Monkey Shines

"Monkey Shines" aka "Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear" (1988, George A. Romero, Orion Pictures) is a film about a killer Capuchin monkey and one man's life changing.


Allan (Jason Beghe) is an active man with a seemingly idyllic lifestyle. Alas, things change for Allan when he is involved in an accident, rendering him quadriplegic. With his life forever altered, his girlfriend leaving him for his Neurosurgeon, John Wiseman (Stanley Tucci), and his meddling mother (Joyce Van Patten) and rough nurse (Christine Forrest) on the scene controlling his every move, Allan is beginning to feel that death would be a simpler solution.


In a morally questionable attempt to help out his buddy and also protect his human brain tissue/monkey injection research from his sneaky boss, Geoffrey (John Pankow), a scientist friend of Allan's, decides to have his best monkey specimen, Six (Boo) trained by Melanie (Kate McNeill); a specialist in quadriplegia and a trainer of helper monkeys for the disabled. Melanie renames Six Ella and trains her up.


Soon Allan is finding a new lease on life again with both his helpful little monkey pal and with Melanie. Unbeknownst to them both, however, Geoffrey is still injecting Ella with his serum in an attempt to increase her intellect to human levels. As time progresses and Allan's bond with Ella increases, it becomes apparent that things are getting creepy. Especially when things and people that upset Allan suddenly wind up dead at very small, somewhat hairy hands...


A fun but clunky piece that does not feel like any other Romero movie. However, being his first studio film, this may be the main reason why and the odd outcome seemed to disenchant Romero with studio films completely as he soon returned to independent films which gave him more creative freedom. The monkey is adorable, there's one or two jumps and the film approaches themes of romance with a disabled character with a fair amount of class and a fairly x-rated scene. Overall it is a  fairly enjoyable film, however, it suffers from pacing, a lot of studio changes that make it feel unstructured and a decidedly odd feeling ending.

[Image: Orion Pictures]

Hani



Pet Sematary

"Pet Sematary" (2019, Kevin Kölsch, Dennis Widmyer, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Paramount Pictures) is the second film adaptation of Stephen King's haunting novel of the same name. My thoughts on the 1989 film can be found here.

Dr. Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) moves from Boston to the small town of Ludlow, Maine with his wife, Rachel (Amy Seimetz), young daughter, Ellie (Jeté Laurence) and toddler son, Gage (Hugo and Lucas Lavoie). The point was to get away from their hectic and busy lives in the city, but after a student called Victor Pascow (Obssa Ahmed) is killed in a traumatic accident things begin to get strange for the Creed family. The deceptively quiet country road right by their house turns out to be treacherously busy with fast moving, large trucks and their elderly neighbour Jud Crandall (John Lithgow) knows one or two local secrets more than he should maybe share. Including, the mystery of the pet cemetery in the woods and... what lies beyond...

An interesting retelling that stays true to the spirit of the novel whilst making some key changes. I don't dislike the changes and found them to add a new dimension to the plot. As a big fan of the novel and the 1989 film, I hadn't really known how I would feel about this version, but I found it enjoyable overall.

The film offers a few jumps and jolts throughout and I found the development and reveal of the scenes with Rachel's sister Zelda to be a well realised. The local childrens' tradition of burying their pets in the 'sematary' in creepy masks had a nice Wickerman feel to it which I felt complimented the plot overall.

Clarke and Seimetz give good performances as the Creeds, however, it's hard to contend with Lithgow's Jud who really steals the show. Even as a die hard fan of Fred Gwynne's famous take on the character, I really enjoyed Lithgow's performance. His regret was palpable by the end of the film. Jeté Laurence really shows her stuff as sweet little Ellie... and then some! And Obssa Ahmed gives a nicely creepy, and somewhat less sarcastic, performance as Pascow. The makeup for Pascow is also very juicy... mmm, exposed brain.

The effects are overall very good and the film enjoys some good pacing. The strangest thing for me was the cemetery and burial grounds themselves which felt very much like a movie set and didn't show the depth and realism I was anticipating.

