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Monkey Shines (1988)
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This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris experience an Experiment In Fear and discuss 1988's Monkey Shines as a new evil monkey hits theaters with The Monkey.
Directed by the great George A. Romero, Monkey Shines stars Jason Beghe as Allan Mann, a track star and law student. After being hit by a truck while on a morning run, Allan is left paralyzed from the neck down and in the care of an uncaring nurse and his overbearing mother. His friend Geoffrey offers him Ella, a Capuchin monkey, to act as a service animal, but Geoffrey's ulterior motives are to see if his experiments with injecting human brain tissue into Ella have any effect. Ella and Allan start to develop a telekinetic bond that sees Ella begin to act on Allan's darkest impulses, including murdering people. Zach and Chris try to figure out the toy monkey marketing campaign, why helper monkeys are no longer used in homes, Allan's insane "You slime" monologue to Ella, sleazy Stanley Tucci, and more.
You can watch Monkey Shines on PlutoTV, MGM+, and Fubo. Next week, with Reacher back for a third season on Prime Video, we're rewatching the first adaptation of Lee Child's ass-kicking hero, 2012's Jack Reacher, starring Tom Cruise.
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Transcript
Introduction & 'Monkey Shines' Overview
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the official podcast of EverythingAction.com.
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the podcast week of February 17th, 2025. I'm your host, Zach. I'm your co-host, Chris. And this week we are experiencing an experiment in fear and talking about Monkey Shines, the 1988 George Romero cult classic, um because there is another evil monkey in theaters this weekend, the monkey, ah and shockingly similar poster designs.
Marketing Insights & Toy Monkey Motif
00:00:45
Speaker
um Although Monkey Shanks is about a real monkey, so I don't know why why they went with like the whole like toy monkey motif for that movie with the poster and the trailer and stuff. But um the monkey is that you know and i obviously a toy monkey.
00:00:57
Speaker
and i'm sorry i don't know if you found anything, Chris. I was trying to fruit find like why they went with a toy monkey for the marketing. I couldn't find anything about like why they decided to do that when it's an actual live monkey in the movie.
00:01:09
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's I think universally, the ah the toy monkey just is inherently scary. Yeah. So they didn't want to go with the typical, just here's a monster monkey.
00:01:23
Speaker
um But I thought the monkey thing was there's a cursed monkey toy.
00:01:30
Speaker
the monkey Yeah, the monkey the monkey is an actual toy that's cursed. But it's just it's just like the similarities. is Like, Monkey Shines has the poster... And I don't don't know if you've ever seen, that have you seen like the teaser trailer where it's like a toy monkey in a wheelchair, like clanking from Monkey Shines?
00:01:46
Speaker
like You know, I don't remember the wheelchair. i remember definitely the the toy monkey. Yeah. there's ah there's written there's I think it's the first trailer. There's a poem written exclusively for the trailer, which is like, there was a man who's trapped in a chair and a monkey that helped him there.
Helper Monkeys in Film and Reality
00:02:03
Speaker
And it's just, it's it's um like a toy monkey stop motion, like in the wheelchair, like just like clanking and then it's like clips of the movie like around it. But they really, they lean so far into like the toy monkey aspect and has nothing to do at all with Monkey Shines.
00:02:20
Speaker
But it does tight tie into the monkeys. That's why we're talking about it this week. um and And also, you know, obviously evil monkey movies. There's quite a few, but Monkey Shines is probably weren like one of the most famous ones.
00:02:33
Speaker
And ah also ah also a concept that is like... Some people probably don't even realize it was a thing because it's been like you know it's been discontinued for so long. But like helper monkeys, ah like Taputian helper monkeys that would like you know help handigate people to do things around the house.
00:02:51
Speaker
Yeah. They like therere they they are like smart enough as a servant animal. And I remember...
00:03:02
Speaker
like At that point, it was still fresh because I think just in the 70s, they learned to domesticate the dogs to do simple like things. and then or like i mean I think that's been around since the 40s, seeing eye dogs. see the eye dogs yeah and I think like by the 70s, they're like, hey, we can train monkeys. like We figured out like what tasks they can do. Enough research went into it.
00:03:26
Speaker
yeah help Helping Hands is the main organization, and they actually like helped with Monkey Shines, or were advisors to the Monkey Shines. ah Speaking of which, this movie starts with like a big, like, hey, by the way, every monkey here is in train.
Evil Monkeys in Horror Genre
00:03:39
Speaker
No one's hurt.
00:03:41
Speaker
yeah yeah cause Honestly, this is something that if you didn't give like a warning, you didn't really know the history, it's sort of like anti-helper monkey. Yeah. So, at least they give you that heads up.
00:03:55
Speaker
um And i think I think this is one of the last 80s movies where like the thing you you you're supposed to love is turns out to be like... I mean, there were other movies, but um I just want to say something. like It's like this was a like realistic setting for you to get like a helper monkey or like a service animal.
00:04:17
Speaker
Yeah. If other movies came before it or after... It usually was that you, an animal, you welcome the animal to your home and it turns out to be an asshole or, the monkey or or if the animal you got, like was already like possessed by something.
00:04:37
Speaker
Yes. um Like Cujo was a good example. That's something that like, I think it was just like the neighborhood dog that they adopted. And then it turns out he's just an asshole. He's terrorizing everyone else first. And then he terrorizes his own family. Well, he got he got rabies. He got bit by bat and got rabies. That's why he went crazy.
00:04:53
Speaker
um But then, like, I'm thinking other movies are like, hey, this little girl, like, found a monkey or something. Or it's like this monkey just sort of like, oh, I want to keep it a secret monkey.
00:05:08
Speaker
And then I need to help it not get, like, you know, escape its bank robbing friends and stuff. well Well, we transitioned into monkeys play sports. True. i mean you ah Yeah, that's right. like then and then that gen This genre died with basically, let's put a sports thing.
00:05:25
Speaker
But part of me now, thinking about this
Alan's Accident Narrative
00:05:27
Speaker
movie, wants me to see like a combination where it's a sports-playing animal, and then it gets something goes wrong. you know It's like, hey, what's up with our like soccer horse? It's like, he was doing so great, and now something happened to him, and he's going crazy.
00:05:44
Speaker
um But yeah, but this is like if you took out the horror elements and this is just the sh struggle it is to be like Alan, the guy in the wheelchair and then just coping with the new identity.
00:05:57
Speaker
Yeah, this could be like an Oscar, like like like ah like a drama, like where, yeah, yeah like he finds the will to live again because of this helper monkey and like the support he gets from the trainer and stuff.
00:06:14
Speaker
And just get rid of all the brain serum injections and telepathic links and stuff.
00:06:24
Speaker
So... ah lot There's like pseudoscience in this movie. There's just like a thing where... um In order distinguish where the like the evil or like the sinister parts come from... It's not only is it like, I guess, physical care science or like nursing...
00:06:43
Speaker
you know practices. um Then it gets to super soldier seruming, where that's where the X-Factor is. that's the but like okay that That's the difference between like a regular helper monkey and then Ellen.
