Warning: SPOILERS for The Monkey and Monkey Shines.Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey continues earning favor as one of the most well-received Stephen King adaptations in years for its blend of horror with outrageous comedy, but its premise and themes bear curious similarities to a much older film by horror legend George A. Romero. Released in 1988, Romero’s Monkey Shines didn’t achieve anything close to The Monkey‘s positive reviews. Despite being one of Romero’s most difficult movies to film and edit (cut to less than two hours from a 240-page script), it’s nonetheless considered among his worst. But for fans of Romero or The Monkey, it’s worth closer inspection.
Much like The Monkey, Romero’s Monkey Shines was adapted from literature. Adhering to the original Michael Stewart novel relatively closely, Monkey Shines follows a newly quadriplegic man named Allan (Peter Beghe) whose genetically altered service monkey Ella begins killing those around him. Between the sci-fi angle and the use of an actual capuchin, Monkey Shines and The Monkey sound very different on the surface. But while Monkey Shines‘ premise certainly doesn’t lend itself to culminating in the same over-the-top chaos as The Monkey‘s ending, there is no shortage of other similarities along the way.
George Romero’s Monkey Shines Is A Lot Like The Monkey
Both Are Monkey-Themed Horror Adaptations With Similar Conflicts
Despite its cymbal-clashing appearance in the marketing, The Monkey‘s original toy inspiration makes no actual appearance in Monkey Shines. However, Ella plays an extremely similar role to that played by the children’s toy in The Monkey. Much as Bill (Theo James) turns the wind-up key on the monkey’s back with no idea who will die or when, Allan is responsible for setting Ella on her victims without actually being able to control her behaviors. The major difference between the two is that, while he doesn’t actively choose them, Allan at least has some sense of which victims Ella will target.
This stems from an odd telepathic link between Ella and Allan. Comparisons between The Monkey and Final Destination focus on both films’ use of Rube Goldberg-style chains of events that result in ᴅᴇᴀᴅly accidents, but Ella kills whenever Allan feels rage toward a particular person. For instance, Ella targets Allan’s doctor John Wiseman (Stanley Tucci) after Allan learns that Wiseman not only misdiagnosed his paralysis as incurable but also started sleeping with Allan’s girlfriend. But as Allan learns how Ella chooses her targets, a heavier thematic similarity between Monkey Shines and The Monkey comes to light.
Monkey Shines Isn’t Based On Stephen King’s The Monkey, But It’s Oddly Similar
The Two Movies Share Surprisingly Heavy Themes About Control
The similarities between Monkey Shines and The Monkey are oddly coincidental considering their origins. Michael Stewart’s 1983 novel Monkey Shines was published only 3 years after Stephen King’s short story, with Romero’s film releasing just another 5 years after that. Whether by coincidence or not, Romero’s very next film would be his own King adaptation, The Dark Half. But regardless of whether this suggests a creative inspiration between Stewart’s Monkey Shines and King’s “The Monkey,” the movie versions are extremely similar in terms of theme.
Despite operating largely as a comedy, The Monkey follows other Osgood Perkins horror movies in centering on poignant themes. Hal (also James) tells both his son Petey (Colin O’Brien) and brother Bill that life and death are too random and accidental to be predicted or controlled. This theme first introduces itself when Hal accidentally sets the toy on his own mother, causing him to understand the meaning behind the box’s description of the monkey as “like life.”
Allan simultaneously mirrors both of The Monkey‘s main characters, struggling with both Bill’s wrathful hatred of those who have wronged them and Hal’s guilt over their deaths.
Monkey Shines at first appears to be saying something about the ethics of scientific testing on animals, but it becomes clear throughout the film that the real theme centers on Allan allowing himself to become trapped by his own fury over circumstances he can’t control. Allan simultaneously mirrors both of The Monkey‘s main characters, struggling with both Bill’s wrathful hatred of those who have wronged him and Hal’s guilt over their deaths. Just as The Monkey‘s toy symbolizes life’s unpredictability, Allan’s teeth turning into Ella’s whenever he’s enraged represents the transformative consequences of living in wrathful fantasy.
Monkey Shines Is Worth Watching For Anyone Who Loved The Monkey
Just Because It’s Not A Comedy Doesn’t Mean You Won’t Laugh
While The Monkey leans heavily into comedy, Monkey Shines is very much the kind of 1980s horror movie that elicits laughs without even trying. It may not have anything as ridiculous as The Monkey‘s cheerleaders, but it does have an unintentionally hilarious scene of Allan getting attacked by a parakeet and a phone chord somehow proving strong enough to immobilize a motorized wheelchair. And Monkey Shines‘ climax contains one of the film’s most hilarious moments of all, in which Allan kills Ella by picking her up with his teeth and shaking her like a dog with a chew toy.
Comedy fans will also enjoy an early appearance by Stephen Root as the film’s main human villain. There’s plenty of reason to enjoy Monkey Shines outside any tonal, thematic, or plot-based similarities to The Monkey. Tom Savini does very little in the film, but one Alien-like effect toward the end is a great reminder of the man’s craftsmanship. It’s also not extremely common to see a quadriplegic horror protagonist, but the movie largely pulls it off well. Whether interested in monkeys, unintentional comedy, or the works of George A. Romero, it’s a nifty film to check out.
