(1988)
3
Brian J. Dillard
Overlong and saddled with an unsympathetic protagonist, this labored, lesser George Romero effort aspires to the level of acute psychological horror. Unfortunately, the writer/director gets bogged down in too much plot, burying a number of interesting ideas and great scenes in a formless mush. Romero regular Christine Forrest has a lot of fun with her nasty-tempered nurse character, while Joyce Van Patten gets to step past her usual nice-lady roles to portray an epically overbearing mother. But Jason Beghe isn't much of a leading man, and much of the rest of the cast seems anonymous. The biggest deficiencies, however, lie in Romero's script, which takes too many detours and too much time to build up to the extended set piece of the conclusion. For those willing to wait him out, though, the director delivers. Inventively portraying the limited options available to a quadriplegic in a motorized wheelchair as he's stalked by a relentless monkey through the obstacle course of his home, Romero mixes gripping mind games with grisly thrills. The script may seem a little queasy in it violence against the women characters, but that's par for the course in this genre. DVD viewers should fast-forward through the subplots and subpar character development and enjoy the last half-hour for the showpiece it is.
releases for Monkey Shines on AllMovie
Monkey Shines (1988)
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Title/Studio |
Release Date |
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Monkey Shines
MGM
More
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October 4, 2004 |
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Monkey Shines
MGM
More
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September 28, 1999 |
