Movies
Kill of the Week: Man Bites Monkey in ‘Monkey Shines’
Every week, we spotlight a kill that we just can’t get enough of. This is Kill of the Week.
We entered this week with the incredibly devastating news that George A. Romero, independent film pioneer, master of horror and creator of the modern day zombie, had passed away at the age of 77. In the wake of the news, most horror fans have spent the week celebrating the life and legacy of Romero, revisiting the immortal body of work he leaves behind.
Of course, Romero is most known for his zombie movies, but he also directed a handful of other notable films throughout his career. Romero’s first studio film was Monkey Shines, released after his original zombie trilogy was completed, in 1988.
Infamously, Romero’s experience on the film was bad enough to send him running back to the indie scene, but his adaptation of Michael Stewart’s novel nevertheless turned out to be a late ’80s gem. After all, Romero in his prime was a force to be reckoned with – even with lots of studio interference.
Monkey Shines tells the story of Allan Mann (Jason Beghe), an athlete who is left quadriplegic after an accident at the start of the film. In an effort to make life easier on him, Mann takes in an experimental monkey named Ella, who at first appears to be a godsend. Of course, however, Ella soon goes on a warpath, leaving several bodies in her wake.
From what I gather, it was the studio that forced Romero to end the film on a happy note, with Mann surviving and Ella being killed off. But even if Romero wasn’t sold on the idea himself, I’ve gotta say: the ending to Monkey Shines is absolutely perfect, giving Mann a badass hero moment after being tormented throughout the film.
“I’m gonna take you apart. I’m gonna rip your fuckin’ eyes out. I’m gonna tear you open and chew out your fuckin’ heart,” Mann promises Ella a bit earlier in the film; and he makes pretty damn good on that promise when he later lures Ella onto his lap and, well, takes a bite out of her. He thrashes Ella around wildly in his mouth, ending her reign of terror the only way his body allows.
Somehow, despite Ella being a murderous little shit, you feel bad for her in those final moments. A testament to Romero’s ability to humanize even the most inhuman of monsters – one of the very things that made his zombie movies so essential.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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