00:06:59
Speaker
It's a classic. We were trying to make animals smarter with Bizarro Serum, which never works in a movie. Deep Blue Sea, any movie where you're trying make an animal smarter never goes play. Yeah.
00:07:12
Speaker
i It's something where they really should start small, like make ah rat a rat smart, um make like, I don't know, a fish smart. Like, don't don't go for the monkey that you basically, before the serum kicked in, was already knew how tools worked, like had a love of music, um has attachment issues. Like, that that was like out of the box.
00:07:39
Speaker
least At least it's like capuchin monkeys and not like a chimp. Because then you have full like um strength of like two humans.
00:07:51
Speaker
There'd be some face ripping off.
00:07:57
Speaker
but yeah But yeah, the set i mean this so setup is that you have Aelin, who is played by ah Jason Begay, who I think everyone knows now as Chicago PD guy.
00:08:09
Speaker
And he is law student and a runner. And one one morning when he like he goes on a morning run where he he puts bricks in his backpack, I guess, you know, to like for like weight training, I guess, or something.
Film Opening & Character Introduction
00:08:25
Speaker
And then he gets hit by a truck and is paralyzed. And then eventually he gets helper monkey from his friend who is a crazy scientist doing experiments.
00:08:36
Speaker
And I was i was confused by his morning run. like he he obviously does that like every day or like like very regularly. like Why is he shocked by this's like a dog on the route? like You should know the dog is there.
00:08:50
Speaker
I feel like, yeah, he's genuinely shocked as if he never went that way, but it makes it seem like his morning routine is the same. He's high-fiving people on the route, like everyone knows who he is. like he wrote like it seems like he does that like every day. And then he's just like, oh, a dog, what?
00:09:08
Speaker
and then he like falls asleep falls into the street and gets hit by truck.
00:09:15
Speaker
I'm also thinking, um, this movie has an insane, uh, like, first opening credit thing, where it ah it starts with, like, a little bit of, like, like tasteful nude nudity, and then it goes into straight out, hey, check out, like, this dude's butt.
00:09:34
Speaker
ah Like, like, Jason McGee was like, well, I'm gonna be sitting in a wheelchair for most of this movie, so I gotta show off what i can do. Yeah, it's so weird. i could do like I could do like naked calisthenics or like naked stretching or something. think Was that required or was that something that ah he just thought of?
00:09:56
Speaker
You know, just like, hey, like George Romero's like, because George Romero doesn't really use like normal nakedness in his movies. I think it's always been like crazy situations or like don't know. I don't like associate nudity with George Romero movies.
00:10:12
Speaker
No. The stretching scene very uncomfortable to do nude. I don't know if you want to... And he's wearing this reddy rug, dude. its i don' It was just the 80s, man. You just yeah you did stretch you did count naked calisthenics
Domestic Conflict & Character Dynamics
00:10:26
Speaker
in your like rump room, and then you went for a run.
00:10:30
Speaker
ah but a brick A brick backpack run. I like how that... um I guess like putting bricks in a backpack to get add weight, like ah and instead of weight vest that wasn't invented yet, adding bricks to your backpack was like a thing because that I guess was common.
00:10:45
Speaker
Yeah. But i did you think that after Monkey Shines, they're like, we need to make a better brick system, like a weight vest system. for car accidents, because that's... Did that contribute?
00:10:58
Speaker
Did people have, like, a negative connotation from Monkey Shine? So people after Monkey Shine were like, oh, that's a good idea. I'll run with, like, a backpack full of bricks. But then they're like, no, this is actually really terrible. I think that guy... Like, the reason why Monkey Shines... um Like, what put Monkey Shines in that was because of the weighted bricks. If you didn't have the bricks, I think the guy would have able to walk.
00:11:23
Speaker
Oh, you think the bricks like aggravated the the spinal injury? Yeah, yeah. like Because he does like a 360 spin flip in the air. Yep. I mean, it's like a Power Ranger shot by the today's standard. It's like a trampoline young jump in the air spin.
00:11:39
Speaker
Yep. Because he he steps from the curb and he gets wham by that van um But it's not like the van was going like 90 miles.
00:11:51
Speaker
It was probably going like 25, but it like it hits him, there's no blood, it just sort of like... it bonks him. It's very cartoonish. Yeah. um But yeah, like I think the brick didn didn't help. in fact If anything, that that was like she did more damage, it just pushed the bricks into his spine.
00:12:12
Speaker
Well, we find out later that he already had ah a weird neck thing, a spinal thing, and he could have been just walking across the street and got paralyzed.
00:12:25
Speaker
But his second doctor, his first doctor, who is played by Stanley Tucci, ah is stereotypical very like arrogant 80s surgeon guy who drives a Porsche.
00:12:39
Speaker
And he does the surgery. He misses he so he fixes spine, but Alan's still para i completely paralyzed from neck down. I'm not sure what
Ella's Intelligence and Behavior
00:12:51
Speaker
Stanley Tucci actually did. but he just fucked around.
00:12:56
Speaker
You know, he just pretty much was like, yeah, okay, it looks good. And then um just cut into him. So, okay, that here's the thing. Another thing about Stanley Tucci that there's nothing that like he comes in kind of like an arrogant surgeon.
00:13:12
Speaker
hmm. But and does it seem like he misdiagnosed Alan because he was trying to get his girlfriend? Was he trying to, like, like he didn't know him.
00:13:25
Speaker
Like, you know, like, there's no connection. But then later on, it's like this big reveal to everyone. and Yeah. um That the doctor is pretty much like this horndog homewrecker. Mm-hmm.
00:13:39
Speaker
So... you you kind of get a sense that, like, maybe something about the surgery was related to it, but it's, like, completely a coincidence. Yeah. I think the other doctor later says, is like, he knows Tucci, and he's like, oh, yeah, he, like, rushes, and he just wants to get things done. He was, what like, he wants the easiest job possible or something, so...
00:14:00
Speaker
he like They just saw like the more like guess the the the there was a more obvious spinal injury that they fixed, but then they they didn't look hard enough to see the ah like the one the existing condition that Alan had, apparently, that could have paralyzed them any point.
00:14:14
Speaker
Really?
00:14:17
Speaker
but That's unfortunate, because like it seems like... The first act, it's like he's been in that hospital for like easily two months.
00:14:28
Speaker
A while, yeah cause He grows a big bushy beard and then... Yeah, he grows the sad man beard.
00:14:37
Speaker
yeah i feel like someone mentions how long it was, but i you can't remember exactly how long. Someone's like, oh man, it's been like, you know, such and such long. It's like, you're finally home.
00:14:48
Speaker
Yeah, and I think you're like you're right. I think it was like couple of months at least he was like in the hospital.
00:14:55
Speaker
But then he comes home, and he's got his mom who is and and ah his nurse, who are both like just the worst. Well, the mom is overbearing, but yeah, the nurse should not be a nurse. why Yeah, we like I don't know why they had that nurse like why do you hi have that nurse hired for... like Why not fire her a week after she started? Because she's just like... and They absolutely hate each other, and she doesn't want to do anything.
