Monkey Shines Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil...
Once there was a man whose prison was a chair. The man had a monkey, they made the strangest pair. The monkey ruled the man, it climbed inside his head. And now as fate would have it, one of them is dead.
An Experiment In Fear
A paralyzed man is given a genetically engineered monkey to assist him in his daily life, but what begins as a convenience turns into a living nightmare when the servant becomes the master in a dark and disturbing fashion.
| Jason Beghe | Allan Mann |
| John Pankow | Geoffrey Fisher |
| Kate McNeil | Melanie Parker |
| Joyce Van Patten | Dorothy Mann |
| Christine Forrest | Maryanne Hodges |
| Stephen Root | Dean Burbage |
| Stanley Tucci | Dr. John Wiseman |
| Boo | Ella |
| Janine Turner | Linda Aikman |
| William Newman | Doc Williams |
| Tudi Wiggins | Esther Fry |
| Tom Quinn | Charlie Cunningham |
| Chuck Baker | Ambulance Driver |
| Patricia Tallman | Party Guest |
| David Early | Anesthetist |
| George A. Romero |
6.00 out of 10 (2138 votes)
Visitor Reviews
A great monkey movie
posted on 09 Aug 2009Perhaps my comments are colored by the fact that Mr.
Romero has just concluded a visit to the school I am
attending, but for a cheesy psycho thriller, this is a great flick. Mr. Romero doesn't just shock and scare, he makes every attempt, within his budget, to build character and plot.
besides that, you can't predict the script. Another Romero trademark Although he stated in the Q&A that the monkeys were a
nightmare to work with, he was able to pull out of the reams of footage, significant action and emotion from the apes to give the film credence and a concrete base. Time Magazine called it "The best monkey movie since the
original 'King Kong'". Take a look, and have some fun, in spite of the cornball ending
George A. Romero's Monkey Shines is interesting horror film mixing handicaps with animals
posted on 28 Jun 2009George A. Romero's Monkey Shines is a pretty interesting horror movie about a monkey's sharing a mind with a paraplegic law student named Allan (Jason Beghe). Nice score by David Shire with wonderful use of Peggy Lee songs throughout. It almost loses steam at the end but there's a wonderful shock involving the monkey Ella (Boo) before the happy ending. Look for future TV stars John Pankow, Janine Turner, Stephen Root, and Stanley Tucci in pivotal roles. Also appearing are Kate McNeil as the love interest, Joyce Van Patten as Allan's mother, and Mrs. George Romero, Christine Forrest, as the maid Maryanne whose bird, Bogie, meets an untimely end. Makes you wonder how dangerous such harmless little monkeys can be...
No Monkey's Uncle
posted on 24 Apr 2009George Romero has a knack for creating suspenseful horror movies using very little in the way of anything. His movies rely on atmosphere with a dash of special effects. In this case, the horror comes from a (not so) innocent little monkey. Well, the monkey is innocent, but the monkey's master is not.
We start the movie off with a little bedroom action, which is really just a teaser to get you into the movie. We see a little bit of skin as we meet Allan Mann (Jason Beghe) and Linda Aikman (Janine Turner). We quickly learn that Allan is very fit, and he is quickly out on his morning jog, when he has a close encounter of the grill kind. Unfortunately, such encounters end badly, and in this one Allan becomes a (nasty) quadriplegic. Of course, going from a fit, macho man to a quadriplegic is sufficiently traumatic that it would upset nearly everyone, and Allan reacts to the situation quite badly. He is helped down the road to rage by the departure of girlfriend Linda.
Luckily for Allan he has a brilliant friend working at Allan's university, Geoffrey Fisher (John Pankow) and his brilliant friend arranges for Melanie Parker (Kate McNeil) to train a Capuchin monkey for Allan to use as a helper. In many other movies we would see touching moments and in the end Allan would develop a cure of some incurable disease, or win a Nobel or Pulitzer Prize. In a George Romero movie, something sinister is going to happen. In this case the sinister is the experiments the Geoffrey has been performing on the normally harmless monkeys, experiments where Geoffrey injects human brain soup into them to try to increase their intelligence. To this point Geoffrey has met with little success, but the pairing of Allan and monkey Ella (played by monkey Boo - seriously) turns out to be fortuitous, or not, depending on which character you are in the movie.
