Monkey Shines

Monkey Shines
Theatrical release poster
Directed by George A. Romero
Produced by Charles Evans
Peter Grunwald
Screenplay by George A. Romero
Based on Monkey Shines by Michael Stewart
Starring
Music by David Shire
Cinematography James A. Contner
Edited by Pasquale Buba
Distributed by Orion Pictures
Release date
  • July 29, 1988 (1988-07-29)
Running time
 113 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $7 million
Box office $5.3 million

Monkey Shines (also known as Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear) is a 1988 American horror film written and directed by George A. Romero, based on the novel by Michael Stewart.[2] The film stars Jason Beghe as Allan Mann, an athlete who becomes a paralyzed quadriplegic and develops a bond with an intelligent service monkey named "Ella". The film, which was produced by Peter Grunwald and Charles Evans, was Romero's first studio film, and was distributed by Orion Pictures.

Synopsis

Allan Mann (Beghe) is an athlete who is struck by a truck and the surgery to save him renders quadriplegic. Allan fails to adjust to his condition, becoming suicidal and despondent. When Geoffrey Fisher, a scientist friend of his (John Pankow), who has been experimenting with the injection of human brain tissue into Capuchin monkeys learns this, he is prompted to supply one of the experimental monkeys, named "Ella" (played by Boo, and voiced by Frank Welker), to Allan as a helper.

Their relationship is amicable at first, with Allan's life being made much easier, and the two bond deeply, even sharing poignant moments with romantic music, but soon their interaction takes a decidedly sinister turn. The monkey seems to become a telepathic receptacle for Allan's anger at his state and his desire for revenge against people who have wronged him for slights both real and imagined. Simultaneously, Allan develops a romantic relationship with Melanie Parker (Kate McNeil), a specialist in quadriplegia and helper monkeys.

Ella's protectiveness turns into homicidal envy, even as Allan is informed that his condition may be reversible. First, Ella snaps the neck of Allan's uncaring Nurse's pet bird that deliberately attacks Allan in his bed. Next, Ella kills Allan's shallow ex-girlfriend Linda Aikman (Janine Turner) and his egotistical and incompetent former Surgeon, John Wiseman (Stanley Tucci), by setting their romantic hideaway on fire in the dead of night after Allan finds out that Wiseman's incompetence is the true cause of his condition and about their relationship. Ella then targets Allan's unpleasant and domineering mother Dorothy (Joyce Van Patten), who was looking after Allan for her own benefit and kills her by electrocuting her in the bathtub. Ella then strikes down Geoffrey by stabbing him with the very syringe of sodium pentobarbitone he had intended to use on her after becoming aware of her dangerous behavior. Ella then disables Melanie and tries to light her on fire, but being too wet from a rain storm makes it impossible so Ella decides to poison her with another syringe that Geoffrey brought with him. Allan, helpless and alone, is able to summon the strength to engage his tape player with the romantic music, summoning Ella to cuddle close to him. When Ella is under Allan's head, Allan bites her in the neck and kills her by thrashing his head back and forth in a violent manner, repeatedly slamming her against the handles of his wheelchair and snapping her neck before finally relinquishing his bite.

Later, Allan undergoes surgery. While resting after the operation, he has a nightmare that he flatlines and Ella leaps out of his back while the doctor is making an incision. When he wakes up, Melanie reveals that the surgery was successful. Having regained his ability to move, Allan and Melanie leave the hospital together.

Trailer Poem

Once there was a man whose prison was a chair. the man had a monkey, they made the strangest pair.

The man was the prisoner, the monkey held the key. No matter how he tried, the man couldn't flee.

Locked in his prison, terrified and frail. The monkey kept gaining power, keeping him in jail.

The man tried to keep the monkey from his brain, but every move he made became the monkey's game.

The monkey ruled the man, it climbed inside his head. And now as fate will have it, one of them is dead!''

Cast

Production

Monkey Shines was Romero's first studio film.[4] The film was shot in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[2] The film's distributor, Orion Pictures, was desperate for a hit, as it was in financial difficulty. First, the studio forced Romero to add a happy ending to the picture, a plot device which the director had long avoided in favor of more ambiguous endings. Second, after poor previews, the studio recut the film without Romero's knowledge to add a "shock" ending.[5]

Another issue was the film's overall length, as Romero had completed a very long and involved shooting script that numbered over 240 pages. This resulted in a first cut of which 40 to 50% of the shot footage met the cutting room floor in the need to get the film reduced to a practical length. Upset with the way his project had been handled, Romero returned to independent films.

Alternate Ending

The original intended ending of the film was seen only as a special feature on the Blu-ray release. After Allan regains his ability to move on his own, Geoffrey's Boss Dean Harold Burbage (Stephen Root) is attacked by animal rights protesters who had earlier harassed Geoffrey for experimenting on Monkeys. After insulting them, Burbage returns to the lab where it's discovered that after he had stolen Geoffrey's remaining brain tissue serum that he injected it into all of the remaining Monkeys and they have completely taken control of his mind.

Critical reception

The film received a mixed response from critics and failed at the box office. Roger Ebert gave Monkey Shines two and a half out of a possible four stars. The film's main flaw, wrote Ebert, was its being overlong with too many subplots: "Romero loses momentum in the closing passages because he has too many loose ends to keep track of. Somewhere within this movie's two hours or so is hidden an absolutely spellbinding 90-minute thriller."[3] It currently holds a 53% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 32 critic reviews.[1]

The trailer which shows a wheelchair with the toy monkey banging its symbols has become recognisable as one of the greatest horror movie trailers ever made. Also the shot of the monkey leaping across the screen with lightning in the background is one of the most recognisable shots in the film.

The Malcolm in the Middle episode "Monkey" parodies the film, as Craig Feldspar (David Anthony Higgins) was in an accident earlier in the series ("Dewey's Dog") and is confined to an electric wheel chair for six weeks. Rather than use his insurance money on a Nurse, He gets a helper monkey, "Oliver", who's later revealed to be deranged and homicidal.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 "Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear (1988)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  2. 1 2 Don Sumner (14 April 2016). "Monkey Shines (1988) Review". Horror Freak News. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  3. 1 2 Roger Ebert (29 July 1988). "Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear Movie Review (1988)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  4. ↑ "Monkey Shines (1988) Starring: Jason Beghe, John Pankow, Kate McNeil". Three Movie Buffs Review. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  5. ↑ Williams, Tony. The Cinema of George A. Romero: Knight of the Living Dead. London: Wallflower, 2003, p. 141.
  6. ↑ "Synopsis of Monkey". TKtv. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
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