Reviews Are In For Oz Perkins’ “The Monkey”

The reviews are out for “Longlegs” director Osgood ‘Oz’ Perkins’ new film “The Monkey,” a new adaptation of Stephen King’s short story and a movie that takes a more dark comedy vibe than Perkins’ usual quite serious work.

The very R-rated 98-minute film is currently charting at 90% (7.6/10) on Rotten Tomatoes with a lot of praise, comparing it mostly to “Final Destination” and other notable horror comedies – but adding that there’s a lot of gore.

Theo James stars as twin brothers who discover their father’s old monkey toy in the attic – and a series of gruesome deaths soon occur all around them. They throw the monkey away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years.

When the mysterious deaths begin again, the brothers must reunite to find a way to destroy the monkey for good before it takes the lives of everyone close to them. Here’s a sampling of reviews:

“The Monkey has the energy of Raimi in his prime combined with an almost Solondz-esque dystopian energy that lands firmly in the realm of existential splatstick, a lovely place to be, if you ask me.” – J Hurtado, ScreenAnarchy

“The Monkey might be a horror, but it’s a laugh riot too, as Osgood Perkins offers up a plethora of inventively gruesome kills and some surprisingly profound ideas surrounding life and death.” – Amy West, Total Film

“It may not feel as polished or suspenseful as Longlegs, but you can tell Perkins is having a whale of a time putting his years of horror filmmaking to the maximum.” – Emma Kiely, Collider

“Don’t expect the true terror of Perkins’ Longlegs or King’s source story. Do expect plentiful gags to make you, well, gag. The best scenes here are a gory glory.”- Jamie Graham, Empire

“With brisk storytelling efficiency and a playful spirit, The Monkey delivers a Stephen King adaptation like no other. Perkins pushes back against logic in favor of entertaining midnight madness, and death has never been funnier or gorier.” – Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting

“This is for the sickos, the weirdos, and the nasties…and we’re thankful for that. Oz Perkins delivers some sick s— with his pure monkey madness. – EJ Moreno, Flickering Myth

“It’s morbidly hilarious, high-energy, and smothered in an avalanche of gore … Take what you know about Oz Perkins’ filmmaking and set those signatures ablaze.” Matt Donato, Daily Dead

“Part Gremlins and part Final Destination, it’s a vicious little horror-comedy whose punchline is that we’re all walking around with our heads in an invisible guillotine whose blade could fall at any moment.” – Katie Rife, AV Club

“Writer-director Osgood Perkins captures the mean spirit of Stephen King in The Monkey while operating in a darkly comedic mode that he hasn’t tried before. Who knew that a splatter fest like this could find so much of the necessary humor in grief?” – Bill Bria, Discussing Film

“After four serious, dread-soaked tales the house precious little room for levity, it’s a riot to see Perkins embrace gallows humor with his slick, stylized and sadistic fifth film. It cooks!” – Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction

Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, and Sarah Levy co-star in “The Monkey” which opens in cinemas February 21st.

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