by Monkey Shines is a film that I remember picking up at my local movie rental shop one weekend when I was a kid. It was solely because of the cover depicting a demonic looking cymbal banging monkey toy. It looked like something that was right up my alley, and I remember being really excited to watch it. Unfortunately the movie wasn’t anything that I expected; it was some boring story about a paraplegic and a trained monkey who could read his mind. It wasn’t enough to hold my attention and I’m surprised that I even remember it at all. Recently I saw it was available to watch on the Shudder channel, and I figured that it might be worth checking out now that I’m an adult. The film is still a little boring and uneven but it’s better than it once was
Allan Mann (Jason Beghe) has a wonderful life. He’s a natural athlete, has a beautiful girlfriend, and is a successful law student. The film begins with him waking up one beautiful morning, does his routine of exercises, and then hits the street for a run. This perfect day is cut short when he is struck suddenly by a truck. He immediately goes into surgery but the prognosis isn’t good and we learn that the spinal injury is severe. Allan is left paralyzed from the neck down. At the party celebrating his release from the hospital we learn that his girlfriend didn’t visit him once and seems ready to leave him because of his disability. Furthermore his overbearing mother has not only decided to move nearby to help him out but has also hired a snarky foul mannered nurse to tend to him. Allan soon attempts suicide and it becomes clear that something drastic must be done. That’s where the monkey comes in.
One of Allan’s good friends just happens to be a scientist that experiments on animals. His latest batch of testing has involved a small female monkey named Ella whom he has been injecting with a serum made from live human brains. Her intelligence levels spike, and hearing news of Allan’s condition the doctor donates Ella to a training program for monkeys that assist parapalegics to eventually give to Allan. At first Allan is a bit apprehensive about his new pet but he’s immediately impressed with just how much she can do. The two quickly grow attached to one another as they bond over a love for classic music. As they grow closer Allan begins suffering uncharacteristic bouts of rage, and Ella becomes jealous over the blossoming relationship between Allan and her trainer. Pretty soon Allan becomes suspicious of Ella as people start disappearing in ways he was only imagining. It seems that Ella can read his mind, is feeding off of his rage, and attempting to eliminate anyone that can come between she and her master.
At its heart the film is about a monkey and its master having a psychic connection. That’s about as scary as it sounds. It doesn’t help that Ella is a small Capuchin monkey and not domineering chimpanzee or gorilla. She’s smaller than your standard housecat. Making her into a creepy horror monster is no easy task, and although seasoned director George A Romero tried his best even he couldn’t do it. Whenever she’s made to look tense or creepy she just looks cute. The dramatic music in the background just plain doesn’t fit what is on-screen. I know capcuchin monkeys are what are used to assist disabled people but maybe the whole concept and book on which this is based should have been rethought. At the very least it could have been reformatted into another genre because this simply doesn’t work for a horror story. Despite this the ending was intense and easily the most shocking and memorable moments of the film.
Another issue I have with Monkey Shines is the pacing. Far too much of the film is dedicated to Allan’s recovery and new lifestyle. Unfortunately the character is entirely too one dimensional for this to be interesting in any meaningful way. This plot line does eventually go somewhere but it takes far too long. There’s a lot of bickering among the characters and boring sub plots that feel unnecessary. Some characters, such as Allan’s nurse, far overstay their welcome when one or two scenes would have developed the story just as much. So much of Monkey Shines feels like unnecessary padding, and when things do get exciting the payoff simply isn’t worth the wait.
Monkey Shines isn’t a horrible horror film. It lacks a certain oomph and watchability, but there’s a decent story that’s somewhat interesting underneath. It’s unfortunate that it’s tied to the horror genre though because the subject just isn’t scary. A tiny little monkey making a psychic connection to its master and in turn running around and murdering people? It’s just not compelling or even creepy. They had to pair the antagonist with a parapalegic because that’s the only opponent it would stand a chance to be domineering against. This one is more effective as a drama with all the murder sequences cut out.
Pros
- Unique concepts
Cons
- Non-threatening antagonist
- Slow moving story