00:15:19
Speaker
But she's there for while. Yeah. a while Yeah. ah she She's like, Cosima was like, you like, i I fucking hate you. And he's like, I fucking hate you back, you bitch. like It doesn't make sense because it just seems like she's just like a roommate. Yeah. It's basically he's got like, it's useful it's supposed to be like, like an employee or like, ah like, you helping him around the house. And she's like, oh, I i moved in now. I'm your roommate. I have my bird in my but room. I decorated.
00:15:54
Speaker
It is weird. yeah it's it's it's so like like you You can call the nursing agency probably to be like, hey, this woman hates me and she's not doing anything I'm telling her to do to help me. Can you can you please fire fire her and find someone else for me?
00:16:08
Speaker
Yeah, it should be like, hey, this isn't working out. I would like like another one or something. Yeah, there's got to be other nurses. i mean...
00:16:20
Speaker
Yeah, but the movie, like, you think that's going to be some big thing, but if anything, she just has a bird. The bird is more of a villain. ashe yeah And Jesus Christ, like, how is not the but I mean, we're going to into it now. We're like, the bird attacks Alan like out of nowhere.
00:16:40
Speaker
And how is that not like a fireball fence? She's just like, ah okay, whatever. like You deserve that. like yeah That is the point where Alan should be, okay, hey, I should complain. She's like, you go ahead. What are you going to do? It's like, well, no, like Roberta attacked me. It's like pecking his eye and stuff.
00:17:03
Speaker
And it's solved that night. Yeah, mm-hmm.
00:17:07
Speaker
ah And that's where we get a little sneak, a little preview of the killer instinct inside Ella. that is I think that's her first kill, right? Yep. I mean, that's the we know at least, but... So, here, okay.
00:17:22
Speaker
Now, I don't know how many times Ella's been injected with the brain goo, but it seems like she was injected during the lab, but then every now and then the friend would come over and just and keep injecting her and then just guess what would happen.
00:17:39
Speaker
I think i think we see we see at least two or three times before Jeffrey brings El to be like, Aelin's helper monkey.
Pseudoscience in 'Monkey Shines'
00:17:47
Speaker
But then, there must be like a bunch of times before that too.
00:17:51
Speaker
And then he comes over when he comes over that one day and like and then like, jigs her again. and
00:17:57
Speaker
and that's like the final time, I think. well then well then she But then like, um later when he when he takes her, when Aelin's like, get her get out of here. And then she's like, I'll run some tests on her. And then like, jigs her again. and Because she wants it. like she's like She's like a crack tag now. She like wants it.
00:18:12
Speaker
She needs the... The juice. Yeah. You know what's funny to think? um People hate on that Bourne Legacy movie.
00:18:24
Speaker
The chems. Yeah. And essentially, that's what Ella is. It's like, if she doesn't get her chems, she'll lose her intelligence and like her reasoning, I guess.
00:18:35
Speaker
But it's just, like, I ask guess there must be more stuff in it, but it's just, like, a dead person's brain, right? Yeah, it's it's, like, part of it. and then But then but it's it's, like, toxic. It looks like the reanimator serum.
00:18:49
Speaker
Like, it's, like, bright green, neon green. You know, it's not like you were allowed to just take brain matter and do it ourselves. Who knows? Maybe that's what happens when you take brain matter and you, like, add some water to it.
00:19:03
Speaker
Yeah, but blend it into, like, a serum. Yeah. Is it just liquid brain? ah she just taking up the butt? I... you know i I thought I remember hearing, like I thought this was part of it, but and maybe it's it's like maybe it's like a subtle part of it, but I i thought there was part of it, was because there's they said, oh it's like a woman's brain.
00:19:22
Speaker
So I thought that was like it was basically like turning Ella into like you whoever that woman was before. i feel like, see, this movie feels like it's like fragmented story ideas. Because you could so argue that maybe the brain matter from that donated Jane Doe and She like but and was like a serial killer or something. or like ah or like a really crazy, jealous girlfriend or something. And that's but then that's why Ellie starts like going nuts or protecting A.L. and be like,
00:19:48
Speaker
You're mine. No one else could have you. Yeah, yeah. If anything, this movie just shows you that like the women are the terrorizers in this movie. Like the mom, the ex-girlfriend, the nurse, you know, the monkey. i bet you the bird's also female. Like, what is the message?
00:20:10
Speaker
Yeah, the the only one who isn't like a horrible monster is ah Melanie, like the monkey trainer. Yeah. I mean, ah yeah, we don't know. maybe yeah Maybe after this movie.
00:20:26
Speaker
But yeah, so yeah. So yeah, Jeff, that reanimator serum, he's been injecting out for a while. He's also, Jeff is also injecting himself with something that they never explained. Like he has this red serum. He's just like, well, I gotta stay awake. He just like injects himself.
00:20:43
Speaker
So already, like, his his experiments are already, like, untrustworthy if he's, like, injecting himself with, like, some crazy serum.
00:20:51
Speaker
Yeah. um I feel like that should have be that should be also a ah subplot where maybe he gets more monkey-like or something. and Or maybe, like um like, Alan has to deal with him because it's like, now that guy's sort of like the monkey master.
00:21:13
Speaker
But it's completely like dropped. I think there was um there's a deleted ending or alternate ending where ah like because you see um Jeffrey like inject all the other monkeys with the serum. He has one vial serum left. He injects all the other monkeys.
00:21:32
Speaker
guess there's an alternate ending where Stephen Root, who is ah Jeffrey's boss, shows up in like the lab. flab But then the monkeys, because they all took the serum, like they have like mind control powers now, and they take they take over Jim Rue's body or something, or take over his mind.
00:21:47
Speaker
That was like the alternate ending. I mean, that's like the other, i don't know, like the third antagonist? His, like, comeuppance? Even though Steven Root just sort of doesn't do much, he has the same kind of evil lab also.
00:22:04
Speaker
He's like, need results, we need results, or you're gonna get kicked out.
00:22:11
Speaker
I mean, I don't know what that means. Yeah. And Jeffrey's not... is he a student he Is he a college student, or is he like just like... He's like already just like a research scientist. I think he's a research scientist.
00:22:22
Speaker
Because I don't think he... he just like He's not doing anything besides working at a university. Yeah. yeah Because Alan's going to law school. He was going to law school, and he goes to law school like once after his accident.
00:22:34
Speaker
Yeah. Oh yeah, like he doesn't go back after that, right? he goes He goes to class once with Ella, and then there's the like the adorable Ella raises her hand, then and then Ellen answers the question correctly.
00:22:46
Speaker
But then it's like, well, that was fun, I'm not going to school anymore.
Alternate Ending & Mind Control
00:22:51
Speaker
I guess because he started to have like weird psychic links with his monkey, and people are dying around him.