Louis' spiral in his despair and his desperation to get his family back is, as ever, sad and extremely dark. Overall, I felt the changes in the plot in this respect were a refreshing option and allowed us to experience a more talkative and grim analysis of human beings' inability to accept death. Church (Leo, Tonic, Jager and JD) was also extremely well realised.

For me the ending was even more haunting than both the novel and the initial '89 film and worked very well.

Overall, it hasn't dislodged the 1989 film from its pedestal for me, but it was entertaining and dark. While some of the changes didn't quite hit home, and some of the scenes felt like they had not been taken to their full promise, the overall film was an interesting take on the novel and an entertaining retelling.

[Image: Paramount Pictures]

Hani

Us

"Us" (2019, Jordan Peele, Monkeypaw Productions, Universal Pictures) is a horror film about a family who are confronted by violent doppelgangers.

We meet Adelaide (Madison Curry) as a child with her parents at the pier attractions. While her parents are distracted, she wanders off and finds her way to a hall of mirrors. Whilst inside she sees something terrifying...

Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) is now all grown up. She, her husband, Gabe (Winston Duke) and their two kids, Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex), are enjoying a holiday at her family's cabin. After a day at the beach with their friends, the Tylers, Adelaide appears out of sorts and tells Gabe about the encounter she had in the hall of mirrors. Gabe, naturally does not believe her, but soon they notice a family standing threateningly outside the cabin. A family that looks disturbingly familiar...

An unsettling and thoughtful film that also delivers a fair amount of violence, gore and action. The moments of comedy are well timed, amusing and compliment the more tense points of the film. I enjoyed that the film felt almost nostalgic in its story telling, styling and scoring but was set in present day.

The characters are well rounded and relatable which makes it all the more effective when we meet their doppelgangers who are similar yet animalistic and antithetical in nature. There isn't a bad thing to say about any of the cast's performances, but Nyong'o's emotional performance steals the show both as Adelaide and her counterpart.

The film makes a point of not answering all the questions raised leaving a couple more holes than was perhaps necessary but delivers enough turns in the plot to leave you pondering over it in the wake of viewing. An amusing piece that says a thing or two about human nature and what defines a villain.

[Image: Monkeypaw Productions, Universal Pictures]

Hani

Lords of Chaos

"Lords of Chaos" (2018, Jonas Åkerlund, Insurgent Media, Scott Free Films, RSA Films, Eleven Arts, Vice Films, 20th Century Fox, Arrow Films) is the semi-fictionalised telling of the infamous events around the Norwegian Black Metal band, Mayhem.


The story is told from the perspective of band founder and central member, Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth (Rory Culkin) from his creation of the band to his murder in 1993. Throughout the film we are introduced to Øystein's feelings and philosophies on Black Metal. He feels superior and in command and soon has a small clique of similarly minded fans and other bands. He begins his own black metal label and opens a record shop called "Helvete" where metallers can socialise, drink and hear Euronymous' sporadic dark sermons and venomous rhetoric as part of the "Black Circle".


After exploiting the death of Mayhem's troubled lead singer, Dead (Jack Kilmer), for some new and darker street cred, Euronymous hires new band members including Varg Vikernes (Emory Cohen), who had changed his name from Kristian after a previous embarrassing run in with the band. Varg seemed like someone Euronymous can exploit, but it becomes evident that Varg is committed to his extremist beliefs and happy to carry out the kind of dark deeds which Euronymous had only bragged about. As the chaos escalates Euronymous finds he's lost control.


A grim premise based on true events, but with a fair amount of artistic licence. As a viewer the film was entertaining, gory, shocking and exciting. The events unfold at a pace that keeps you watching and the characters are hypnotically flawed. The portrayal of both Øystein and Varg are truly captivating to watch as these two essentially weak characters with a disproportionate sense of grandeur clumsily circle and bait each other throughout the film during their power struggle. The shocking scenes of death and self-harm are very gritty and the effects work extremely well.


As a metal fan the film made more headway out of the contemptible actions of the characters than it did about how the band were fundamental in creating a now well-established sub-genre (though, thankfully not all bands take themselves quite as seriously as this line-up of Mayhem did) and the tone was a little hard to read in places, but I feel that this was never the intent of the film and the horror and thriller aspects really delivered for me. I was entertained.