It seems that this time the treatment has formed some sort of empathic bond between Ella and Allan. The bond appears to work both ways. Allan picks up on Ella's primal behavior, and Ella picks up on Allan's feelings of frustration, rage and revenge. The empathy the two feel becomes increasing the feelings each have, and eventually Ella begins to act on Allan's feelings, with murder and mayhem being the result.
This movie has its high points and its low points. The movie is relatively bloodless, so if you are looking for a gore-fest you should probably move on. The tension in the movie builds, but there is little actual surprise, except for the ending. You can even figure out who will die because Romero makes most of the people who die deserving of death. Indeed, one of the low points of this movie is how stereotypical the characters are.
Some of the most annoying stereotypes are main character Allan, who likely was arrogant before he died, but now he has become what he probably previously looked down on. So now he is taking out his frustrations on anyone and everyone. Allan's mother Dorothy (Joyce Van Patten) was genuinely concerned about Allan, but I also thought she was a bit obnoxious (like mother, like son?).
The worst character was probably Geoffrey Fisher. I am not a big fan of scientists as portrayed by most movies because they are unbelievable. Geoffrey was supposed to be a "real" scientist, but his behavior was most unscientific, particularly for someone who was supposed to be on the cutting edge of science. Science is often made the scapegoat for these sorts of movies, when in reality it is some weirdo who thinks he is a scientist, but turns out to be psychotic. You have to admit, turning a poor little monkey into a killer was brilliant. Even more brilliant is how Geoffrey acted like he was surprised that the monkey was a vicious killer.
I vacillated between 3 and 4 stars for this movie. I wanted to give the movie 4 stars because of how well Romero filmed the scenes involving the monkey. However, the stereotypes and overacting tended to push the movie down in my estimation. Also, though I thought the ending had its good points, it also had its weaknesses. Thus, though there are places in this movie that rise to the level of 4 stars, overall this movie comes in at a more solid 3 stars.
An Experiment in Guilty Pleasures
posted on 08 Apr 2009***SPOILER WARNING***George Romero has had a low-flying career since making himself a household name with `Night of the Living Dead'. Most of his movies are junk but every once in a while he comes up with something new and different. `Monkey Shines' is born from interesting ideas hatched from the mad scientist movies of yesteryear. Vincent Price would love this movie.`Monkey Shines' stars Jason Beghe as Allan a good looking guy with a gold medal job and a gorgeous fiancée and just a gosh darn good life. But since this is a horror movie we know that the all-mighty will hurl a monkey wrench into his blissful existence. One day while jogging he is hit by a truck and ends up in the hospital paralyzed from the waist down and has to use a wheel chair operated by a stick which he moves with his mouth.His life falls apart. His fiancée leaves him, his doting mother and his harridan nurse won't leave him alone and worse he entertains notions of suicide. Then his friend introduces him to Ella, a capuchin monkey specially trained at aiding the handicapped. Allan begins to have a special bond with Ella, she seems to know what he needs.What Allan doesn't know is that Ella has been injected with human brain cells. She begins to not only bond with Allan but, he suspects, she can read his mind. When he goes to sleep he has nightmares (visions really) of what Ella is doing which includes doing away with his former fiancée and her new lover. She seems to be reading his mind and carrying out his deepest sadistic wishes. Later Ella becomes jealous of the animal trainer (Kate McNeil) that has fallen for Allan and the real battle begins.`Monkey Shines' ends with the typical violent showdown but I have to love a movie this eager to try something new. The movie is a horror story and therefore very melodramatic, as it should be. When other horror directors trim their movies down so that only the cliches are left, Romero pumps this one full of of lot of goofy invention.Rating: *** (of four)
* * * out of 4.
posted on 18 Mar 2009Young athletic Allen (Jason Beghe) finds himself paralyzed from the waist down after a truck hits him. An experimental pet monkey is brought in to help him out with his daily routines. However, as Allen's anger grows over his situation he finds out that his pet monkey is going around killing people and carrying out his dark desires. Thoughtful well made cleverly directed horror flick has a scary, intense finale. One of George A. Romero's better latter day efforts.Rated R; Nudity, Profanity, Violence.
