who is fantastically sarcastic and deadpan like his dad and Bill.
• The cast is rounded out with Osgood Perkins as Uncle Chip and Sarah Levy as Aunt Ida. Chip looks like a cross between Bubba Hotep and Abe Lincoln. Ida barely says a word, but even her screams are hilarious.

The humor cuts the blood and gore a bit, but it does not soften it entirely. People get obliterated in elaborate, freak-accidents. By the time Bill starts treating mass casualties like acceptable collateral damage in his feud with Hal, the movie has fully committed to absurd, town-wide carnage. Funny, yes, but probably still jarring for the average moviegoer. This is not a movie I’d play for your random friend who already hates horror.

I’m not typically a gorehound, but because it’s filmed like a comedy, I found myself loving this movie. I’ve seen it a few times now, and I love it more with each watch.

It’s got Evil Dead-level camp and gore with Final Destination‘s “design” (think mousetrap k*lls). The characters are over-the-top and played with enthusiasm…with the exception of Theo James, but he pulls off the narration with a deadpan, almost monotone voice. It’s devoid of emotion, and somehow, that works here. Hal and Bill are unsympathetic characters, and yet, you can’t help but like their preposterous personalities (and, perhaps, James’ deep narrator voice).

The ending is a bit disappointing, to be honest. All that gore for an open ending, but still. The Monkey is a fun romp through blood and bad wigs, and if you can stomach that, I think it’s worth a watch.