Romero's major studio debut isn't really a horror; more a thriller with sci-fi elements, although the first 30 minutes establish a sort of melodrama that Romero then goes about subverting. Many reviewers here would have you believe it is simply about a murderous monkey exacting some kind of revenge on its disabled owner, but it is far more complex than that, and in many ways it suffers from being too over-ambitious, with some confused storytelling towards the end.
When an accident results in Allan being confined to a wheelchair without the use of his arms or legs, a trained capuchin monkey, Ella - previously the subject of experiments in enhanced intelligence - is brought in to help him with his domestic life, which results in many charming scenes of the pair bonding. Unfortunately, the monkey begins to reflect and act out many of Allan's frustrations and buried bitter resentments - or is it the monkey effecting Allan? Things get a bit 'Altered States' as Allan seemingly leaps into Ella's body for murderous nighttime jaunts and is seen growing simian-like teeth (whether this transmogrification actually happens or is a visual clue for the audience as to the allegorical nature of the monkey is up for interpretation).
Also in the mix is Allan's friend, Geoff, the scientist experimenting on Ella. The audience is invited to have ambivalent feelings about him: he seems loyal to Allan, but at the same time lies to him about Ella's nature. He seems to have stronger ethics than his vivisectionist supervisor, but is also seen harming Ella. When Ella develops her homicidal edge it's hard not to feel sympathy since we've seen her abuse and torment, we've seen her humanised in earlier scenes and ultimately she's just too damn cute. We also don't know when deaths start occurring exactly who is instigating them: is it Allan controlling Ella or is Ella acting alone? Or is she influencing Allan? Whilst this ambiguity should make for a more interesting film, it actually just muddies things and I found the final ten minutes really confusing in terms of where the director wanted to focus my sympathies.
I didn't think there was much That said, this was entertaining throughout and never got boring. The daytime soap opera look and feel strangely suits the movie and there are some very good performances, especially by Jason Beghe, restricted mostly to facial expressions in his role as a quadriplegic.
An interesting but flawed film, the edit was apparently tinkered with by the studio and I wonder if the director's cut might have been more coherent.
When an accident results in Allan being confined to a wheelchair without the use of his arms or legs, a trained capuchin monkey, Ella - previously the subject of experiments in enhanced intelligence - is brought in to help him with his domestic life, which results in many charming scenes of the pair bonding. Unfortunately, the monkey begins to reflect and act out many of Allan's frustrations and buried bitter resentments - or is it the monkey effecting Allan? Things get a bit 'Altered States' as Allan seemingly leaps into Ella's body for murderous nighttime jaunts and is seen growing simian-like teeth (whether this transmogrification actually happens or is a visual clue for the audience as to the allegorical nature of the monkey is up for interpretation).
Also in the mix is Allan's friend, Geoff, the scientist experimenting on Ella. The audience is invited to have ambivalent feelings about him: he seems loyal to Allan, but at the same time lies to him about Ella's nature. He seems to have stronger ethics than his vivisectionist supervisor, but is also seen harming Ella. When Ella develops her homicidal edge it's hard not to feel sympathy since we've seen her abuse and torment, we've seen her humanised in earlier scenes and ultimately she's just too damn cute. We also don't know when deaths start occurring exactly who is instigating them: is it Allan controlling Ella or is Ella acting alone? Or is she influencing Allan? Whilst this ambiguity should make for a more interesting film, it actually just muddies things and I found the final ten minutes really confusing in terms of where the director wanted to focus my sympathies.
I didn't think there was much That said, this was entertaining throughout and never got boring. The daytime soap opera look and feel strangely suits the movie and there are some very good performances, especially by Jason Beghe, restricted mostly to facial expressions in his role as a quadriplegic.
An interesting but flawed film, the edit was apparently tinkered with by the studio and I wonder if the director's cut might have been more coherent.