By John Corrado

Fresh off the surprise success of serial killer thriller Longlegs, director Osgood Perkins now returns with a different kind of horror movie in The Monkey. This time it’s a horror comedy, adapted from a Stephen King short story of the same name.

Re-teaming with Longlegs distributor NEON, Perkins’ latest finds him playing around. Because, as nasty as The Monkey can be – the deaths here are gross and gnarly – this is also a playful film in its own way, threaded through with a darkly comic streak.

The first act introduces us to twin brothers Hal and Bill Shelburn as kids (both played by Christian Convery), who find a windup toy organ grinder monkey left behind by their absentee dad. Perkins is doing something that feels tonally in the vein of a classic coming of age movie (think Stand By Me, also adapted from a Stephen King short story), but with a dark twist; this toy monkey is cursed.

When they turn the key, and the monkey’s drumstick comes down, someone in their lives will die in a shockingly gruesome way. The brothers rid themselves of the monkey, only to have it reemerge years later. The film then jumps ahead to catch up with the twin brothers as adults (played by Theo James), who have since grown estranged, each processing the trauma they experienced with the monkey in their own ways.

Perkins very nimbly handles the film’s mix of tones; pitch-black comedy, supernatural horror, and macabre, existential family drama. “Everybody dies” is the recurrent theme, drilled into the Shelburn boys by their single mom Lois (Tatiana Maslany), in a searing monologue at one of the (many) funerals they end up attending. James’ droll voiceover narration further heightens the film’s mock-somber tone.

But, lest it sound like The Monkey gets bogged down in taking itself too seriously, the film is very funny in its own darkly comic way. Perkins stages a series of death scenes that are so creative and over the top that they can’t help but elicit morbid laughs. These are jump moments as much as punchlines. There are elements of Saw and Final Destination in how the deaths are staged, but by way of Gremlins. It’s this off-kilter, Amblin-esque quality that makes The Monkey work so well as horror comedy throwback.

Cinematographer Nico Aguilar crafts a good looking picture, while editor Edo Van Breemen keeps it ticking along, cutting at just the right moments for shock value or comedic impact. The film might feel like it starts to run out of some steam in the last act, but we’ve been having so much fun that it’s hard to really care. This is Perkins playing around after Longlegs, taking a much deserved victory lap, and cementing himself as one of our freshest voices in horror.

Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)

The Monkey opens exclusively in theatres on February 21st. It’s being distributed in Canada by Elevation Pictures.