Could've been better, could've been a lot worse
posted on 28 Feb 2009George Romero, with his films and choosing of certain projects, is at least dependably unpredictable. The genres he works in 99% of the time are in the horror genre, or some bird of it (be it with zombies in his 'Dead' films, or more psychological with Martin and the Dark Half). Here he brings us the tale of a once prime athlete confined to a wheelchair, and the plucky little monkey who is trained to help him around the house and act as his companion as well as hands and feet. But, of course, things don't turn out right with what this 'experiment' comes forth. It's like one of those stories you find in those cheap paperback books at the grocery store, only stripped down to bare essentials and given some adrenaline from its filmmaker.This is a peculiar film to see, which offers brilliance as well as dullness and just plain oddness. Some things about the story make less sense than others as well (as will happen when science becomes important to the story as opposed to more of a MacGuffin). The lead actor, Jason Beghe, is good in the role, but isn't nearly as convincing in being the after effect of the 'medicine' he's given (as does the Monkey) as he is in being the earnest, nice side of the character. There is even one great supporting performance in cold, hard-pressed form from Christine Forrest (wife and bit player in the films of Romero). It's not meant to be taken very seriously, to be sure, but Romero on the one hand has a kind of sweet (in the ironic sense), interesting story with just the monkey and her master, as the injections start to take its toll on the both of them. On the other hand, he still has to work in this framework of building up more and more terror with a kind of one-foot death-machine or something.It's worth a look, especially for just the craft of the film, but it's definitely not one of Romero's best.
Underrated Romero film
posted on 22 Feb 2009This film has been described as a "horror film for people who don't like horror films." That's an apt description for this underrated psychological/supernatural thriller from Pittsburgh's master horror director, George A. Romero. To date, this is Romero's only studio film, and he had to make numerous compromises to the finished product. (The originally intended ending would have been a killer.) That said, the film still comes off as smart and sharp, with some very good casting. (John Pankow, recognizable from "Mad About You," is really excellent here, and there are nice early performances from Stephen Root, Stanley Tucci, and Janine Turner.) And check out the amazingly good editing in the last 10 minutes. Overall, while this is not first-tier Romero, it's a terrific little horror film.
Genius Romero momentarily evolves into a primitive Hollywood monkey
posted on 24 Jan 2009Sorry George, I love ya, but what happened? Monkey Shines has an incredibly intelligent and unique premise. After a debilitating accident left him paralyzed, Allan Mann is introduced to Ella, a highly intelligent monkey. This animal has specialized training to help him adjust and cope with this drastic change in his lifestyle. It's a match made in heaven, Ella's skills and comprehensive abilities are extraordinary. But there is more to the story, of course. Ella has been injected with a special scientific formula, and the pair have unknowingly become part of an experiment. In the process they form an eerie bond, a possible telepathic link. Ella starts anticipating Allan's thoughts and acting out his subconscious desires. This soon turns violent, and the results are pretty frightening. The suspense builds steadily and provides some interesting subplots. Unfortunately though it gets a little too far-fetched and ridiculous. When this cute little monkey goes on a killing rampage, I couldn't help but shake my head. It made me wonder how a younger Romero might have handled the climax, possibly toned it down some. Maybe current audiences aren't much for subtlety, but I think this could have been one of the greats. Oh well, still not bad. 3.5 stars.
One-note horror drama.
posted on 02 Jan 2009This somewhat slow and drawn-out horror film gets increasingly predictable as it moves along. About halfway through, the basic plot pattern (a telepathic connection between a man and a monkey) has become perfectly clear, and there are no surprises left. But the movie does offer some compensations; among them, the acceptable acting and the gruesome climactic scene. All in all, an average horror entry. (**)
Not sure even yet
posted on 30 Dec 2008The fact that this person says "George Romero" 'always disappoints' can be taken to mean (a) the average 'non-horror' movie fan or (b). the average movie-fan" - which yeah, maybe that's why he's never made the crossover BIG as in HUGE time, unless you count "Night of the Living Dead" as one of the CLASSIC horror films of ALL times! The man (Romero)has films like "Day of The Dead" which was one of those movies even fans kind of wondered about a bit (as Laurel Entertainment was transforming itself) but Entertainment Weekly voted "Day" one of the best horror films of all time as well. I certyainly believe the Romero catalogue are all excellent stabs at pieces of social issues that lie underneath whatever events were going on with the world from a historic standpoint as well. But then what would I know, I was only the Garbage Man(uncredited) in "Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear"rik billockPS Also I was in "Dawn of the Dead"(the original-Mall Suit Zombie)"Knightrdiers" (Blacksmith) "The Dark Half"(Donaldson Cop #2) "Night of the Living Dead-90"(Porch Cameo Zombie-Gerry Gerely made me up like Farmer Ned, who I play in "Flesh Eater") and I was supposed to be silo zombie in "Day of the Dead" BUT politics ruled its ugly head!