00:23:00
Speaker
Yeah, but is that just like he kept getting visions? But Tendley only... The bird died. And that was it. And then the rest of the time is just like a romantic day with your monkey.
00:23:14
Speaker
Yeah, the the whole like the whole middle act is just a montage of how like it's just like this it's amazing, like, Alan and Ella and their amazing life together as they train together. it's like This is is wonderful.
00:23:28
Speaker
Well, okay, because it's not, it's just, it's that. It's the, like, hey, I get to hang out with the monkey trainer. I get to hang out the nurse. I get to hang out with, like, the monkey. Like, it it seems like it was a good act. Like I said, like, there's the there's a the version of this story where you cut out the horror, you cut out the the brain part, and you basically just have this guy struggling to accept his new identity.
00:23:51
Speaker
And it works, too. Um, but I guess that's like the subversive part because the movies build as like this horror movie, like get ready for this experiment in fear.
00:24:02
Speaker
Yeah. And it's just like, oh, this is a slow experiment.
00:24:08
Speaker
And the other thing is too, is, um, even if the experiment is, we're getting the monkey, like intelligence. Yeah. The monkey just chooses to like fall in love with her, like her, her like master.
00:24:24
Speaker
And think I think Jeffrey also says himself is like, well, she's already smart, so I don't know what this, like, but're just now she's just smarter. and then he... and she's She's not demonstrating like enough smart or intelligent acts at the lab, so then that's why he gives her to Aylan to make her like, oh, maybe she'll do like start doing like weird stuff if I give it to my friend.
00:24:46
Speaker
Oh, but also, um
00:24:49
Speaker
what's-his-face, George? the The friend? Jeffrey. Jeffrey? So Jeffrey declared Ella like dead, right? like yeah Yes. That's like a sub-ball that comes in and then just sort of dropped.
00:25:04
Speaker
Ella's like a on-the-records-dead monkey to the university, so all what he's been doing so far is off the books.
00:25:12
Speaker
Because he has to then he has to like give and like Ella under the table to like Helping Hands or whatever Melanie works for. Because he's like, well, all my monkeys are token for. He's like, well, I got a monkey.
00:25:26
Speaker
she like i just i just can give you a monkey. She's like, alright.
00:25:31
Speaker
very like Very lax. Whatever that organization is, it's very lax. like like you If you have a monkey, you're you're good. like Just give them a monkey and you get to have a monkey.
00:25:46
Speaker
I found this monkey on the street. and want I want want to be my helper monkey.
00:25:54
Speaker
So I'm wondering, da did ah this foundation ever do background checks in all the monkeys they're getting?
00:26:05
Speaker
Like... Can you show and be like, I've got a monkey for you to train? They're like, sweet. Like, we're always in demand for monkeys. That's what it seems like. its Cause Stephanie's like, oh yeah, she's fine. And then Melanie's like, all right, I'll train it. trust you. I trust you friend. I just met.
00:26:21
Speaker
Strung out scientist. Who's like, like acting shady.
00:26:29
Speaker
just like why is and and I just need to check every day. I just need like, periodically check in and give her injections of medicine.
Helper Monkeys in Pop Culture
00:26:37
Speaker
and
00:26:39
Speaker
If that's that's a cool.
00:26:43
Speaker
Yeah, it's weird because, like, eventually Elle's gonna get smart enough to start complaining about them. Like, these injections that she's getting that she doesn't want to get until she wants it. She needs her fix.
00:26:55
Speaker
kind surprised, like, you could there's a version where they, like, like I guess the point where like Ella talks or something because she's she's so smart. Like she goes like full like Caesar.
00:27:07
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. So I did a quick ah search of movies where it's like movies that they're trying to be so animals are trying to be smart, but it goes wrong. ah A year before this was Project X. The movie where they yeah yeah, they train chimpanzees and then it's like, oh,
00:27:29
Speaker
We shouldn't have done that. And then about like 12 years before this was Day of the Dolphin. Oh, yeah.
00:27:42
Speaker
Yeah, it's another like, don't train monkeys. um And then a year after, like a few years after this, in 1993, they did that movie called man best Man's Best Friend. Where essentially it's evil Beethoven movie.
00:27:59
Speaker
Yeah, it's like a genetically modified dog that has... dog has a telepathic link to someone, like a girl or something. lot of these movies also have like a telepathic link. Someone has like a telepathic link to like the animal.
00:28:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:18
Speaker
I guess it's to show their increased brain power. They're like it's like they're using untapped powers of their brain. They can telepathically link to like and bond with people.
00:28:31
Speaker
Because that's what started like, because that's what, Aylan and Ella get like, this, like, bizarre link where Aylan starts having, like, monkey vision. So you can see, like, what Ella's, like, running around. Because she she gets in the attic and escapes. She finds, like, a window she can get out of. she So she, like, jumps out the window and is, like, running around the woods at night.
00:28:49
Speaker
And then Aylan is, like, seeing it in, like, his dreams or, like, just seeing it. Like, he's just, like, having, like, visions where he's, like, standing, like, he's just, like, sitting still. And people are just, like, Aylan, are you good? He's, like. I'm running in the woods.
00:29:00
Speaker
I'm a monkey.
00:29:05
Speaker
And that that that the first time you see monkey vision, it's crazy. It's just like, oh, wait, what's happening now? We're the monkey now?
00:29:14
Speaker
ah Yeah, so that they introduced something kind of bizarre because it seems like, okay, so now the it's like he can control the monkey or... The monkey's sending him dream messages somehow. it' sort of It's It's like a two-way thing, because Alan is sending his like dark impulses to Ella, and she's acting on them, but then she's also giving him... like if Amplifying his aggression, and he's getting like angry and more pissed off somehow.
00:29:45
Speaker
Somehow, yeah. It's like all his feelings he's had, he is just letting that... um Just, like, the outbursts? Yeah. Because it's not like... It's not like Alan is slowly becoming monkey-like.
00:30:00
Speaker
You know, it's not like he he's peeing on things. He's getting kind of foo-territorial. would have liked it if he grew, like, monkey fur. Like, you know how, like, his beard grows? And it's like... It starts forming that, like, typical monkey beard around the sideburn.
00:30:19
Speaker
you know what I'm talking about, right? Yeah. Kind of like how... um What's his face from Jumanji? The boy turned into the monkey? Oh, yeah. Peter. Give me that. yeah Give me that Peter transformation where he slowly starts growing a tail.
00:30:35
Speaker
guess that there were I guess I'm going to make a bunch of sense just from a psychic link he turns into the monkey. Who knows? That'd be like if Jeffrey but started, like, if he thought like his serum would would help Alan walk again or something, he'd start injecting Alan with the serum, too.
00:30:50
Speaker
get a different serum or something.
00:30:53
Speaker
See, that's something. in This movie, I think that's the flaw, is that like you needed to add in the super pseudoscience and not just allow the creation of like an evil monkey. Or a monkey that basically was not ready to do this, and you don't know that until you get to a certain training.
00:31:10
Speaker
And the monkey just snaps because like it became very territorial. yeah i think's mean like That's like the anti-monkey message of the movie.
