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As Good As It Gets

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

George A. Romero's first big studio film (from Orion Pictures), shows a more restrained direction from the man who brought us such horror cult movies as "Night of the Living Dead" ('68) or "Day of the Dead" ('85), "Monkey Shines", based on the novel by Michael Stewart, is an atmospheric suspense / thriller flick, intriguing & captivating to follow, creatively directed & photographed with some interesting camera angles and well-staged scenes giving a sense of eerie and paranoia.Jason Beghe (who looked a lot like Ed Harris) stars as Allan Mann, a handsome and healthy young athlete that becomes paralyzed after an accident, losing in the process his girlfriend Linda (Janine Turner) who can't handle Allan's new special condition. After a failed attempt to commit suicide, Allan is convinced by his best friend, Geoffrey (John Pankow), an unorthodox scientist, to adopt a monkey, named Ella, as a helper. This newly-acquired relationship gives Allan a new hope in life, both sharing everything together and facilitating his day-to-day, but soon their interaction will take an unexpected sinister turn... Beghe and Pankow are both good (especially Pankow who looks and acts like he was sleepless for the entire shoot), but all the glory goes to the little monkey Boo playing Ella with special kudos for his personal trainer and the camera tricks & movie magic techniques which turned the innocent and cute animal into a vicious stalker turned sadistic killer on-screen. His close-ups and interaction with the human actors are amazing and a must-see. Lower points are that the studio toned down the violence and cut some sub-plots' resolutions, trimming the picture in the cutting room floor and some scenes doesn't even make sense (suddenly the action jumps from Allan's home to a farm miles away without explanation). Romero's fans felt disappointed when this movie came out, because of the lack of horror, gore and violence, but it shows another side of the Master of Horror, that he can handle storytelling and delivered a picture, that besides its flaws, denotes a deep respect for the quadriplegic (the sex scene between Allan and Melanie Parker, Ella's trainer, was meaningful and poignant) and at the same time, keeps the viewer glued to the screen involved in this unsettling, spine-chilling & nightmarish tale of a disturbed attraction...

