The Monkey is Deliciously Violent Dark Comedy Horror

The Monkey

★ ★ ★ ½

The Monkey is based on a short story by Stephen King first published in Gallery Magazine in 1980, later revised and published in a collection of short stories in his book Skeleton Crew. It’s a horror story about a cursed mechanical toy monkey that has big scary eyes and a toothy grin before it bangs a set of drumsticks on its attached snare drum. When it finishes banging the drum, someone in the vicinity of the monkey dies in some sort of freak accident.

Junior high aged twin brothers Hal and Bill (both played by Christian Convery) discover a powder blue hat box when rummaging through their dad’s closet. Their dad has abandoned them to be raised by their cynical mother Lois (Tatiana Maslany). Rummaging through dad’s stuff is their attempt to learn more about their dad. Inside the box is a toy monkey. It comes with a key and Hal wastes no time turning it. Nothing happens.

Theo James as Hal and Bill
© 2025 NEON

Lois is getting ready for a date, and their babysitter Annie (Danica Dreyer) takes the twins to a hibachi style restaurant where chefs make a show out of their knife skills. Hal brings the monkey with him but leaves it in Annie’s minivan. While they’re in the restaurant, the monkey does its routine. The monkey’s curse penetrates the restaurant walls: Annie is beheaded.

At Annie’s funeral, Lois tells Hal and Bill in her comedically cynical way that “everyone dies.” This sets the tone for the rest of the movie.

Tatiana Maslany as Lois
© 2025 NEON

The monkey will kill many people in Hal and Bill’s childhood. They eventually get rid of the cursed toy by tossing it down a deep well where no one can turn its key.

Years later, the twins are adults (both played by Theo James) and Hal lives alone. He works as a convenience store clerk and has a son named Petey (Colin O’Brien). Hal sees Petey once a year in an effort to protect him from his cursed past. Hal takes Petey on a father-and-son road trip that gets interrupted by the monkey’s return and the elaborate sequences of death that comes with it.

Theo James and Osgood Perkins
© 2025 NEON

Bill tries to convince Hal to help him find the monkey and end its reign of terror once again. Hal is reluctant to do so, especially with Petey along for the ride. Cinematic circumstances force his hand and Hal searches for the monkey while trying to keep Petey safe.

The Monkey is best enjoyed as a dark comedy horror film. It’s not to be taken seriously and does a good job at poking fun of itself as much as it does its characters and the horror genre. This isn’t a particularly scary film, especially if you’re a fan of this type of movie, but it does offer plenty of horror, mayhem and elaborate death scenes.

It’s a well made film that works despite its tongue-in-cheek approach. Making a goofy horror film like this is risky and rarely works. It pays off well here. My hope is they leave this movie to stand on its own and avoid making a sequel. I’m sure they will anyway.