Monkey Shines (film)

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Monkey Shines
Directed by	George A. Romero
Produced by	Charles Evans
Written by	Michael Stewart (novel) George A. Romero (screenplay)
Starring	Jason Beghe John Pankow Kate McNeil Joyce Van Patten Christine Forrest Stephen Root Stanley Tucci Janine Turner
Music by	David Shire
Cinematography	James A. Contner
Editing by	Pasquale Buba
Distributed by	Orion Pictures
Release date(s)	July 29, 1988 (USA)
Running time	113 min.
Language	English
Budget	$7,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

Monkey Shines (sometimes called Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear) is an American thriller film originally released in 1988 Written and directed by George Romero, the film is based on a novel by the same title authored by Michael Stewart.

[edit] Plot summary

Monkey Shines tells the story of an athlete, Alan Mann, who is rendered quadruplegic when struck by a truck. Mann fails to adjust to his condition, becoming suicidal and despondent. When a scientist friend of his (portrayed by John Pankow), who has been experimenting with the injection of human brain tissue into monkeys, learns this, he is prompted to supply one of the experimental monkeys, named "Ella", to Alan as a helper.

Their relationship is amicable at first, with Mann's life being made much easier, and the two bond deeply, even sharing "romantic" moments with sweet music. But soon their interaction takes a decidedly sinister turn. The monkey seems to become a telepathic receptacle for Mann's anger at his state and his desire for revenge against friends and family for slights both real and imagined. Simultaneously, Mann develops a romantic relationship with Melanie (Kate McNeil), a specialist in quadruplegia and helper monkeys. The film contains a rare example of an intimate love scene with a severely handicapped protagonist.

Ella's protectiveness turns to savage jealousy even as Alan is informed that his condition may be reversible. Ella kills the scientist, by injecting him with the very syringe of poison he had intended to use on her, and disables Melanie. Alan, helpless and alone, is able to summon the strength to turn on the tape player with the romantic music, summoning Ella to cuddle close to him. When Ella cradles Alan's head, Alan, painfully betraying Ella's trust, grips her with his teeth and crushes Ella to death by whipping her body from side to side.

[edit] Trivia

• Earlier versions of Monkey Shines allegedly contained a bizarre brain surgery scene, as well as several abusive scenes involving the small monkey, Ella. Although the scenes were all staged and no animals were harmed in the making of the movie, the filmmakers decided it would be better to simply leave them out to avoid conflicts.

• The original US poster art had a demonic-looking version of the classic and creepy monkey-with-cymbals toy. The box art for the original VHS release had the monkey, with longer claws, holding two straight-razors instead of the cymbals.

[edit] Reference

Monkey Shines at the Internet Movie Database

Films directed by George A. Romero
Night of the Living Dead | There's Always Vanilla | The Crazies | Season of the Witch | Martin Dawn of the Dead | Knightriders | Creepshow | Day of the Dead | Monkey Shines | Two Evil Eyes The Dark Half | Bruiser | Land of the Dead | Diary of the Dead | Solitary Isle