The athletic Allan (Jason Beghe) comes a cropper one afternoon while enjoying an innocent afternoon jog, the resultant accident leading to him being incapacitated from the neck down. Newly bedridden, he's aware that his glamorous partner Linda (Janine Turner) feels differently about him since his mishap. What he doesn't know is that she's taken to shagging his friend and doctor, Wiseman (Stanley Tucci).
Allan is understandably despondent back at his home, his mother Dorothy (Joyce Van Patten) having moved in temporarily from Illinois to keep a watchful eye over him, and a sour-faced live-in nurse having been enlisted to help out. Her name is Maryanne (Christine Forrest) and, much to Allan's chagrin, she's brought along her pet budgie Bogie for the ride. Allan can't stand the thing, especially when Maryanne allows it out of its cage to fly around his house.
Enter Allan's mate Geoffrey (John Pankow), who works at a college research laboratory which is frequently under fire from protestors due to their penchant for experimenting upon animals. He's been working on developing intelligence in a simian subject, Ella, via injecting her with the cerebral fluids of a recently deceased woman. He's been upping the dosages lately in the hope of providing results for his smarmy boss Burbage (Stephen Root), but is still failing to see results.
However, when Geoffrey hits upon the notion that perhaps the monkey is being held back from increased intelligence by remaining caged for the most part with other creatures not privy to the brain-enhancing elixir, he wonders whether pairing her with his newly quadriplegic friend may bring her along. To this end, he contacts monkey trainer Melanie (Kate McNeil) to condition Ella to meet Allan's menial needs.
A few weeks later, and Ella is ready to be introduced to Allan by Geoffrey. Geoffrey and Ella strike a bond quickly, the simian showing genuine affection for her master as she carries out tasks such as feeding him, retrieving books from their shelf and turning the pages on command etc, while he rewards her with treats. A suddenly task-starved Maryanne can only look on with distaste.
For a short while, things appear to be looking up for Allan. Ella is a Godsend, and he's clearly won the attention of the cute Melanie. But a psychic bond between him and Ella gradually begins to emerge, and when it manifests itself in the form of Ella responding to Allan's anger - primarily by dealing with the matter of a pesky budgerigar - it becomes clear that she is Hyde to his Jekyll.
But how far will this loyalty take Ella, and how can Allan fight back against his alter-ego when he's paralysed from the neck down?
MONKEY SHINES is largely ignored when people discuss late director George A Romero's cinematic achievements. Of course, with credits such as NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, DAWN OF THE DEAD, DAY OF THE DEAD, THE CRAZIES, MARTIN and CREEPSHOW to his name ... it's perhaps understandable. However, this truly does endure as one of the director's most accomplished, polished and consistent films.
The cast are uniformly strong (something not many of Romero's films can claim), and the script - adapted by Romero from Michael Stewart's novel - is a savvy one, playing the connection between master and servant's internal connections in subtle incremental bursts. The struggle for power between the two is handled with deftness too, Beghe imbuing his ostensibly bitter character with just enough sympathy to keep us rooting for a happy resolution.
Everything comes together: the score is well placed; there are successful Hitchcockian touches throughout (the REAR WINDOW allusions, the moments of quirky humour, the tense finale) and pacing is spot on. Tom Savini is on hand as per usual for the FX work which calls for less gore than is expected of a Romero flick, but is very impressive nevertheless. Stylistically the film finds areas to shine such as a couple of surreal dream sequences and an Argento-esque red-hued laboratory scene in which one character makes a fatal life choice.
MONKEY SHINES is ripe for re-evaluation.
Eureka! Entertainment bring MONKEY SHINES to the UK in a special dual format blu-ray and DVD release. We were sent a copy of the former to review.
The film is presented uncut - 113 minutes and 18 seconds in length - and housed on this disc as an MPEG4-AVC file. The 1080p HD transfer respects the film's original 1.85:1 ratio and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The print used is spotlessly clean, images are bright and sharp, light film grain seems natural, flesh tones and framing are spot on ... this is a great presentation.
