Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for the story of The Monkey
Summary
It’s been a heck of a couple of months for Stephen King. Not only did he get an updated version ofSalem’s Lotreleased on HBO Max, but the trailer for the next movie based on his work was released in mid-October. It would seem like horror fans should be rather excited that Osgood Perkins is helmingThe Monkey. After all he’s fresh off one of the biggest horror flicks of the year inLonglegs.
Stephen Kingfans should also be quite excited that one of the best short stories is also finally getting a big screen adaptation. It just happens to be one of the longest-lived story that doesn’t have an adaptation yet. It also happens to be one of thedarkest and spookiest King short storiesout there. However, anyone who got a look at Perkins’ first official trailer of The Monkey and who loved hte original story, might be a bit concerned about the direction the famed director is taking things.
What Is The Story Of The Monkey?
The original story ofThe Monkeytells of a curse that befalls an entire family and the people surrounding it when a pair of brothers find a wind-up toy monkey. The story begins with the brothers, Peter and Dennis, coming across the toy in the attic of their great uncle’s house. Eventually, the story unfolds and it’s revealed that the boys’ father, Hal was the first person in quite some time to run across the monkey when he found it inside an antique chest of his father’s.
It was also revealed that Hal’s father seemed to have come across the toy when he was a merchant mariner. Hal’s dad disappeared under mysterious circumstances and Hal believed that the monkey was cursed and that it played a part in his death. Hal was right as it’s later divulged that the toy is indeed at the center of things.In the Stephen King story, whenever it claps the mechanical cymbals together, someone close to the person who is considered the owner of the monkey is killed. But it’s not just people. At one point, a family pet dies a rather brutal and sad death when the toy sets its sights on it.
At one point, a family pet dies a rather brutal and sad death when the toy sets its sights on it.
As the story unfolds, it’s clear that Hal and then his sons were tormented for decades by the toy and during those decades, there are many attempts to find a way to get rid of the monkey or even destroy it. It’s here where the truly evil intent of the object is revealed as it somehow always finds its way back into the hands of the “owner” and usually killing a family member in the process.
At the end of theshort Stephen King story, the family is able to finally rid itself of the monkey when Hal rows out to the middle of a local lake with the cymbals bound so that it can clap and kill anyone. When Hal gets to the middle of the lake he weighs down a bag the monkey is in and throws it into the water. The final murders of the windup toy are reported in the paper the next day when it’s said hundreds of dead fish floated to the surface and that authorities cannot figure out the cause.
The tone ofThe Monkeyis told in a foreboding way that has quite a few aspects of a real thriller and horror tale. However, when the movie hits theaters in February Osgood Perkins has some plans for it that don’t sound like it’s going to be anything close to a direct adaptation.
It appears that Perkins has an idea to make theTheo James starreras something more of a horror comedy. The trailer shows off what seems to be a more goofy, slapstick sort of horror than what the original story offered. While The Monkey will still have the same basic premise of a cursed windup toy, the deaths and the reactions to the deaths look a lot more like something people see on a sitcomor a family moviethan in a horror flick.
If there’s any chance that the trailer is a bit of a misdirect andThe Monkeywill be darker and more serious than the trailer indicates, then the audience can simply take theword of theLonglegsdirector.
“It’s gonna feel more like Misery or Creepshow or Gremlins or American Werewolf. It couldn’t be LESS like Longlegs. To me, if you’re gonna make a movie about a toy monkey, you can be serious about it.”
On the contrary, should the man who made a genuinely spooky andoffputting movie likeLonglegswanted to follow the tone and the setting of the original story, there were plenty of ways to make it series. Even the look ofThe Monkeyin the trailer is less funny and more spooky, But Perkins wants to put his own spin on the idea more than he wants to adapt the story. And because of that, unless this is all one big misdirect, the famed director is very much moving in the wrong direction.
Stephen King
Stephen King is one of the most prolific living authors. A master of horror, King’s classic works include The Shining, Carrie, Cujo, It, and the Dark Tower series. Many of his books and short stories have been adapted to film and television, including The Shawshank Redemption, Lisey’s Story, 1408, Secret Window, and The Stand.
