For a story that thrives on jumpscares and gruesome kills, The Monkey has enough tricks up its sleeve. The shockers keep you entertained for the most part, observes Mayur Sanap.
A movie centered around a haunted toy is not novel.
Think of campy horror in Chucky, or atmospheric Annabelle or the Marathi horror comedy Zapatlela -- the evil doll sub-genre is quite a bit of fun if done well.
The Monkey, which is backed by The Conjuring's James Wan, takes a Stephen King short story and turns into a mix and match of genres -- horror, slasher, thriller, along with some dark comedic beats.
As expected, this ambitious mix of genres skids off balance and what we get is a desperate attempt at horror that relies heavily on shock value rather than genuine scares.
The story follows twin brothers Hal and Bill (both played by Christian Convery) who find a toy monkey in the closet of their deceased father (Adam Scott). What's initially presumed as a 'stupid' toy turns out to be something sinister that sets a chain of gruesome deaths around them.
As the boys witness the crazy ways people die, they realise the monkey kills at whim. The cursed toy kills their mother (Tatiana Maslany) leaving them orphaned.
After seemingly get rid of the monkey, the story moves forward 25 years and the now adult Hal and Bill (Theo James in dual roles) have turned into estranged brothers.
The monkey strikes back into their lives as more deaths follow.
For a story that thrives on jumpscares and gruesome kills, The Monkey has enough tricks up its sleeve, making a way for some cleverly crafted gory set pieces. The Final Destination-style shockers keep you entertained for the most part, if that's your movie watch of choice.
However, for a film that's only 100 minutes long, The Monkey meanders after its initial shock value as the conflict of twins that steers the central plot is generic and boring.
Director Osgood Perkins has laced the drama with twisted humour that doesn't effortlessly gel with the fright on screen. Worse, it only dilutes the eerie atmosphere.
Random characters are introduced and then killed off immediately, and the story continues to move at a sluggish pace only for another random kill to stir things up again, albeit briefly.
By the time, we reach its predictable climatic twist, things are already drawn out and you wonder if this could have been better off as a short film.
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