Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Review: Monkey Shines (1988)
I remember always seeing the poster for this as a kid, but I never got a chance to see it until now. It's really quite a strange movie that could so easily be one of the most absurd things you've ever seen: a helper monkey forms a telepathic link with its new quadriplegic owner (due to some experimental drugs of course) and starts killing people because of its master's rage. But Monkey Shines is actually pretty good for what it is... no doubt I'm sure thanks to George A. Romero. I wouldn't exactly watch it again, and the wacky scenario might still yield a few unintentional laughs, but it was worth seeing once. Sadly, the creepy toy monkey on the poster is nowhere to be seen in the final product. The live animal in the movie really isn't that scary. I'm sure if you read the book this is based on, the story plays out a lot better since you can just imagine everything. Something is definitely lost in the translation to film, but the fact you can take any of this seriously is an achievement on the part of the filmmakers.
Labels:
horror movie,
romero
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I thought it was pretty good - maybe it worked a little better back near its original release - I saw it on VHS after it was a new release. Cool review and blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yeah, this movie was surprisingly good... I didn't know what to expect. I'm sure it's as good as this story can be given such a weird premise. It must have been pretty difficult to adapt this novel into a film.
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