Warning: There are spoilers ahead for The Monkey.

A bus driving around Hollywood depicts The Monkey‘s final kill, leaving onlookers shocked by blood-soaked cheerleaders. This audacious publicity stunt is part of the promotional campaign for Osgood Perkins’ latest horror-comedy, The Monkey, an adaptation of Stephen King’s short story. Following the Nicolas Cage-led horror of Longlegs, this film centers around twin brothers, Hal and Bill Shelburn, who inherit a wind-up toy monkey that drums up a gruesome death whenever its key is turned. The cast of The Monkey features Theo James as both Hal and Bill, alongside Tatiana Maslany, Colin O’Brien, and Elijah Wood.

Now, NEON has shared a video of their latest promotional stunt: a school bus filled with lifelike mannequins of decapitated cheerleaders, a remake of the film’s climactic scene when a semi-truck slams past the bus full of cheering high schoolers. As the bus traversed the star-lined streets of Hollywood, pedestrians looked on at the decimated bodies in a mix of horror and fascination. Watch the full video below:

What The Monkey’s Publicity Stunt Means

A Shocking Kill That Defines The Film

Perkins has built a reputation for crafting disturbing and unnerving horror, and The Monkey is no exception. The bus decapitation scene is one of the bloodiest moments in the film. This gruesome yet egregiously comical approach aligns perfectly with the film’s overarching interplay between instantaneous death and laughter, something ScreenRant‘s Mae Abdulbaki highlights in her review of The Monkey, who gave it a score of 6 out of 10:

Death itself is treated as a fact of life (and it is), but it’s also approached with a sense of comical callousness that underscores its level of unbridled nonsense.

Despite mixed reviews, The Monkey‘s bizarre and bloody spectacle has proven to be a financial success, amᴀssing nearly $24 million globally against its $10 million budget. This follows an ongoing trend of low-budget horror films pulling in major audiences, as seen with Perkins’ previous success with Longlegs, which earned an impressive $126 million on the same budget, and Damien Leone’s Terrifer 3, which grossed $90.2 million on even less ($2 million.) It seems it pays off to be a horror film that embraces shocking violence with a distinct tonal idenтιтy.

Our Take On The Monkey’s Publicity Stunt

Gory, Audacious, And Unforgettable

NEON’s marketing stunt, as shocking as it is, has only strengthened the film’s notoriety, ensuring that one of The Monkey‘s bloodiest scenes remains at the forefront of our minds. It reminds me of the recent promotional stunt for the highly-anticipated sophomore season of Severance, where its leading characters were encased in a glᴀss box in the middle of Grand Central Station. After The Monkey, innovative marketing strategies like these might become more commonplace as creators begin to rethink the boundaries of promotion.

Source: NEON/YouTube