English audio comes in 2.0 stereo and 5.1 DTS-HD options. Both are credible, clear and consistent propositions. Optional English subtitles for the hard-of-hearing are well-written and easy to read at all times.
The disc opens to a static main menu page. Although there's no scene selection menu, the film does have 10 chapter stops.
There are some great bonus features on offer.
First off is a new audio commentary track from journalist and film historian Travis Crawford. After a quick plug of his commentaries for the Arrow releases of THE CRAZIES and SEASON OF THE WITCH, we get on to a thorough assessment of the film's production, its place in the downfall of Orion Pictures and how it stands proud as Romero's best "later period" movie. Crawford warns us early-on that his commentary style in rarely scene-specific, but that's fine by me; there's a wealth of information to be gleamed here, from release dates to cameo appearances, and from attention to minute production design detail and a dispute over whether MONKEY SHINES truly qualifies as a "studio picture". An overview of Romero's career offers little new but is engaging anyway, thanks to Crawford's easy-going delivery. We get comparisons between the source novel and the movie, we get mention of Johnny Depp's little-seen snuff-themed movie THE BRAVE, and we get some insight into the inventive "monkey POV" camerawork in evidence here. Inevitably, the perils of working with trained primates is also covered.
A second commentary track is an archive affair, and features Romero himself on the mic. This is quieter than the Crawford track - I had to turn my volume up by a couple of notches. With the help of moderator Stuart "Feedback Andrews of Cinephobia Radio, the late director discusses how MONKEY SHINES could be perceived as the beginning of an unofficial "doppelganger" trilogy which was followed by THE DARK HALF and BRUISER, which confessing his adoration of DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE. Romero confirms that the film was produced independently and then picked up by a studio upon completion; changes between the novel and the film, and the reasons behind them, are discussed; the original ending (which was shot) gets covered, including how it makes more sense of a scene which occurs earlier in the film; the use of a dead cat as a prop was news to me; the Hitchcock influence is briefly touched upon. There's a wealth of good stuff here, in what is a more scene-specific and light-hearted prospect. Andrews is a good moderator, creating a conversational tone which is really agreeable.
"An Experiment in Fear" is an excellent 50-minute featurette taking a retrospective look at the making of the film. Well-edited and graced with a healthy dose of clips and behind-the-scenes footage, this features contributions from Romero, Savini, Beghe, McNeil, FX artists Greg Nicotero and Everett Burrell, and executive producer Peter Grunwald. "Monkeys are capable of saying 'fuck you, no, I'm not gonna do that right now!'" exclaims Romero, and this sentiment is backed up by just about everyone who was involved. Still, the collected memories are genuinely favourable - from the origins of getting the film financed and choosing the literature to adapt, to how the FX were created, and the tribulations of working with trained animals. The theme of the film is covered again; how the film was cast is discussed in a little more depth than the commentaries; it's nice to see how well Beghe and McNeil still look.
4 minutes of deleted scenes appear in window-boxed form, and appear to be sourced from worn-out VHS. Still, they're interesting to see.
That aforementioned alternate ending, the one Romero originally shot, is also present here. It's a 5-minute endeavour and, again, is presented in 1.33:1. The picture quality fluctuates between DVD and VHS quality. I like this ending, and it definitely has more of a DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE vibe to it.
A vintage "Making Of" featurette follows. This 5-minute proffering is an EPK from the time of the shoot, and is a fascinating 1.33:1 time capsule.
Next up is 13 minutes of well-preserved behind-the-scenes footage which helps demonstrate how well the monkeys were treated.
We also get 6 minutes of extended interviews from the time of the EPK recordings. Fascinating stuff. It's interesting to see how much more seriously Romero took talking about the film back then.
Finally we get two theatrical trailers and the original US TV spot.
Although not made available for review purposes, the first pressing of this sterling release also come with a collectors' booklet and a limited edition O-Card slipcase.
Billed as a psychological thriller but, in Romero's hands, this definitely strays into horror territory. It's surprising how well this holds up - I enjoyed revisiting it now more than I did watching it upon release in the late 80s. And this blu-ray is the best way to savour it.
Highly recommended.
Review by Stuart Willis
| Released by Eureka! Entertainment |