[Image: Insurgent Media, et al]

Hani

You Might be the Killer

"You Might be the Killer" (2018, Brett Simmons, Chuck Wendig, Curmudgeon Films) is a horror comedy set at a Summer Camp in America.

Sam (Fran Kranz) is a camp counsellor who awakes from a blackout to find that there has been a massacre at the summer camp he works at. He can't remember much before the blackout, but while on the phone to his horror movie fan friend, Chuck (Alyson Hannigan) things begin to clear and he begins to question his role in the bloodshed.

A fun and extremely meta horror comedy which plays tropes from a range of genre favourites for laughs. Starting out as a viral Twitter conversation between authors, Chuck Wendig and Sam Sykes, the film is very playful, suitably gory and extremely tongue in cheek.

As a fan of both Kranz and Hannigan, I can't say I went into this film anything but keen and open minded, but I'm happy to report that the film was solid and irreverent enough that I know I would have enjoyed it anyway, even without those two filling the key roles. Kranz, however, continues to be able to get away with (on screen/in universe) murder while remaining a very sympathetic character.

Like most horror comedies, the main plot joke does lose some of its sting by the end of the run time. But its cheeky styling and ability to poke fun at the genre whilst remaining respectful of horror as a whole makes this a playful and entertaining watch.

Available to watch on Shudder.

[Image: Curmudgeon Films]

Hani

Society

"Society" (1989, Brian Yuzna, Wild Street Pictures) is a body horror film which was actually the directorial debut from Yuzna who brought us "Re-Animator" and "From Beyond" so... you know what you're in for.

Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) is a teenager in Beverly Hills. He lives with his wealthy parents and sister, Jenny (Patrice Jennings). Despite his luxurious lifestyle, Bill feels alienated from his highfalutin family, and this is the main focus of his weekly meetings with his therapist, Dr. Cleveland (Ben Slack). Bill becomes obsessed with finding out what's going on when Jenny's ex-boyfriend, Blanchard (Tim Bartell), gives him a cassette tape which seems to implicate his family in a disturbing and murderous act. As Bill begins to delve deeper into the mystery of his family and the apparent elite cult that they are a part of, he begins to suspect that he may be more alone than he thought.... And that his enemies may have gruesome plans for him...

An entertaining and gooey horror comedy which builds to a fairly disturbing and equally funny climax. The effects (by Screaming Mad George (Joji Tani)) are surreal, perverse and delightfully gruesome and are, in all fairness, the true star of the film which is admittedly a little clunky in the plot department.

This is definitely a must-see for any body horror fan and will leave you chuckling and possibly also a little traumatised.

[Image: Wild Street Pictures]

Hani

Perfect Skin

**This review contains spoilers**

"Perfect Skin" (2018, Kevin Chicken, Perfect Skin Productions, KEW Media Group) is a psychological horror film about an obsessive tattoo artist who goes way too far in his attempts to create a masterpiece.

Katia (Natalia Kostrzewa) is a Polish woman who moves in with her Australian friend, Lucy (Jo Woodcock), in her London flat. While out partying Lucy introduces Katia to Bob (Richard Brake), an American tattoo artist who Lucy had received some tattoo work from in the past. Bob offers to design Katia her first tattoo, but he becomes obsessed with her as a perfect 'blank canvas' and kidnaps her in order to turn her into his personal masterpiece.

An extremely dark and sinister plot which is well executed and creates uncomfortable but intriguing viewing. As Katia wakes to discover more and more changes to her body she becomes both horrified at the transformation being done without her consent and also interested in spite of herself in what Bob has planned, as well as in his other dark interests.

A study in obsession, dominance and retaliation which manages not to vilify the sub-culture of body modification, despite the antagonist's misuse of it. The film straddles the void between exploitation movies and torture films becoming fairly difficult to fit into any one box. While certainly not pleasant viewing, the cast deliver a haunting performance that may leave you looking for the wire brush and dettol afterwards.

Currently available to rent from YouTube.

[Image: KEW Media Group, et al]

Hani