00:31:20
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Well, it gets muddled because you've got the aggression stuff where Aylan and Ella are, like, amplifying each other's aggression. But then you could also just have Ella's smart and she also becomes jealous. She loves Aylan and is jealous of anyone. It's, like, getting in the way of her and Aylan. Her emotional intelligence is, like, very high.
00:31:43
Speaker
So the whole what she wants out of, like... the relationship is different. So they try to do, like, both, and it kind of, like, doesn't really, like, neither of them gets fully fleshed out enough. I agree.
00:31:55
Speaker
It definitely has a flaw where, for me, like, I've always wondered what could have been if they just dropped the the super science part, so you really focus in on more, like, the monkey staring at, like, this
Conspiracy Theories & Plot Twists
00:32:09
Speaker
relationship and getting jealous of the doctor, the mother, the nurse, and really, like, it starts messing with, like,
00:32:15
Speaker
her identity. But then I guess you couldn't have, but then you wouldn't have like reasons for her to be able to figure out like, ima drop hairdryer in hairar dryer and tub of water and kill this person or like set a fire.
00:32:28
Speaker
ah well, the fire part, we'll get into that, but I don't know, maybe like she's self-injecting. sort of like Or injects her one time. It realizes, hey, it's not working, but it takes time for it to like evolve.
00:32:43
Speaker
And then by the time the events are kicking off, it's like her intelligence has exponentially expanded way beyond what they measured initially. Because like that's like any let's like meeting any kid. The monkeys, I think, are intelligent as like a five-year-old.
00:33:01
Speaker
I think like the best monkeys have like the intelligence of maybe like a ten-year-old. Maybe. I think it's like there's a limit. But that takes time. That takes at least 10 years, you know? So this was like two months?
00:33:21
Speaker
Yeah, Jeffrey was doing the experiments before Alan's accident, and then after the accident, he was doing little bit longer. A little bit longer. Then decided, like, oh, hey, I can experiment and help my friend, but mostly experiment.
00:33:36
Speaker
So... Yeah, Jeffrey's secretly, like, the bad guy in the movie. i mean he I mean, he caused a lot of issues. ah Turns out he was the one driving the van.
00:33:49
Speaker
Like, in the beginning of the movie. It was a van full of monkeys. In ah and a 90s movie, or a modern low-budget movie, in order to save money and some plot time, it would have been Steven Root driving the van.
00:34:05
Speaker
It would have all been connected, and then if you really want up in the surprise factor... It's like the mom was in on it too and like maybe Jeffrey and it's just like a whole conspiracy in order to um like rush the test results so they needed a live subject.
00:34:25
Speaker
They needed like all these reasons to do
Ella's Fire Incident & Tension
00:34:27
Speaker
it. It's such a dumb like twist but it all makes sense because this movie only stars like eight people.
00:34:36
Speaker
and like And like one main location. The house. The house, yeah.
00:34:42
Speaker
Um, but, yeah, uh, let's go back into that house thing with the the monkey that just knew how to light matches. It starts really strong, because you don't know what the monkey's gonna do. And, I mean, this is maybe, like, my 15th time watching this movie.
00:34:59
Speaker
And I'm always disappointed that it never gets crazier than that. Like, the hair dryer in the bathtub is pretty, like, oh my god, but that should have been the first kill.
00:35:09
Speaker
Like, that shows you that the monkey was smart, and like knew how the world works. um I guess because they couldn't train the monkey to light matches and they just were limited by time and budget. They really shortcut it. It's like a music video by that scene. know It's done in first person view and then it's just like... Stanley Tucci is like it's like... I guess that's Stanley Tucci in that, you know but it's like... It might as well been stand-ins.
00:35:39
Speaker
It's so like darkly lit... um They're like naked standing up making out like his girlfriend, Alan's ex-girlfriend and the doctor. And it's so fast. It's just like, okay, fire. i don't know if that's all right the house is burning or that's just like their lovemaking. And then it's just oh, they're dead.
00:35:57
Speaker
i knew that. I knew that camera would go up like a like a like a tinderbox. And I dreamt about it burning. And i want then she burned it for me.
00:36:09
Speaker
I think it would have been more ah on brand for this if, like, well, also, the girlfriend left, and the doctor's never seen the monkey, so there they would be confused the monkey just showed up, because I don't feel like the monkey knew, like,
00:36:26
Speaker
i think i think I think Ellen knows where the cabin is because Ellen's been to the cabin before. ah So it's it's it's going like Ellen's like going off of Ellen's like memories and knowledge because they have this help ethic link is what I think is going on.
00:36:40
Speaker
Okay. that's why That's why she knows where to go. Okay, because I was confused by that. I was like wait a minute. Like the girlfriend hasn't really met the monkey and like Stanley Tucci's not just, hey, how's my favorite ex-patient going?
00:36:52
Speaker
Like sort of rubbing in his face.
00:36:56
Speaker
I suppose he even showed up to like the like Welcome Home Party.
00:37:01
Speaker
i mean, he had he had to go and, like... i We already have assumed by that point. it's like There's, like, a whole different scene that should be filmed before this, where Stanley Tucci meets the girlfriend.
00:37:12
Speaker
Yeah. but It's like, when you go there, there's definitely something up with her, there's something up with him, because he's giving her the, like, hey, when are we leaving, guys? Mm-hmm. And then you realize, oh... Like, Alan picked it up. Out of everyone in that whole house, Alan was the one like, she's leaving me.
00:37:29
Speaker
But she doesn't know who, though. she just He just knew that she wants out.
00:37:37
Speaker
but Yeah, no, that that house burning scene, the first kill, or the second kill, with the pack of matches, is pretty, like, scary, because...
00:37:50
Speaker
um Basically, this this like this fire bug is free fire bug is just like, OK, well, I my my master doesn't like you, so I'm burning the house down.
00:38:04
Speaker
And she's like, that's not her gimmick. It's not like she's starting fires and other parts or like she learned how to light matches. That's just something she did. And then she was over it. She the monkey was like, all right, onto my next like trick.
Romantic & Horror Elements
00:38:18
Speaker
So that, to me, was, like, the surprise. It's not like Alan was like, hey, play with matches. Like, come on, I'm going to show to do this. But who knows? Maybe that's something that monkeys, like, the helping hands could do.
00:38:31
Speaker
Well, they tried it, like, Melanie's like, well, they almost don't like open flames. And they do, like, the whole thing where, like, they, like, light a match and shove Nella's face just runs away. It's like, see?
00:38:42
Speaker
she has, like, fire. Yeah, no, you you do that to, like, anybody. Yeah. Yeah.
00:38:52
Speaker
or is it Or is she so smart that she pretended to not like fire, but she actually is fire with fire? Yeah, I don't know. see That's not like... um What do I want to say? like that That's the fire bug.
00:39:09
Speaker
Pyromaniacs, the true criminal ones, they're they're supposed to be like, they gotta put it on the front and it's like, oh no fire is bad. But then they're like, what do you want, my dark master? Flames. So...
