Monkey Shines

George A. Romero
1988

This is sadly one of the great George Romero's lesser works, which shouldn't be surprising considering the film features a diminutive homicidal monkey at it's center. It's easy to see what Romero's going for, and the themes work on a cerebral level - there's some nice body horror with the vital leading male reduced to quadriplegia in his prime, and there's some interesting questions raised about humanity's relationship with animals in the expressive performance of Capuchin costar Boo. Unfortunately the budget's too low and the monkey is too cute to make the scares successful on any sort of visceral level. The film is most effective when displaying a crippled Jason Beghe losing himself in mounting rage and displaying his descent into a state of resolute and irreconcilable bitterness. A nice highlight is an extra-greasy Stanley Tucci as a hotshot lethario surgeon.