Bad Monkey, Bad!
posted on 15 Jul 2008I find it interesting that we've not heard anything from the top billed actors in this film, but Stephan Root, Janine Turner and Stanley Tucci all have gone on to successful movie careers.Anyway, back to the movie. It reeks of a made for TV special and the acting is pretty awful. It's fun to watch with a date or friends; too see who and how the little primate will do in next. There is a truly scary scene in which the nurse, who at first finds a banana peel in her slipper next finds her dead pet bird. But these chilling moments are few. And that's too bad, because what this movies really need was more development of the monkey's subtle human qualities of vengeance.An incredibly bad movie that had potential; I liked the premise a lot. Hopefully a better treatment will come out in the future.
Very disappointing.
posted on 30 Jun 2008Monkey Shines starts as athlete Allan Mann (Jason Beghe) is hit by a truck while out running, he is taken to hospital where Dr. John Wiseman (Stanley Tucci) operates & saves his life but unfortunately Allan is left as a wheel chair bound quadriplegic who only has movement in his neck & face. Obviously depressed after the accident his girlfriend Linda (Janine Turner) runs off with Dr. Wiseman & Allan attempts to commit suicide, his scientist friend Geoffrey Fisher (John Pankow) finds him & saves him. In an attempt to help Allan Geoffrey contacts animal trainer Melanie Parker (Kate McNeil) & ask's her to train one of his lab monkey's to act as Allan's helper which she does. The monkey called Ella makes a big difference to Allan's life & acts as his hands but Geoffrey doesn't mention the tiny fact that he has been injecting Ella with a serum made from human brains in an attempt to increase her intelligence, it proves a success beyond Geoffrey's expectations & has horrifying consequences...Also known as Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear this was written & directed by George A. Romero & I really wanted to like this, I like most horror fans love what Romero did for the genre during his early career with stonewall 100% solid gold classics like Night of the Living Dead (1968), Martin (1977), Dawn of the Dead (1978), Creepshow (1982) & in my opinion the criminally underrated Day of the Dead (1985) so I really, really wanted to like Monkey Shines which is unusual for me because I generally go into films expecting nothing. Monkey Shines was Romero's first major studio picture for Orion & his script was based on the novel by Michael Stewart & I have to say I was disappointed in just about every aspect of it. The most long-lasting impression of the film I have is that it is unbearably slow, the first 45 minutes is so boring it's untrue as it only features Allan being crippled & him be given the monkey. The character's are unlikable, the dialogue is dull, no-one is believable & the relationships are just not quite there. Then there's the fact that this is meant to be a horror film, well there's absolutely no horror in it until the final 20 odd minutes & I was just sitting there watching Monkey Shines & was literally debating whether to turn it off & go to sleep & I can tell you it was a pretty close thing but I just about managed to stick it out. The story has some interesting points & nice ideas & that makes what ended up on screen even more disappointing, the little sub plot between Geoffrey & his slimy boss comes to absolutely nothing for instance & lazy contradictions because they fit the script conveniently like Ella being able to inject someone with poison using a needle while the next time she has the opportunity she doesn't know how anymore. I wasn't keen on the oh so happiest of happy endings either as a so called quadriplegic has surgery which 'cures' him & he literally rides off into the distance with the pretty girl to presumably live happily ever after.Director Romero knows how to make a decent looking film & he manages to inject some tension into the climatic ending when Monkey Shines actually tries to be a horror film, unfortunately the preceding 90 minutes are as dull as dishwater & contain some unintentionally funny scenes. The love making scene between Allan & Melanie is hilarious, he can move anything below his neck so she positions her womanly bits over his face & her orally pleases her in a truly hilarious looking moment. The monkey, who is credited as 'Boo', for the most part isn't scary or frightening & is a bit too cute for my liking, it's well trained through I'll give it that & it