The Monkey (2025) review – A bloody, sarcastic, and farcical riot

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are checking out a brand new horror comedy from Osgood Perkins – The Monkey.

A Long Time Coming

You may remember Perkins from the ultra-successful but ultra-overhyped Longlegs. Whereas Longlegs takes itself ruthlessly seriously, The Monkey is, very much, the opposite. This is a movie that is thoroughly devoted to making you laugh.

“Whereas Longlegs takes itself ruthlessly seriously, The Monkey is, very much, the opposite. This is a movie that is thoroughly devoted to making you laugh.”

Based on the Stephen King short story. The Monkey follows a pair of twin brothers, Hal and Bill (both played by Christian Convery), who find an old drumming monkey toy in the attic of the family home. Taking the toy along to dinner with their babysitter, an accident occurs that just so happens to coincide with the monkey drumming. It isn’t long before the pair discover that the toy may just hold some secret evil that must be hidden away at all costs.

Believe it or not, The Monkey was originally set to be made over fifteen years ago. The original short story dates back to 1980. It had been touted to be adapted for the big screen by director of The Mist, Frank Darabont. The project never got off the ground however, and entered filmmaking purgatory.

Almost 16 years later, in 2023, the script was offered up to distributors by Black Bear Pictures. The film was picked up by Neon, and James Wan’s Atomic Monster signed on to produce. The rest is history.

This movie is lighter and sillier than you might expect. It’s much closer to something like Thinner than it is to the more straight-laced stuff we have come to associate with King’s name. Perkins has opted to punctuate the ample violence with some cutting wit that makes this film feel worlds apart from most under the King banner.

It’s utterly ludicrous but in a fun way

Those of you who are going into this movie expecting to be scared may just be disappointed. The Monkey is, frankly, ridiculous.

Playing out over a non-linear timeline dating from when the brothers are kids through to when they are estranged adults, while occasionally dipping back into the past, now and then. The film features a whole bunch of comedy and a ton of absolutely ludicrous deaths. Bodies exploding, people falling from the sky, and heads being sliced off cleanly. It’s almost comic book, or video game, levels of farce.

The brothers attempt to get rid of the malevolent toy, only to realise that it has returned later in life. Only this time, it is even more murderous and violent. The victims of the monkey appear to be fairly random, and absolutely nobody is safe. It becomes apparent, really early on, that characters are being introduced just to die in utterly farcical ways.

This movie feels like it has taken more than a little influence from the Final Destination films. The antics of the rather ugly-looking toy are pretty random when it comes to victim selection, but the death scenes project in a way that is highly reminiscent of the death entity in the aforementioned horror series classic. Perkins clues you in on what is about to happen and indulges in the gratuity of it all.

It’s so farcical than some will hate it

Rather than tap into some of the story’s more poignant notes, such as grief and parental struggles, Perkins has decided to bask in the copious amounts of silliness and brutality inflicted by the toy. The result is a movie that isn’t exactly scary and, perhaps, doesn’t reach the potential of its subject matter. There’s nothing deep here, and there really isn’t a great deal of tension.

Although the film is uproariously funny for much of its length, the constant dedication to making the viewer laugh and the insane amounts of gore undermine much of what makes a horror movie scary.

“The ground-beef budget must have been through the roof… the myriad different ways Perkins finds to blow people up, mush them into pulp, and eviscerate them is rather incredible.”

Even if you are enjoying the viewing experience, it’s almost impossible not to feel a little baffled at just how over-the-top some of the deaths are. There’s overdoing it, and then there’s whatever this movie is. It’s going to piss some people off. The ground-beef budget must have been through the roof, because the myriad different ways Perkins finds to blow people up, mush them into pulp, and eviscerate them is rather incredible.

The line between “just right” and “too much” is very narrow, and The Monkey doesn’t even make an attempt to land on it. It knows what it wants to be, and it is unashamed of that, even if that is something that some people will really dislike.

The comedy can be very in-your-face, as well. This isn’t a horror with comedy leanings; this is a comedy with horror leanings. Almost every scene is approached with a sarcastic bent that thumbs its nose at the potential seriousness of the plot.

It does have some negatives

It’s probably worth pointing out that I felt as though The Monkey had quite a few down points. The opening 15 minutes didn’t really land for me; I felt pretty bored, in fact, and was struggling to get into it. I also felt like some of the more interesting characters were underutilised.

The last third of the movie is pretty weak compared to what comes before it, as well. There’s a rush to get to the end which leaves everything feeling a bit undercooked and inconsequential. The ridiculousness of the story hits new levels here, which may put some people off.

Acting is fantastic, throughout. Christian Convery does such a good job as both of the twins that you might not recognise that it’s one actor playing both. Likewise for Theo James as the adult equivalents. Tatiana Maslany is a lot of fun as the boys’ mother.

I enjoyed Perkins’ cameo as the boys’ uncle, as well. Special mention goes to Elijah Wood, who is a ton of fun in a very tiny role. The Monkey looks fantastic. There’s a weird meshing of different styles from different eras here, and I am not sure whether I enjoyed it, or not. But the picture is brilliantly shot, and some of the special effects are great. The majority of stuff is practical, which is nice to see.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.