There’s a new Stephen King movie coming out soon titled The Monkey, which comes from director Osgood Perkins (Longlegs) and the first reactions have surfaced for the film.
The film promises to be “outrageously gory” and “thoroughly gratuitous” some of the reactions are saying that it’s “outlandishly demented” and “cartoonishly bloody”. The movie looks like it’s going to be a wild and fun horror flick, and the reactions that have dropped make it sound like we’re in for a hell of a good time!
In The Monkey, “When twin brothers Hal and Bill discover their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths starts occurring all around them. The brothers decide to throw the monkey away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years.
“But when the mysterious deaths begin again, the brothers must reunite to find a way to destroy the monkey for good before it takes the lives of everyone close to them.”
When previously talking about the film Perkins said: “It’s gonna feel more like Misery or Creepshow or Gremlins or American Werewolf. It couldn’t be LESS like Longlegs.”
He went on to say: “To me, if you’re gonna make a movie about a toy monkey, you can be serious about it. But so much of King is funny and nostalgic-feeling.
“So we tried to make a movie that felt a little bit more like something from the late ’80s to ’90s.” For me, ideally, it’s the movie that kids and their parents wanna go see together.”
Here are some of the reactions that have surfaced:
Eric Davis said: “2025 is all about horror out of the gate, and Oz Perkins’ #TheMonkey is a very good time – incredibly funny to the point people were cackling in my theater, but also dark, gory & brutal with some amazing kills.
“Very different from LONGLEGS – Perkins flexing his range, tonally, delivering a film that very much enjoys monkeying around. You’ll jump and yell and cover your eyes, but you’ll definitely walk out smiling. No doubt you should watch this with a crowd.”
Jake Hamilton Said: “THE MONKEY is going to be one of those horror movies I watch over and over for the rest of my life. Dark and brutal enough so that calling it a ‘horror comedy’ feels wrong, but it’s also the hardest I’ve laughed in a movie theater in years. A new classic King adaption is born.”
Drew Taylor said: “Adored #TheMonkey. Oz Perkins has been one of the most exciting genre filmmakers since he started and his latest is about as good a time as you can have at the movies – funny, scary, poignant and so, so fun. A rare movie that can be compared to Gremlins in terms of giddy chaos.”
Issaac Feldberg said: “THE MONKEY: Death’s design as a cosmic joke, a killing machine that unleashes splatstick carnage and traumatizes everyone; cartoonishly bloody yet sincere about the inevitability of death and absurdity of processing chaos. Oz Perkins’ FINAL DESTINATION, in a mournfully droll key.”
Courtney Howard said: “Osgood Perkins’ #TheMonkey fuckin’ cooks. It’s BANANAS! An outlandishly demented, coked-up ride. Slick, stylized & sadistic. Gnarly, gleefully fresh kills & thrills – a la Rube Goldberg machines/ Final Destination-inspired demises. Theo James’ deadpan delivery impresses.”
Sign me up! I can’t wait to watch this for myself!
The movie stars Theo James (The White Lotus) alongside Tatiana Maslany (She–Hulk: Attorney at Law), Elijah Wood (Maniac), Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth), Colin O’Brien (Wonka), Rohan Campbell (Halloween Ends) and Sarah Levy (Schitt’s Creek).
The Monkey will be released in theaters on February 21, 2025.