George A. Romero, best known for slowly – as in decades, but surely – as in don't call me Shirley, bringing social commentary and zombies into the light brings us the very, very 80s Monkey Shines.
Growing up, and as a grown up, I'm drawn to horror films. I remember this film dearly and loved it back then, i.e. the late 1980s and early 1990s. Unfortunately, time has not been kind to the ole monkey named Ella (played wonderfully by Boo.)
The movie wasn't bad, per se, it's just too long. Yeah, a complaint I have about a lot of movies, and for the most part, I can back it up. No different here.
We open with an unintentionally hilarious crash scene involving a running man, a barking dog and flying bricks. The athletic and college-student man, Allan (Jason Beghe who apparently is trying to channel Robert DeNiro) is a'joggin' when he's struck and is forced into a life of a quadriplegia. His mother, Dorothy (Joyce Van Patten, who, I'm sorry, comically looks like a man (SEE: Ms. Swan or Austin Powers) throughout) hires a straight-edged/comic-relief nurse (Christine Forrest) and best friend, Geoffrey (John Pankow) gets a human-brain-injected experimental monkey trained to take care of him.
Meanwhile his girlfriend, Linda (Janine Turner) leaves and Ella (the monkey) starts to win the heart of Allan while Allan woos the heart of the trainer, Melanie (Kate McNeil.) Meanwhile, the original girlfriend dates another and mother sells her business to help her son. Meanwhile, Geoffrey's experiments may/may not be producing results and he might lose funding from his boss, Dean (Stephen Root.) Meanwhile, Geoffrey's trying to contain the situation while taking too many drugs, himself. Meanwhile, Allan's growing angrier by the moment by show of cuss words. Meanwhile, Ella's kinda feeling left out.
Meanwhile, meanwhile, meanwhile. There's really just too much here. I wish it had just been a simple story of a 'Man and his Monkey,' albeit eeevil monkey. And why couldn't we have left it at that. Throw out the (sorry, spoiler) telekinesis segment.
I'm aware we have to use some suspension of disbelief, but we're dealing with a lab-rat monkey. That should've been enough to make us believe something's bad about to happen. When you throw in the 1980's answer to horror, or telekinesis – heck, even Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood jumped on that bandwagon two months prior in 1988, it lessened the tension/horror. For me, at least.
This is one of those movies you loved as a kid – if you were into these types of horror movies, and were a kid in the mid-to-late-1980s, that is – but doesn't really hold up today. It's fine and all, and slightly recommended to a new audience, but be forewarned: this is clearly an 80s project and certainly not timeless in any way.
I will end with some very positive observations: I loved every scene with Boo. But then again, I'm biased: I love monkeys in entertainment. They always make me laugh or curious to see what they'll do next. Also, it was fun to watch such a YOUNG Stanley Tucci, though he was kinda lost in the 150 subplots. In addition, I couldn't help but laugh at seeing Stephen Root in a serious role (yeah, I'm used to him in Office Space as the stapler-hugging Milton) this is how most people probably would react when they see a grave Leslie Nielsen before Airplane! And finally, though it's a suspenseful movie – mostly in the closing that kinda of reminds you of Pet Semetary – it does contain one of the most eerie horror movie poster's I've seen.
Growing up, and as a grown up, I'm drawn to horror films. I remember this film dearly and loved it back then, i.e. the late 1980s and early 1990s. Unfortunately, time has not been kind to the ole monkey named Ella (played wonderfully by Boo.)
The movie wasn't bad, per se, it's just too long. Yeah, a complaint I have about a lot of movies, and for the most part, I can back it up. No different here.
We open with an unintentionally hilarious crash scene involving a running man, a barking dog and flying bricks. The athletic and college-student man, Allan (Jason Beghe who apparently is trying to channel Robert DeNiro) is a'joggin' when he's struck and is forced into a life of a quadriplegia. His mother, Dorothy (Joyce Van Patten, who, I'm sorry, comically looks like a man (SEE: Ms. Swan or Austin Powers) throughout) hires a straight-edged/comic-relief nurse (Christine Forrest) and best friend, Geoffrey (John Pankow) gets a human-brain-injected experimental monkey trained to take care of him.
Meanwhile his girlfriend, Linda (Janine Turner) leaves and Ella (the monkey) starts to win the heart of Allan while Allan woos the heart of the trainer, Melanie (Kate McNeil.) Meanwhile, the original girlfriend dates another and mother sells her business to help her son. Meanwhile, Geoffrey's experiments may/may not be producing results and he might lose funding from his boss, Dean (Stephen Root.) Meanwhile, Geoffrey's trying to contain the situation while taking too many drugs, himself. Meanwhile, Allan's growing angrier by the moment by show of cuss words. Meanwhile, Ella's kinda feeling left out.
Meanwhile, meanwhile, meanwhile. There's really just too much here. I wish it had just been a simple story of a 'Man and his Monkey,' albeit eeevil monkey. And why couldn't we have left it at that. Throw out the (sorry, spoiler) telekinesis segment.
I'm aware we have to use some suspension of disbelief, but we're dealing with a lab-rat monkey. That should've been enough to make us believe something's bad about to happen. When you throw in the 1980's answer to horror, or telekinesis – heck, even Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood jumped on that bandwagon two months prior in 1988, it lessened the tension/horror. For me, at least.
This is one of those movies you loved as a kid – if you were into these types of horror movies, and were a kid in the mid-to-late-1980s, that is – but doesn't really hold up today. It's fine and all, and slightly recommended to a new audience, but be forewarned: this is clearly an 80s project and certainly not timeless in any way.
I will end with some very positive observations: I loved every scene with Boo. But then again, I'm biased: I love monkeys in entertainment. They always make me laugh or curious to see what they'll do next. Also, it was fun to watch such a YOUNG Stanley Tucci, though he was kinda lost in the 150 subplots. In addition, I couldn't help but laugh at seeing Stephen Root in a serious role (yeah, I'm used to him in Office Space as the stapler-hugging Milton) this is how most people probably would react when they see a grave Leslie Nielsen before Airplane! And finally, though it's a suspenseful movie – mostly in the closing that kinda of reminds you of Pet Semetary – it does contain one of the most eerie horror movie poster's I've seen.