The Monkey - Death by Chimp

The Monkey

The Monkey...this was a weird one.

Based on the Steven King short story, The Monkey is about a killer toy monkey. That's...pretty much it, but let's die-ve in.

The movie begins with a man trying to bring a toy monkey to a antique shop. Faster than you can say Final Destination, the owner is disemboweled by a harpoon gun. The man vanishes and the monkey ends up with his wife and twin boys (Bill and Hal).

Hal is a bit of a nerdy kid and his brother is uh, well let's just say unpleasant. We get typical Stephen King bullying in a small town in Maine. They discover the power of the monkey when they turn the windup key and accidentally kill their babysitter.

After a particularly cruel prank, Hal turns the key again, begging the monkey to take his brother. But, the key-turner doesn't get to pick who it kills and the mom tragically dies.

Hal destroys the toy as they move in with their aunt and uncle...but evil objects can't be destroyed. Bill turns the key and their uncle is trampled by horses. The boys get rid of it in a well.

25 years later...Hal is trying to live a quiet life and only sees his son once a year. The pair spend one final week together as his son's mother is married and wants to formally adopt his son, revoking all his rights.

Deaths start piling up again in the old hometown and Bill calls Hal home.

The deaths in this movie were a bit over the top. As this movie is a comedy horror, it makes sense. The mystery of who was behind the deaths isn't at all surprising as all of this was a trap to kill Hal.

When the villain tries to force the monkey to kill Hall, he doesn't take too kindly to that and ends up sending Death on the entire town...horse and all.

The acting was just okay. Surprise Elijah Wood cameo, it's only a few scenes and you both like him and kind of want to hit him. This will just end up being one of those movies I see this year that I completely forget about until it pops up on a streaming service in a few months.

While I'd say it was a good time, I enjoy goofy horror when it's done right. This was on the edge of that. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it more than once, maybe twice though.

2/5