‘The Monkey’ is fun, but that’s about it

If you saw Osgood Perkins’s recent summer blockbuster “Longlegs,” you may be in want of another chilling, somber, story-driven thriller. You may think to turn to “The Monkey,” Perkins’s newest film released less than a year after the former. But the minute the film begins, you will realize it is, in fact, not the movie you’re looking for. Where “Longlegs” aimed to scare with classically creepy and haunting energy, “The Monkey” shoots for laughs. At this, it largely succeeds. But nearly everything else — the plot, the writing, the directing — falls flat.

Based on the short story by acclaimed horror writer Stephen King, “The Monkey” follows Hal Shelburn (Theo James) as he attempts to escape the incessant presence of a malevolent toy monkey brought home by his father (Adam Scott). Much like its equally evil horror toy counterparts — Annabelle and Chucky, for instance — the monkey itself is fairly terrifying. When wound up by an unsuspecting human, the stuffed animal begins to play its drums, its pinpoint eyes piercing into the camera. But as the song comes to a close, and the monkey lifts its drumstick for the last time, someone in the vicinity dies. 

There is no controlling who the monkey kills, much to young Hal’s (Christian Convery) disappointment. The film opens with an incredibly lengthy flashback detailing the monkey’s beginning in Hal’s life, with Convery playing both Hal — the nerdy, frustrated victim — and Hal’s twin brother Bill, the annoying, bully class clown. When Bill pokes fun at Hal, the latter boy asks the monkey to kill his brother out of revenge. But to Hal’s surprise, the boys’ mother (Tatiana Maslany) is the next victim instead.

This opening is by far the best part, if not the only good part, of the film. In this sequence, Perkins cleverly develops both the story of the monkey and the fraught relationship between the brothers and their static but hilarious personalities. At only 15, Convery already has a long and diverse filmography, and it’s easy to see why. His performances as Hal and Bill are distinct, but equally engaging, entertaining and believable. 

Theo James, who plays the brothers as adults, is not quite as exciting to watch. Ultimately, it may not be his fault — the aloof nerd and comedic bully stereotypes simply play better for children — but it is nevertheless hard to get invested in his performance. In Hal’s brief moments of genuine fear and anger, James’s talent comes through. But these moments are infrequent, as Perkins more often than not chooses to crack a joke rather than display emotion. 

Questionable acting aside, the idea of an evil toy monkey might be enticing to a regular horror viewer. Stephen King’s gripping narratives have been adapted into film and television since the late 1970s for good reason. His stories are compelling, often more so on-screen than on the page. The best of these adaptations use the power of film to expand on what is possible in literature, creating vast visual landscapes or strategically adding sound to enhance a story that is already scary. To his credit, Perkins uses his latest film to heighten the level of comedy to impressive levels. The jokes and deaths work in tandem to keep audiences laughing, and the humor feels relatable in comparison to King’s writing. But creepy monkey aside, “The Monkey” is not all that scary, lacking the fearful essence of King’s original story. Even as a dark comedy, the story lacks purpose, meanders through its second act and fails to deliver any real message in the end.

Apart from a predictable, yet well-executed twist in the middle of the film, Perkins fails to make his mark on this film. His eye for humor is clear, but as a horror director, actor and nepo baby — in “Psycho II,” Perkins played a younger version of Norman Bates, who was played by Perkins’s father Anthony in the original “Psycho” — Perkins’s work on this film falls short of expectations. King’s story could have been adapted into a tense, gripping narrative, or even a humorous look into the generational trauma caused by a horrifying childhood. Instead, “The Monkey” isn’t much of anything — just two hours of laughs, blood and guts for no reason.