00:39:20
Speaker
um The monkey did a good job. The monkey did a... Now, here's the crazy thing. um Since we know this was, like, trained monkeys, do you think they trained the monkey to be afraid of fire? Or was that just like, oh, like, okay, we gotta give the monkey, like, a bag of peanuts, and it's happy, and then, like, here's a fly in its face, and they're like, holy shit. but know there's there's actual monkeys, and then there was, like, Tom Savini, like, puppet monkeys,
00:39:47
Speaker
They used both types of... ah Which, I mean, there's a couple couple scenes that obviously the the puppets, but like it's pretty... I don't know if some of those close-ups are the the monkey puppet, but if they were, they're pretty awesome.
00:40:05
Speaker
I think a lot close-ups are actually like ah Boo the monkey. That gets like a ah special credit at the intro. It's usually Boo as Ella.
00:40:17
Speaker
I'm wondering... That can't be the same monkey that's in Ace Ventura, right? No, I think... like On IDB, Boo has credits, and I think ah the it's only been in two movies.
00:40:31
Speaker
It was like this, and then it was... What was the other one? Elodie?
00:40:37
Speaker
It was like a short. I noticed that there's a lot of like ah There's a couple of really famous capuchin monkeys that were in a bunch of stuff. i think but the like Crystal the monkey was like one.
00:40:49
Speaker
i was like If you look up capuchin monkeys...
00:40:54
Speaker
I think you' there's like it's like you know like... Bart the bear is like like the bear is like a famous bear actor. He's been in tons of movies and stuff. I think there's like there's like one like one or two capuchin monkeys that are in everything.
00:41:09
Speaker
Okay, so... You know what would have funny? If Hollywood took the wrong parts of this movie and then added Capuchin monkeys to like every ordinary movie.
00:41:23
Speaker
I know like it tried to in the 90s. I think right around Ace Ventura they did that like Monkey Trouble. Monkey Trouble. Was that Monkey joke the one with girl and the monkey in the bag of money?
00:41:35
Speaker
Yes, because monkey trouble because the monkey in Monkey Trouble was like a thief. A pickpocket. Okay, because I was wondering, because I always thought about The Hangover Part 3, or no, Part 2, and I was like, isn't that the same plot?
00:41:45
Speaker
Because that's another Kapusho monkey. Yeah.
00:41:56
Speaker
No, there definitely was there, like, especially like the mid-90s, there was definitely like this run of, like, this whole string monkey movies. Because there was Dunstan Checks In, there's Monkey Trouble, there was Ed, there was MVP, there was...
00:42:12
Speaker
I think probably a couple more. don't
00:42:18
Speaker
you know. It's always like a cycle, like, like kind you know like it all started with like comics, like the guerrilla comics. It's like, you gotta put guerrillas on comics, they sell. Like the so like Silver Age or whatever it was. It's just like these cycles of like monkey movies.
00:42:33
Speaker
Everyone loves monkeys.
00:42:38
Speaker
because Because there were... I mean they i think there were like and like on either side of Monkey Shines. There were like other... like we just said like Project X. i think it Was it Link? was it link I think it was one, right? Link was an ape? yeah A bamboo? I remember like Link is another movie we have to watch on our list because...
00:42:54
Speaker
The trailers don't do it just as well. Crazy it is. Obviously, Shakma! Shakma was a baboon. Primates. Apes. There's whole string them in the 80s and then again in the ah but baboon but just you know primates a there's like a whole but whole string of them in the eighty s then again in the ninety s
00:43:20
Speaker
But, ah yeah, anyway, so, ah but ate back to Monkey Shines. Oh, we should probably talk about the ah the the crazy the crazy sex scene.
00:43:32
Speaker
my God. Where it's, like, ah i't i feel i feel like Melanie was too hot. Like, she's, like, using, like, the rig, like, the, like, lifting rig, right? To, like, that they use, like, lift people, like, the...
00:43:45
Speaker
like people onto the beds and stuff. and She's hanging for that. But I feel like she's like too high for Eiland's head. It's obviously it's like obviously the only thing he can do is like yeah move his head around.
00:43:59
Speaker
guess. um But just, I mean, it's very like... I guess it's what paralegic... What they can do yeah. yeah It's very...
00:44:12
Speaker
It's not too graphic. It's very tasteful, actually. Well, I was reading... Apparently, one of the producers was like wanted it to be like way more graphic, and then George Romero was like, I don't think so. We already have like super sides and stuff like that. Let's not try to... Yeah.
00:44:26
Speaker
And then, as we saw the movie, the producer was like, yeah, I think George was right. That would have been crazy, so... That's good that they held back on not trying to, you know, go nuts, but...
00:44:43
Speaker
yeah it's It's like, it makes sense, because if you want to show what love making to a typical like you know romance scene would be, this is a good representation, because it's like, yeah, no, they they can do the same some degree. and um It's just as like romantic, because ah they fell in love. you know wasn't just yeah like, hey, don't know, like,
00:45:11
Speaker
I feel like her character was just like, oh, like you you love monkeys, I love monkeys, we're a thing now. It's like time. They spent a lot of time in that house. and It was either going to be her or the nurse.
00:45:25
Speaker
Someone was going to fall in love with Alan. you want to stay the weekend in my drafty monkey training barn?
00:45:35
Speaker
feel like they missed an opportunity for, like, i mean, because el like Ella was with Jeffrey, like, he was trying do like, his, like, final experiment, like, trying to figure out what was going on with her. But I feel like there' like there should have been, like, where, like, she escaped or something it was, it like, in, like, the the monkey cage or something, in the barn, like, watching them and being like, oh, I'm gonna kill her. like I think, yeah, so there's there's another version in my head now where, you're right, um maybe Jeffrey takes the monkey bag and goes, oh, you know, you actually are smarter than you look. Something's going on with the experiments. It's working.
00:46:05
Speaker
And then it it escapes l escapes, runs to the barn, sees that romance scene happening. And then it, something snaps in her. Yeah. Like the, the jealous brain waves, um, from like the, her super serum or just ah like and the, the unrestrained rage of not understanding how, like, it's a species difference and all that. Like, you know, it drives the monkey crazy because, um,
00:46:34
Speaker
As horrifying as it sounds, but, like, the interspecies romance part of the movie is sort of, like, downplayed. There's one part where, like, it's weird. I mean, it's super uncomfortable for me.
00:46:46
Speaker
Where, um, it's like, in the first act where you see Ella really being affectionate and then just sort of like like... Yeah, like hugging Ella and stuff. and like And then does the whole like, oh, let's turn off the lights, like look at me time, and let's listen to music and dance.
00:47:03
Speaker
um It's funny, but then it's like, oh, oh no.
00:47:09
Speaker
if If you replace the monkey with like an actual woman, it's
Climactic Battle & Conclusion
00:47:14
Speaker
the same beats. It's like, hey, I'm trying to work done. like oh get oh and It's like, uh-oh. It would be like a 90s domestic thriller. would'd be like, Hand of the Cradle or something.
