Day 303 of the challenge! Monkey Shines is out of it’s damn mind, but all the more memorable for it!
And when I say memorable, I also mean completely and insanely bonkers! No wonder it’s so ingrained in pop-culture, there’s no other movie like it! Name another movie that features a murderous and psychic helper monkey, one that also happens to have a taste for classical swing music. I rest my case.
I enjoyed the movie itself quite a bit, but it’s very problematic. Loved the cheesy setup, and ADORED the strangely cute montage of Ella (the psycho monkey) getting trained and just being all manners of adorable. So that’s all good and fun, but there’s also a subplot that adds absolutely nothing to the overall story, bogging it down and making it overlong. This movie didn’t need to be 2 hours long, just saying.
Still, it’s a creepy enough flick with a one of a kind premise, so I can’t help but love it, warts and all.