Knock on Wood

Everyone dies. And that’s fucked up.

Writer/director Osgood Perkins has, by his own admission, a strange relationship with death. His own parents died in two uniquely tragic ways, and he has funnelled this connection into The Monkey, his follow-up to the summer horror hit that was Longlegs, which could not possibly be more tonally different.

Based on a short story by the master of horror himself, Stephen King, The Monkey takes a satirical, comical look at the inevitability that is one of two guaranteed human experiences (the other, of course, is birth) in a genre tradition – using conventions and horrific imagery as a metaphor for the human condition. The Monkey wears its heart on its sleeve (or rather, in its drumsticks) more so than most horror movies do, but that doesn’t make its takeaway any less effective.

At the center of it all is a vintage organ grinder monkey toy (depicted here with a drum instead of the classic cymbals because Disney, in their infinite generosity, trademarked the latter for Toy Story 3), which identical twin brothers Hal and Bill Shelburn uncover when going through their absent father’s belongings. When a string of gruesome deaths begin to occur around them, the boys attempt to destroy the wind-up beast they are certain is causing the violence to spiral…but when the evil resurfaces years later, the boys (now both played by Divergent’s Theo James) reconnect in an effort to quell the monster for good.

The highlight of The Monkey (and its best selling point) is the absolutely ludicrous and over-the-top violent deaths that are spread throughout its brisk 98 minutes. They are blatantly unrealistic and sensational, which only serves to further sequester The Monkey into its own terrifying fantasy world, where Final Destination-esque chain reactions result in the funniest and silliest death scenes you could possibly imagine. You can tell that someone with an absolutely sick sense of humor is behind the camera, someone who is more than willing to confront the idea of death while being careful to play by his own rules rather than the brutal ones of our own.

The Monkey is spectacularly different from King’s original short story, and that makes the final product even better. Perkins’ wry personality shines through in this delightfully demented ode to the inescapable fate awaiting us all…after all, as long as we know it’s coming, there’s more than enough time to laugh about it beforehand. Theo James, who has been taking on more and more interesting work since his escape from YA adaptation hell, is incredibly funny here, delivering two wildly divergent (ha ha) performances as the adult Hal and Bill, whose lives have sent them down very different paths. Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk), Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings), Rohan Campbell (Halloween Ends), Sarah Levy (Schitt’s Creek) all co-star, but never more than for a few scenes – this is James’ movie. It’s about time he had a proper showcase for his acting ability, and it’s all here on-screen. I will be incredibly excited to see not just what he, but also Perkins, will do next.

The Monkey has all the trimmings of a late 20th-century horror comedy with all the 21st century resources to make it as bloody and exciting as can be. Turns out when you put an incredibly skilled creative together with ripe source material and an ensemble of performers who are game to get goofy and gory, you get an unbelievably fun and invigorating genre picture! The horror renaissance continues, and so long as we know we’re all heading the same way eventually, we might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

The Monkey opens in theaters on February 21.