This film may sound ridiculous in the most preposterous way because it's a killer monkey movie, but don't monkey around. Go see this movie. It's not that bad as it seem. It's honestly pretty alright. I have to say, this isn't your run-of-the-mill cheesy Slasher monkey horror film like 1990's Shakma & 1995's Congo. This is a pretty smart psychological thriller that you can go bananas for! Written and directed by George A. Romero, the film is based on a novel with the same title authored by Michael Stewart. Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear tells the story of an ex-track athlete, Alan Mann (Jason Beghe), whom became paralyzed when struck by a truck. Mann fails to adjust to his condition, becoming suicidal and despondent. To help Alan out, his friend Geoffrey Fischer (John Pankow) trained a monkey named Ella (Boo the Monkey) to help him with his paralysis. What he doesn't know is that Geoffrey has been experimenting with Ella, genetically alter her brain that cause the little monkey to develop more human-like deep feelings, and rage, against its new master and her monkey trainer, Melanie Parker (Kate McNeil). I can understand why, people might overlook this movie. The little monkey is too cute. Whose idea was it to use a capuchin monkey as a villain? Why didn't they just use a bigger ape? While, a capuchin monkey seem silly as a villain. There is a way to portray it, right like what they did in 1995's Outbreak. They was able to do it, because that monkey in that movie was carrying a deadly disease that cause its villains to have violent and gory deaths. This movie didn't have any of that, fears, because it lacks gore. The movie is a bit laughable as the small monkey tries to poison and burn fully grown human beings. Clearly, Boo has no clue, what she was doing. Most of the action in the film is very unintentionally hilarious. The crash scene involving a running man, a barking dog and flying bricks is just cheesy. While, I couldn't see the monkey as a serious threat. I did love, how the movie portray their relationship. The relationship built up is a genuinely loving one. It was a deep bond, between the two that's right out of any kid's animal movie and then it got really bizarre, with Alan picks up on Ella's primal behavior, and Ella picks up on Allan's feelings of frustration, rage and revenge. The movie never explain this odd empathy of two, as both feel increasing in love with each other. It almost beasty. As if the movie was trying to channel the same themes of horror in Gothic tales like Beauty and the Beast, Planet of the Apes & the Island of Doctor Moreau, where no matter, how civilize you can act, you still have one foot, out of the jungle. I guess, the movie was trying to say something like a link from man to beast, but it never fully explained satisfactorily leaving a gaping plot hole that is a wart to what the film is trying to accomplish. I had actually read Monkey Shines. It was not a great read, but it's explain the concept, better than the movie, with the main character taking the same pills intended to increase the learning ability of his primate companion, but in the movie, it's never explained. Why and how exactly does Geoffrey's intelligence-boosting potion wind up linking Ella to Alan psychically? Who Knows! The movie doesn't bothered with it. The concept of the story has some interesting aspects. The life of a quadriplegic is an interesting subject, and you see it, with the great acting from Jason Beghe. You really see the struggle of it, through his facial expression and eyes. Kate McNeil is very convincing as the energetic, robust and beautiful trainer. Together, Beghe and McNeil make a cute couple on screen, and unlike other viewers, I didn't find the sex scene between them weird. It's very rare to see how severely handicapped are able to make love. Their love scene is very sensual, proving that the handicapped can do most anything. A young Stanley Tucci is a cool look, as the supporting character, despicable neurosurgeon Dr. John Wiseman. I really couldn't believe that was him. Most of the rest of the supporting cast was alright in their roles. Boo the monkey was the star of the film, big time. Without her, the movie couldn't had work. A lot of people might hate this movie, due to the fact, that they have a monkey as a villain. Watching a monkey maim and kill people could be pretty traumatic for younger and even some older viewers I would imagine. PETA might jump in, for the very controversial ending. The ending was so controversial that the film's distributor, Orion Pictures, forced Romero to add a happy ending to the picture, a plot device which the director had long avoided in favor of more ambiguous endings, because they were desperate for a hit, as it was in financial difficulty. Second, after poor previews, the studio recut the film without Romero's knowledge to add a "shock" ending. While, there are tons of alternate endings. It didn't help the film, much. Overall: Unfortunately, the plotting and scripting is quite weak. The pacing, a bit too long. The concept is interesting, but the execution leaves much to be desired. Still, it's worth watching, at least once. Monkey see monkey do.

For his immediate follow up to the excellent Day of the Dead, George Romero ditches shuffling, flesh-eating corpses in favour of a much smaller, hairier, and altogether more unlikely antagonist: a capuchin monkey called Ella.After being injected with an experimental serum designed to enhance her intelligence, furry-faced Ella (brilliantly played by Boo, whose acting career has inexplicably stalled after this impressive debut) gradually turns into a murderous beast capable of tapping into the anger and resentment of her paraplegic owner Allan Mann (Jason Beghe) and carrying out his most primal desires. As little hairy Ella proceeds to bump off those who have wronged or upset her master, she proves to be every bit as deadly as a reanimated corpse, only a damn sight more devious.Monkey Shines is a decidedly different beast to the '...of the Dead' films for which Romero is so well known: the director eschews the cartoonish blood and guts approach that has made his zombie films so popular with gore-hounds (although make-up legend Tom Savini is still on hand to provide a couple of impressive effects), and opts instead for slow-burn tension and nail-biting suspense.This more mature and reserved directorial style, coupled with excellent performances (Beghe, who is limited to acting only with his head, is superb), a well written script (adapted by Romero from the novel by Michael Stewart), and a few decent jump scares, results in a satisfying little horror/chiller that proves there is more to Romero than just gut-munching and bullets to the head (not that I dislike gratuitous splatter, but a change is as good as a rest, as they say!).

I find it interesting that we've not heard anything from the top billed actors in this film, but Stephan Root, Janine Turner and Stanley Tucci all have gone on to successful movie careers.Anyway, back to the movie. It reeks of a made for TV special and the acting is pretty awful. It's fun to watch with a date or friends; too see who and how the little primate will do in next. There is a truly scary scene in which the nurse, who at first finds a banana peel in her slipper next finds her dead pet bird. But these chilling moments are few. And that's too bad, because what this movies really need was more development of the monkey's subtle human qualities of vengeance.An incredibly bad movie that had potential; I liked the premise a lot. Hopefully a better treatment will come out in the future.