Osgood Perkins’ horror-comedy The Monkey offers up a lot of gore and a lot of laughs at the same time. From the director of the 2024 smash hit Longlegs and based on Stephen King’s short story of the same name, The Monkey has received great reviews from critics, but a mixed response from Audiences. Going into this film, I felt the marketing gave away too much. However, I still had a really good time. 

The film revolves around twin brothers Hal and Bill as they experience deaths happening around them from a toy monkey. Sometime after they get rid of it and go their separate ways, the Monkey returns and starts its mayhem all over again. Aside from that, Hal, who is dealing with PTSD because of The Monkey, has been through a divorce and is estranged from Bill and his son, Petey. 

The heart of the film (besides the toy itself, of course) is the father-son relationship between the main character, Hal, and his teenage son, Petey. It seems like they both bond when we learn Hal has a son who is about to be adopted by him. For their yearly bonding, Hal promises to take Petey to a horror-themed amusement park located in rural Maine. 

The film is also extremely funny. I felt that some of the kills were hilarious and the humor in this movie balanced the gore and the scariness well. I do believe some people missed the point of this movie, thinking it was a traditional horror movie, due to low ratings from audiences. The marketing also spoiled a lot of what was going to happen, which I do not believe is a good course of action when you promote a movie.

The performance from Theo James as both Hal and Bill was really great. I also enjoyed Elijah Wood’s performance as Petey’s stepdad. The settings and designs were very fitting for the story because the scariest horror movies tend to take place in rural areas. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. I thought it was funny, scary, and clever. Though the marketing was not great, I do think the movie overall defies that in the best possible way.