SEASON 6
As anyone who reads this thing of mine would know, I'm a huge George A. Romero fan. Big time. And not just because of his "Living Dead" oeuvre, but plenty of others. Frani and I just sat down to one I've long left unseen: Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Terror.
Jason Beghe (fans of Chicago P.D. & the old HBO early series 1st & 10 are familiar) is in an accident and wheelchair bound at the outset. He loses it all, including girlfriend Janine Turner in an early role, who is taken by his spinal surgeon, Stanley Tucci. Early in Tucci's career, smarmy little shits were his specialty. For good reason, because he played them well, as evidenced by It Could Happen To You and Kiss of Death, especially.
Beghe's character is set up with a live-in monkey to help him function independently. This monkey is donated by close scientist friend, John Pankow, who is probably the strongest performer in the film. Always a strong actor, from To Live & Die in L.A. to Mad About You, and more, this shouldn't be a surprise. There's a love interest of a sort in Kate McNeil who trains Beghe's monkey. (That sounds vaguely double entendre-ish). This sometimes works and often doesn't. She's charming enough, and many will recognize her from House On Sorority Row. Her in depth, chuckling look back at that genre favorite in In Search of Darkness III is quite the hoot.
What does work is Ella. The monkey. She does everything Beghe requires and more. This little creature is as adorable as they come, and quickly wins over the viewer. She falls in love with our leading man, and due to some sort of chemical treatment being applied by Pankow, a link between the two is formed. Ella becomes jealous, angry and violent. Along the way, so does Beghe. It's not convincing however, because when he gets vicious, it looks like he's doing a bad Robert DeNiro impression.
And also, as Frani pointed out, even when Ella is supposed to be imposing and intimidating, she is just too damn cute. And the final confrontation results in the viewer really not being able to decide who's the real villain here. Because adorable is adorable. Oh, just keep trying to smother me with your monstrous, fuzzy love, you snuggly little antagonist, you!!
Overall, thanks to Romero's deft touch, the movie works. It's an interesting concept for a horror film, and well-written by George himself. I recommend it anyway. It may not be the maestro's finest hour, but it definitely fits nicely into the era where George had studio backing and some degree of freedom. Sadly, this ended when the original Orion pictures went under and the still excellent The Dark Half wasn't able to completely cross the finish line. Solid stuff from a man with an incredibly diverse resume.
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