00:47:25
Speaker
so i think mean, it's different. I just laugh at it because knowing how the movie is, it's like, that's the first cue. that's like The monkey was like, why didn't you pick up on my signal?
00:47:37
Speaker
I love you. love you, Alan.
00:47:42
Speaker
And then we then we have to talk we have to dive into the like was it last 30 minutes, which is, like I think, the most memorable part of the movie and like just like the craziest part of the movie. Where you get like the the final battle between Alan and Ella.
00:47:57
Speaker
That's the part where basically it's trying to make good with the like promise of the trailer.
00:48:08
Speaker
Man versus Beast.
00:48:12
Speaker
But yeah, you get... um ah So, like... ah so Yeah, Elle escapes from Jeffrey and gets back to the house. And then... Ellen's mother, who has decided to sell everything she owns in... Where did she live? Like, Illinois or something? And move in with Ellen to take care of him full-time? Yeah.
00:48:35
Speaker
she's like taking a bath, and then Ella picks up on Alan's kind of like like, or like the their aggression starts amping up a again, because they're back in the same like house or vicinity. And then, yeah, so she throws a hairdryer into the bathtub and kills Alan's mother. Well, before that, though, Alan has another rage freak out, where he's like, oh, you're just trying to use me, like you you don't love me, you just you want me to just always like... um He says in other rage-filled tangents,
00:49:05
Speaker
but but he's also he's aware he's But he's also self-aware of like, oh god, it's because of Ella. Like, she's back. yeah but He's basically like, he's he's like going like he's like doing like a Jekyll and Hyde thing. and like Mother! Mother, no, it's not me, it's it's Ella!
00:49:21
Speaker
um I hate you, bitch! Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't mind that that. But the movie does that so late, and then at that point, you're just sort of like, okay, whatever's gonna happen...
00:49:33
Speaker
I kind of wish that was like more hinted at in the second part, besides the monkey dreaming. Yeah. Well, the mom was also like weirdly against Melanie.
00:49:45
Speaker
but she's so She's acting like they're like teenagers. was like, he's not home right now. He's taking a bath. Call back later. like yeah. yeah ah That's something that I feel like it's a weird...
00:49:59
Speaker
like, switch because she was there for, like, two months helping him, but as soon as they got, like, into romantic feelings, and then she's just like, how dare she? Yeah.
00:50:14
Speaker
I don't know. Weird Oedipus thing going on. don't know. It's like, she also wants Ellen to for herself. Just like Ella. Everyone does besides the nurse. Yep. In some way, Jeffrey also wants, like, Ellen.
00:50:29
Speaker
as a test is a test subject.
00:50:32
Speaker
but wait But Jeffrey also shows up like he, well, so earlier, he, for some reason, i don't think we ever really get an explanation for he ejects himself with the monkey brain serum.
00:50:45
Speaker
um I guess it's because wants to... He tries to have the same mind meld with Ella to figure out... Alright, I'm going to inject myself and we'll have a mind meld and I'll see what you see and we'll figure out what's going on with you.
00:50:59
Speaker
But but is it causes him to just like pass out. That's how Ella escapes. But then he shows up with surges full of poison. That's like his big plan.
00:51:11
Speaker
And that obviously backfires because Ella gets one of them and stabs him in the back with his...
00:51:17
Speaker
Yeah, um... It's sort of like a very cop-out moment because gets killed by his own experiment.
00:51:29
Speaker
But I feel like there could have been a... Like a science off where Ella concocts something before he could. Like some sort of trap or... ah It's something that, like, she stabs him in the butt, and then he dies.
00:51:47
Speaker
Yeah. mean, it's basically what happens. I do love that she kind comes up with, like, hockey sticks. Like, she makes her just, like, a little, like, hockey stick and, like, shoots the syringe across the floor. Yeah, I mean, it's it's fine, and the more I think about it, I just think it's, like, funny that, like, but the the, like, cracked-out science guy gets killed by the the like, smart monkey he accidentally keeps making smarter, like, all the time.
00:52:12
Speaker
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
00:52:15
Speaker
Well, they they kind of make it seem like he was going to, he's going to get eaten by all the other monkeys. because the cause all other monkeys get Like he's injected them all with like probably their first dose of the serum, but they all get loose and then they're like onto all over him, like biting him and stuff. it's like, oh, they're going eat him.
00:52:29
Speaker
But then yeah that's I was like, oh, that's, I was like, oh, okay. That's how he's going to go. And then it's not. He just like runs out. It's like, get off me monkeys. It just like runs out. it's
00:52:39
Speaker
There is, there is kind of like a whole like child's play kind of thing to this where it's, you know, the, but The monkey, like, Ella is deadly, but then she's also tiny, so it's like, it kind of is ah that like ridiculous like feel of, like, you know, Chucky's just a doll. You can, like, throw him across the room if you wanted to, probably.
00:52:59
Speaker
It's like tiny monkeys like running around like terrorizing people and killing people.
00:53:06
Speaker
When you probably, realistically, you probably could, like, you know, like, grab and just throw it across the room or something and, like, snap its neck. I mean, it's... I never try to catch one of those monkeys, but I imagine it's not.
00:53:17
Speaker
they're I mean, they're probably they're probably fast, but, I mean, you you you can definitely overpower them if you wanted to, I'm sure. So, even, like, a super intelligent one. True, true.
00:53:30
Speaker
But yeah but then the the fight, like, so then when it comes down to just Alan versus Ella, that's when the movie just gets like really nuts.
00:53:39
Speaker
Like, I think the best, the best moment of the whole movie is, uh, Alan's monologue where like, like, like, well, Melanie comes over and then like like, like to help, but then she gets like knocked out and like falls into the table. Cause I'll like, um, what does Ella do? Like, like trips her or something or, um,
00:54:01
Speaker
I forget how, like, Emily falls into the, uh... I guess I'll just, like, attacks her, and then she falls into, like, the table with the tape deck on it. Yeah, she, like, bumps her head. Yeah.
00:54:12
Speaker
And then l Ella's got the, um... She's, like, trying to, like, light her on fire with matches. Pretty hilarious to see a monkey just sort of, like, go back to its basic things.
00:54:24
Speaker
And I also... I like that she tries, like, different areas. Like, she's like, oh, the jack's not working. I'm gonna try her hair. And then she gets like this like the poison syringe. But then, and one point, she jumps on Aylan, and like and then like they're having like this like but they're both like pissed off each other, and then she pees on Aylan's lap, and then he launches into this like monologue where he's just like, You slime!
00:54:45
Speaker
You filth! I'm gonna rip you apart! Okay, here's the crazy thing. Do you think that's real pee? Or do you think um that's... That's probably Tom Savini special effect.
00:54:59
Speaker
It's like, I read i read this i just monkey to pee on you.
00:55:07
Speaker
But just I'm just trying i'm trying to picture Jeff Begay. Do you think he was like saying that monologue an actual monkey or a monkey puppet or nothing?
