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Monkey Shines
1988
Allan Mann's (Jason Beghe) life is falling apart. It starts when he goes for an early morning jog, only to be hit by a truck and wake up as a paraplegic. While he's learning to cope with his disability, his girlfriend (Janine Turner) leaves him for his surgeon. Allan becomes even more distraught when he assesses his life, which .. Read more
| Starring | Jason Beghe, John Pankow, Kathryn McNeil, Joyce Van Patten |
|---|---|
| Director | George A. Romero |
| Genres | Drama |
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Monkey Shines
Allan Mann's (Jason Beghe) life is falling apart. It starts when he goes for an early morning jog, only to be hit by a truck and wake up as a paraplegic. While he's learning to cope with his disability, his girlfriend (Janine Turner) leaves him for his surgeon. Allan becomes even more distraught when he assesses his life, which consists of an overly nurturing mother, an amphetamine-crazed best friend (John Pankow), and a permanent view from a wheelchair. However, things take a turn for the better for Allan when Ella enters his life. She is a capuchin monkey who has been trained to be his hands and help him to adapt to the new limits imposed on his body. Everything seems to be taking a turn for the better until Allan begins having violent dreams from Ella's point of view in which she is doing harm to those close to him. He then begins to fear that she might not be just an everyday helper monkey but also homicidally possessive to boot.
Michael Stewart's 1983 novel vividly comes to life in the able hands of veteran horror helmer George A. Romero. Though the human cast serves the material well, primate aficionados will revel in the bravura performance by Boo, who, as Ella, is undeniably menacing.
| Starring | Jason Beghe, John Pankow, Kathryn McNeil, Joyce Van Patten |
|---|---|
| Director | George A. Romero |
| Studio | MGM ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 48 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 04 Oct 2004 Production year: 1988 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde goes ape in a provocative shocker from Night of the Living Dead director George A Romero that contains some of his finest and most disturbing visions. Jason Beghe is the wheelchair-bound student who gradually realises the genetically brain-altered monkey trained to assist him is acting out his darkest desires and revenge impulses. Intense yet surprisingly tender, Romero's confident and uncompromising chiller is an intelligent nail-biter that takes a highly unusual look at the warped laws of the jungle one man must combat to survive.
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Moving away from the apocalyptic horror of his 'Living Dead' trilogy, Romero reaffirms his equal aptitude for... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Monkey Wrestling.
This film is not as frightening as I was expecting. It does get tense at times and there is the occational jumpy bit but mostly the plot is so silly that it's hard to be really involved in the story.
The best thing about the film is the monkey action sequences. There are at least three scenes where the actors have to pretend to be wrestling with what is quite obviously a small monkey puppet. This was the funniest thing I had seen for a long time. The final 'Carrie' type twist is equally hilarious.
The acting is also worth a mention. The lead character played by Jason Beghe is brilliant especially when the monkey makes him angry. His best friend played by John Pankow does a very good job of looking like Elvis Costello and I suspect he might have lied about his medical qualifications when he applied for his job in the lab where he works.
Overall, I really enjoyed the film but for all the wrong reasons. I was hoping for quality horror but got bad acting and monkey wrestling. -
Most recent members' review
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HOMICIDAL MONKEY - WHAT'S NEXT?
I would think that this would be an absolute cracking film if it didn't seem to take itself so seriously....and it was more of an exploitation film with more gore.
A paraplegic gets a helper monkey. Trouble is, the monkey is the result of experiments from the man's friend, and has a psychic link to his master. Suffice to say, if you get annoyed with someone, a monkey will interpret this as wishing to kill them.
It's OK. From the master George Romero. Perhaps it should have been played more for laughs though. Tongue-in-cheek would have been welcome. -
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Allan Mann's (Jason Beghe) life is falling apart. It starts when he goes for an early morning jog, only to be hit by a truck and wake up as a paraplegic. While he's learning to cope with his ... -