Monkey Shines

The adept George Romero takes a 1983 Michael Stewart novel and turns it into a taut, edge-of-your-seat thriller whose sole demerit lies in its incongruous happy ending, dictated by Orion’s producers. If not for that artificial, feel-good finale, the film would merit a place of honor in the thriller hall of fame. The depiction of the increasingly unhealthy and disturbing relationship that takes shape between the invalid and the primate demonstrates the director’s considerable skill as he brings his “A” game to deliver suspenseful pacing and some acutely terrifying scenes.

In fact, Romero fully exploits all the narrative potential inherent in the frustrating powerlessness afflicting the paralyzed protagonist. His every attempt to escape ends up stymied, and even the possibility of exercising a measure of control over the actions of the hellish little beast – which rather explicitly symbolizes the man’s impulsive side – quickly turns out to be illusory.

On top of that, we have the classic mad doctor figure, this time a cynical John Pankow convinced that sleep constitutes nothing more than a waste of time (“I finally figured it out, Allan. Every three days that I stay awake, I gain 24 hours. That’s 122 days every year so […] even if I die at 50, I will have lived 65 years“). And like any self-respecting mad scientist, he doesn’t hesitate to profit from his friend’s tragedy in order to test his own unorthodox theories.