'The Monkey' Review: A Sinister Wind-Up Toy Gets a Horror-Comedy Twist in Osgood Perkins' Adaptation of Stephen King's Tale
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Stephen King explored two distinct themes that would later become staples in his work: children with psychic abilities (as seen in Carrie, The Shining, and Firestarter) and inanimate objects turning into evil forces. Whether it was a possessed car, trucks, or even a laundry press, King’s sinister mechanical creations often came to life to cause chaos and destruction. These creepy machines made their way from King’s written works to the silver screen, with iconic directors like John Carpenter (Christine), Tobe Hooper (The Mangler), and even King himself (Maximum Overdrive, based on his short story "Trucks") bringing them to life.
'The Monkey.'
Theo James in 'The Monkey.'
Courtesy of NEON
Courtesy of NEON
One of King’s lesser-known stories, The Monkey, originally published in Gallery Magazine in 1980 and later included in his 1985 collection Skeleton Crew, is a chilling tale that centers around a seemingly innocent wind-up toy. This toy, with its gleaming eyes and sinister grin, is anything but harmless. When it claps its cymbals, death follows in its wake. King’s tale expertly transforms a childhood curiosity into an object of terror, embodying pure malevolence.
Fast forward to 2024, and the story of The Monkey is being adapted for the screen by Osgood Perkins, whose previous film Longlegs similarly explored themes of dread and evil. Like King’s original work, Longlegs featured occult dolls and delved into pure horror, making Perkins an ideal fit for adapting The Monkey. In this new version, the wind-up toy is described as “basically the Devil,” and with Perkins' ability to extract terror from even the most unlikely of sources — such as Nicolas Cage’s portrayal of a demonic serial killer — the transformation of a simple toy into a source of fear seems like a natural fit.
Courtesy of NEON
However, Perkins takes an unexpected turn by giving The Monkey a horror-comedy twist. The film features a star-studded cast of eccentric characters, including a scene-stealing Elijah Wood, whose presence evokes the offbeat tone of a Coen Brothers film. Despite the quirky characters, the film’s true strength lies in its wild, over-the-top horror set-pieces. With influences from Peter Jackson's Braindead and Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise, the film delivers a mix of dark humor and gruesome violence, complete with outrageous, inventive deaths that will remind viewers of the Final Destination franchise. Whether it’s a shotgun, harpoon, or a runaway lawnmower, the chaos never lets up. There’s even a hilarious moment when wild horses stampede over a sleeping camper, a sight described as “cherry pie in a sleeping bag.”
While Perkins has injected a comedic touch into the story, he remains true to the core elements of King’s tale. The film opens in 1999, where young Hal and his twin brother Bill (both played by Christian Convery) discover the monkey among their father’s collection of oddities. The toy begins its eerie drumming to the tune of I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside, setting off a chain of horrific events, including the decapitation of their babysitter. Despite their attempts to rid themselves of the toy, as King fans know, objects of evil have a way of returning. Fast forward to the present, and Hal (played by Theo James) is once again confronted with the monkey, setting the stage for a series of frightening and bizarre events.
The film’s structure bears similarities to King’s It, with characters battling evil forces both as children and adults. It also riffs on W.W. Jacobs’ 1902 short story The Monkey’s Paw, where wishes come at a heavy cost. In The Monkey, young Hal’s experiments with the toy’s powers backfire, leading to disastrous consequences. However, it’s clear that the true inspiration for Perkins’ adaptation lies in the grisly EC Comics stories that King devoured as a child. These dark tales of horror would later influence King’s work on Creepshow, which he co-wrote with director George A. Romero.
While The Monkey may not reach the iconic status of classic Creepshow segments like “The Crate” or “They’re Creeping Up On You,” it still provides a fun and thrilling cinematic experience. Perkins’ restrained visual style, which served him well in Longlegs, may not be the perfect match for the chaos of the story, but it does create a unique atmosphere. As Hal tells his son Petey (Colin O’Brien), “Everybody dies, that’s life.” And sometimes, the best way to cope with death is by laughing in its face.