acts better than most of the human cast! This being a Romero film & having Tom Savini listed in the opening credits as special make-up effects man I was hoping for some good gore, unfortunately there's barely a drop of blood in it. There's a cut hand, a little bit of blood in a surgery scene & a silly Alien (1979) inspired effect in a dream sequence.I was amazed to see this had a budget of about $7,000,000, where did all the money go? There's no special effects, no action scenes, no big name stars & although it's competently made it's nothing special. I mean Day of the Dead had half the budget of Monkey Shines & it looks the more expensive film. The acting isn't anything special & the monkey Boo gets the 'best actor' honours in it.Monkey Shines was a huge disappointment to me, I was expecting so much more. I really liked the overall story but it's so slow, so devoid of any sort of horror & just plain stupid on too many occasions. I hate to say it but Monkey Shines is basically the beginning of the end of Romero's midas touch in the horror genre.
0.25 STARS: Everybody needs a monkey like Ella...too bad the movie sucked though.
posted on 17 May 2008More of an off-beat sci-fi-thriller than a horror movie, "Monkey Shines" is about a man named Alan who is involved in a terrible accident and is consequently paralyzed. After seeing how distraught Alan is, his friend, Jeff, decided to give Alan one of his lab monkeys that he was using to test some kind of secret serum he invented.
The monkey, Ella, is very smart and takes a liking to Alan. However, something strange begins to happen and so the title of this movie begins to make some sense. After a while, Alan sees himself getting very angry and then bad things start happening. I wish I had a monkey like Ella. She's the best character in this movie, but that's not saying much.
Coming off his zombie movies and "Creepshow", George A. Romero attempted something a little bit different with "Monkey Shines", but was it effective? The short answer of course is no. About the only thing interesting to "Monkey Shines" is certainly not the story itself but rather the very convincing and effective acting by Ella, the monkey in this story and the best actor as well, although Beghe was adequate in his role. It's really amazing the things that they were able to make this little monkey do. I will give them that much. Ella deserved an oscar compared to the other uninspiring and insipid performances (aside from Beghe) given by the cast in this flick.
However, while the monkey was entertaining at first, that's certainly not enough to make a good movie, much less a good and effective horror movie which "Monkey Shines" clearly is not. While somewhat unique, "Monkey Shines" is very slow to develop, full of unnecessary scenes, and is rather unconvincing, uncompelling and uninteresting throughout the movie. Marketed as a horror movie, "Monkey Shines" is actually more of an offbeat and ineffective attempt at a scifi-thriller movie.
I was surprised by what I perceived to be a very lackluster, uninspiring and completely dysfunctional effort by Romero with "Monkey Shines". Simply put, "Monkey Shines" is long, boring and leaves you feeling rather cheated and disappointed in the end because of the way they went with this movie. I must admit that I had an idea of what this was going to be like going in, but I must admit that I expected more out of this than I actually got.
By the time things start happening, the viewer has already become quite bored with the charm of Ella and her monkey business if you will because the movie is way too long for the amount of action that actually happens in this movie. When things do begin to happen, not much is really shown. The talents of Tom Savini were really wasted in this film. Not sure why they even asked him to help.
Incidentally, I remember this movie being rather unsuccessful at the box office, and so I never watched it until now. I caught it on fearnet and I can certainly see why this movie has been unable to find much of a following, but I honestly cannot see why this movie found its way on to DVD. I guess it just goes to show you how some good movies still have not find their way on to DVD, but there is plenty of assorted DVD trash like "Monkey Shines" to go around.
"Monkey Shines" is a very poor excuse for a horror movie, and I would not recommend it to anyone, unless you just love monkeys of course and even then this movie will leave with the proverbial "bad taste in your mouth". Indeed, this movie basically sucks.
