Summary
- The Monkey is a horror film adapted from a Stephen King story, praised by King and critics alike.
- The ’90s setting enhances nostalgia and avoids smartphone plot holes, making the film scarier and more relatable.
- Director Osgood Perkins puts a creative stamp on The Monkey, showcasing common themes in his ’90s-set horror movies.
From kids who encounter a terrifying clown to a fan kidnapping their favorite novelist, some of the most acclaimed horror movies have been adapted from clever and scary stories by Stephen King. A few of these films, like The Shining and Misery, are incredibly creepy. Others, such as the upcoming horror movie The Monkey, have more than a few comedic moments. The Monkey is adapted from King’s short story and written and directed by Osgood Perkins, and it’s almost time for fans to see what the hype is all about.
King himself loves the movie and The Monkey already has a great Rotten Tomatoes score. I’ve enjoyed seeing the various teasers and behind-the-scene clips that have been shared, and I’ve also liked reading interviews with Perkins to learn more about his approach to the movie. Perkins recently talked about the 1990s setting of The Monkey, and I’m glad that he chose this time period.
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Why The Stephen King Adaptation The Monkey’s 1990s Setting Is Perfect
As JoBlo reported, in an interview with SFX Magazine, Osgood Perkins talked about why The Monkey is set in the 1990s, along with the present day. He said:
“Stranger Things kind of cornered the market on ‘It’s like movies from the ’80s, it’s like Gremlins, it’s like Spielberg!’ – and it did it so well and so successfully. Initially the movie that I wrote was set in the ’80s, with the childhood stuff in the ’50s, because that felt very Stephen King to me. But of course It already did that, and Stranger Things took that away, so we moved it to the ’90s and the present.“
I like Perkins’s explanation and I think it was smart to avoid setting The Monkey in the 1980s. While it might be tough to completely avoid comparisons to Stranger Things and It: Chapter One and It: Chapter Two, setting The Monkey in another time period is a good start. I think the ’90s setting works because the characters don’t have access to modern technology. The biggest question for a contemporary horror movie is, “Can’t the characters just use their cell phones to get help?” When a filmmaker can remove smartphones from the equation, the film is much scarier and more believable.
I also think The Monkey‘s ’90s setting works because it evokes a sense of nostalgia, which speaks to the tone, vibe, and premise of the film. While The Monkey‘s trailer shows how dark and violent the toy is, the movie is also about twin brothers Hal and Bill Shelburn (Theo James) looking back on their childhood and thinking about their difficult relationship with their parents. At its core, the movie reflects on how childhood, a time that is supposed to be fun and innocent, can become dark and disturbing. Since many people feel nostalgic toward the ’90s and seek out entertainment from this decade, I think it’s fun to revisit this time period in The Monkey.
Finally, I think it was wise to set The Monkey in the ’90s because three of Perkins’s horror movies have ’90s settings: The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Longlegs, and now The Monkey. Although these three movies aren’t connected, there’s a fun fan theory suggesting Longlegs is a prequel to The Blackcoat’s Daughter, and it’s possible to see common themes. I like seeing patterns in a filmmaker’s work and think it’s great that even though The Monkey is an adaptation of King’s short story, Perkins put his creative stamp on it.
What Did James Wan And Osgood Perkins Say About The Monkey?
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, producer James Wan, who has directed and produced several horror movies ranging from Malignant to M3GAN to Salem’s Lot, talked about the approach Osgood Perkins took when making The Monkey. Wan said:
“Oz described it as the monkey on your back, literally and existentially. There is a literal monkey, a toy monkey, that’s trying to f—ing massacre everyone. At the same time, it’s a little bit of a dissection of family history and family trauma. There’s multiple levels to this story.”
Wan’s comments make me think that The Monkey and Perkins’s 2024 horror movie Longlegs have some things in common as both horror movies feature gory kills and main characters dealing with tragedies and complicated family relationships. But, as Perkins has noted, the two movies are very different. In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Perkins said:
“The Monkey is nothing like Longlegs in any way.”
All will be revealed when The Monkey is released on February 21st, 2025, and after so many months of anticipation, horror fans can finally see the chaos this evil toy unleashes.
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