Osgood Perkins is driving excessive after the field workplace success of “Longlegs,” the hit horror film that featured Nicolas Cage going bonkers as a Satanic serial killer. “Longlegs” was Perkins’ greatest hit, and now he is following it up together with his greatest film to date, no less than when it comes to funds. That movie is “The Monkey,” based mostly on the Stephen King brief story of the identical identify. Now, once I say that is Perkins’ “greatest” film with reference to funds, I do not need you to suppose the filmmaker is working with lots of of thousands and thousands of greenbacks. In accordance a profile in Vulture, “The Monkey” was made “with a funds within the $10–$11 million vary,” which is fairly excessive for Perkins, a horror filmmaker who has solely made lower-budgeted indie fare to date. “The Monkey” can also be coming from Neon, who distributed “Longlegs.”
However they don’t seem to be the one people concerned with the venture: horror filmmaker James Wan can also be on board as a producer. The mix of Stephen King, Osgood Perkins, and James Wan will little question be catnip to horror followers, and that features me. I am a fan of Perkins’s work (though I am going to admit I wasn’t as gaga over “Longlegs” as everybody else gave the impression to be), I’ve lengthy been a James Wan stan (the place are my “Malignant” heads at?), and I have been a Stephen King fanatic since I used to be a bit of nerdy child studying books that have been means too mature for my age. With all that in thoughts, I am chomping on the bit for “The Monkey.” Sadly, we’ll have to attend till subsequent yr to see this factor. For now, although, we will have some enjoyable with the primary “The Monkey” teaser, which you’ll watch above.
Stephen King’s The Monkey is coming to the large display
In King’s brief story, which was first revealed in 1980 after which collected in his 1985 anthology “Skeleton Crew,” two brothers discover a toy monkey within the attic of their great-uncle’s home. The brothers quickly be taught the monkey doll belonged to their father, and that the dang factor is cursed: at any time when the monkey bangs the cymbals it holds collectively, somebody dies. It’s, admittedly, form of a foolish story, however King is ready to make it work because of the present he has for creating memorable characters. Perkins’ movie will probably be following the story’s premise, following twin brothers (each performed by Theo James) who uncover a cursed monkey doll that causes a sequence of ugly deaths.
Within the Vulture profile, Perkins says that whereas “The Monkey” is an R-rated horror film, it would even be going for a comedic tone, one which leans into the absurdity of the truth that we’re all doomed to die sometime, together with everybody we all know. “That everyone, together with your self, dies is such an absurd factor,” Perkins stated. “Even for individuals like me, who’ve been by dying loads, the notion that all of us die continues to be f**king nuts. However what are you going to do about it? Not get off the bed?”
To be truthful, regardless of all its doom and gloom, Perkins’ “Longlegs” was additionally steadily, and deliberately, humorous, so it is clear that the filmmaker is aware of learn how to combine humor and horror to nice impact. As for this teaser, nicely, it’s extremely a lot a teaser. The vast majority of the footage is comprised of close-ups of the cursed monkey toy earlier than reducing to a shot of a blood-drenched Theo James. And truthfully, that is greater than sufficient. This transient teaser does an important job of promoting the movie’s seemingly absurdist-horror ambiance — James eradicating his glasses after the blood-splatter is a humorous little element.
Along with Theo James, “The Monkey” additionally stars Tatiana Maslany and Elijah Wooden. Search for “The Monkey” in theaters on February 21, 2025.