As an interesting comparison, I think one can see a parallel between this movie and "The Hand" from psychological and paranormal perspectives. However, I thought "The Hand" was a much more sinister and interesting look at the darkness of the unconscious mind.
Monkey Shines Licks!
posted on 19 Feb 2008All right I thought this would be a good movie because I like George Romero. Well it is not. This is the absolute worst movie I have ever seen, and believe me I have seen lots. This is a no brainer, no gore, no story, no good acting, completely pathetic attempt at movie making. No Action, no blood, I'm not even sure if anyone dies. Romero the king of North American zombie flicks(Night,Day,Dawn...of the dead)has decapitated his image as a horror master. Please promise me whoever or wherever you are, never ever rent or purchase this movie, you will never recover from the nauseating memories of this film.
Nice try
posted on 08 Jan 2008"Monkey Shines" is an honorable effort that doesn't quite work. It deserves credit for originality, but falls short of the mark. The concept is interesting, but the execution leaves much to be desired. A paralyzed man's life is made easier with the help of Ellie, a monkey trained to help disabled people get by with their daily lives. However, she used to be a lab animal who has had human brain cells injected in experiments. A bond forms between the two, and she acts out his violent desires.The final act does a good job in delivering the goods, but the film takes too long to get going, diluting the overall effect. In fact, at times one almost forgets it's supposed to be a horror movie. When it gets going, it works, although the very ending is a bit much. I'm still not sure the sci-fi gimmick was necessary. Surely they could have done pretty much the same things without it? Something more supernaturally orientated perhaps? Still, I admired Romero's willingness to take chances and try his hand at a more subdued thriller. Jason Beghe does a credible job in the role, and we are offered a rare glance at the frustrations of the disabled. A tighter film would have better achieved the director's goals.**1/2 (out of ****)An Orion Pictures release
Romero's Tragic Film!
posted on 16 Nov 2007I love George A. Romero, I really respect him and it hurts to say "Monkey Shines" Stinks! This is his first movie made with a big company, like most independent directors there big budget movies stink. I loved all his movies made up until this one. Maybe the zombie master died when he ended his dead films with "Day of the Dead". This film is very slow and boring and the ending is so bad I ended up laughing and I never laughed at a Romero film before. I liked all his other movies even the ones that everyone else hated like "The Crazies",Season of the Witch","Knightriders", and "Martin" I own copies of all those films and of course "Dawn of the Dead", "Day of the Dead", "Night of the Living Dead" and "Creepshow" but you won't find "Monkey Shines" in my collection. Sadly this film isn't the same as the others it's missing something? I hate to say this but Romero let me down with this movie. Sadly Romero hasen't made a good film since "Day of the Dead" Is next film "The Dark Half" stunk also. Romero hasen't been the same since "Day of the Dead". I hope the Romero I know and love comes back and makes the good films again!
Monkey magic.
posted on 12 Aug 2009For his immediate follow up to the excellent Day of the Dead, George Romero ditches shuffling, flesh-eating corpses in favour of a much smaller, hairier, and altogether more unlikely antagonist: a capuchin monkey called Ella.After being injected with an experimental serum designed to enhance her intelligence, furry-faced Ella (brilliantly played by Boo, whose acting career has inexplicably stalled after this impressive debut) gradually turns into a murderous beast capable of tapping into the anger and resentment of her paraplegic owner Allan Mann (Jason Beghe) and carrying out his most primal desires. As little hairy Ella proceeds to bump off those who have wronged or upset her master, she proves to be every bit as deadly as a reanimated corpse, only a damn sight more devious.Monkey Shines is a decidedly different beast to the '...of the Dead' films for which Romero is so well known: the director eschews the cartoonish blood and guts approach that has made his zombie films so popular with gore-hounds (although make-up legend Tom Savini is still on hand to provide a couple of impressive effects), and opts instead for slow-burn tension and nail-biting suspense.This more mature and reserved directorial style, coupled with excellent performances (Beghe, who is limited to acting only with his head, is superb), a well written script (adapted by Romero from the novel by Michael Stewart), and a few decent jump scares, results in a satisfying little horror/chiller that proves there is more to Romero than just gut-munching and bullets to the head (not that I dislike gratuitous splatter, but a change is as good as a rest, as they say!).