00:55:19
Speaker
I like to imagine it's the actual monkey. He's just like, boo the monkey. Romero's just like, yeah, you gotta call this monkey filth.
00:55:32
Speaker
You hate him.
00:55:35
Speaker
Yeah, I guess they had to use a puppet, because I feel like at this time, talking to nothing wasn't, a lot of actors weren't used to that. So, it wasn't just like a tennis ball and a string.
00:55:47
Speaker
They definitely insulted a puppet monkey to be on this.
00:55:53
Speaker
I think we were also talking earlier too. like i haven't seen any Chicago PD, but I hope at some point he did like word for word that monologue to someone on that show. He catches a serial killer or something and he's like, yeah filth um ah tell ye pa you fucking eyes out.
00:56:15
Speaker
I kind of wish Chicago PD was on a like a more mature network. Yeah, like FX or something.
00:56:25
Speaker
Here's the crazy thing. it's but I still remember Monkey Shines because I watched it a lot to the point where when Chicago PD came out, was like, they got the Monkey Shines guy for this? Yep. It's got it's gotta to be like his two things. It's like it's Monkey Shines and Chicago PD now, right?
00:56:41
Speaker
He was in a Disney movie, I think. Yeah.
00:56:45
Speaker
He was in... guess, that one will be, but he was ah he's a small part in that. Yeah, I do think i think i think you're right. i think he was in like a Disney Channel Richard a movie or something.
00:56:59
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's not just like... Oh, he we we just we just saw him in Home Alone 4. Oh, yeah, he was the dad. He was Peter McAllister, yeah.
00:57:12
Speaker
in Home Alone 4 if he did that Monkey Shines monologue? like To like like to like Kevin when he's mad him. He's like, you filth. You scum. I'm gonna tear you apart.
00:57:26
Speaker
He's like, I just wanted your love dad. And he's like, i ain't your dad right now.
00:57:35
Speaker
But yeah. so but then like the the big The big final craziness is Alan made he managed managed to like coax Ella onto like his... like he but He managed to... like he can he can move his He moves his hand, which is a voluntary movement. which like He went to a second doctor after ah Stanley Tucci.
00:57:51
Speaker
and That doctor said, if like if you can prove that you can move your any part of your body voluntarily, can do this surgery to help you like walk again. So he managed to like move his ah hand and turn on the the music and like coax Ella onto his lap.
00:58:04
Speaker
And then... he bites down on her neck and starts whipping her around like a dog, to like and that's like the final killing move to kill her. yeah It's something like... Okay, you know how like the the sex scene was sort of like what you think paralegic sex would be like for that?
00:58:24
Speaker
Yeah, quadriplegic, yeah. Murdering that monkey, so that's why you need that space, because I feel like Alan's head whips so violently that yeah you need that gap. yeah so he can really tear into it, just like Gala.
00:58:38
Speaker
He does, yeah. he's he is He goes to town. like He's just like unleashed, just like ripping that thing back and forth. And then so throws her into the tape player.
00:58:52
Speaker
and then... Well, the the crazy thing is, it's not like he's chewing, he just rip he holds on and then shakes it like a dog.
Impact on Film Trends
00:59:00
Speaker
Yeah, he's see he's trying to do like the like the yeah the whipping like neck snap, kind of like kill killing blow thing.
00:59:08
Speaker
Which is scary, because I guess, like, yeah, that's that's one way to end the movie. He's tapping into the primal part of his body. like It's the animal part of his body coming like coming through.
00:59:21
Speaker
yeah. yeah The animal part of his mind that's, like, so attached Ella.
00:59:26
Speaker
Ella gave her gave him the will to kill. But, you know what's even crazy? It's not like even says, like, Like, time to shine, or... Yeah, what what what what what're shining what what is a monkey shines? Is that like a phrase we just don't know? It's like, when the monkey shines, the people dies. i don't know. Is that like part of the poem we just totally overlooked?
00:59:57
Speaker
I don't think so. It's not in the trailer poem, I don't think. like that the trailer pose but sure but but don't think They mentioned the monkey's game, and the monkey... The man tried to keep the monkey from his brain, every movie made became the monkey's game.
01:00:11
Speaker
know, this movie could be actually called Monkey's Game, and it still would work. Mm-hmm.
01:00:18
Speaker
Or Primal Something, or... i guess they pay would they probably wouldn't have liked it, but probably could have called it Helping Hands. Yeah. Oh my god. then That would like totally just like destroy that organization.
01:00:31
Speaker
They would have to rebrand. This would have been the WWF. WWF, yeah. yeah
01:00:40
Speaker
Or if you really want to mess with them, call it furry hands, and then it's like, watch out for the furry hands.
01:00:49
Speaker
i guess i guess monkey shines is like mischievous or playful activity. in the form of pranks or tricks. Is that like a verb, or is that like a noun? what it's like it's all It's all one word. It's like monkey shines with no space. It's like an old kind of like term.
01:01:07
Speaker
i guess it But it still doesn't really explain it. I guess Ella's killing is pranks, but they're they're not playful. They're like horrible.
01:01:19
Speaker
Yeah, don't know what that means. like i guess you know You're monkey shining. It's like, what? What'd you call me?
01:01:27
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's like, it's like stop doing stop doing your monkey shines. Stop doing monkey shines.
01:01:36
Speaker
It's like horseplay or something. I know. It's one of those old-timey terms.
01:01:45
Speaker
But, yeah, was it like any anything else about monkey shines, Chris? Yeah, I kind of want a more horror movies that deal with, like, kind like, the the horrors it is to be in, like, the abnormal.
01:02:01
Speaker
or Or, like, it's the psychological horror part of the movies. I think, like, the movie could could have been one of, like... It's, like, very gimmicky, a little bit, right?
01:02:14
Speaker
But I kind of wish that Monkey Shines had something that like, was grounded more, and then it becomes more horrifying. Because I think the other movie I think about, like, Monkey Shines, sort of related, is, like, The Bone Collector.
01:02:30
Speaker
Okay. Where it's, like, a guy in a wheelchair, and it's, like, he's paraplegic, and his world is basically trying to solve something, but then he's, like, he can't do anything. Like, that's the the horror
01:02:44
Speaker
So he needs like helping hands. I don't know. I like the bone. It's like if you're in like the night of themes, it's very close to what it is.
01:02:55
Speaker
Maybe because like I watched this movie when I was too young. That's another thing. This was like pretty much the first horror monkey movie that always comes to my mind first. Then Congo. But I think like this is something different.
01:03:07
Speaker
Because Congo doesn't have a romance between... um It kind of is like Amy and Peter. hyina Yeah, but it's like that's platonic. And it's like, well, it's like more like a brother or father. And this one's not the monkey. She's just like straight up like, hey, what's going on?
01:03:23
Speaker
Is it cookie time? I'm putting on some some sexy jazz and we're going dance her in your wheelchair. I'll pour you some wine.
01:03:37
Speaker
Yeah, i I always think, would remember I think of helper monkeys, I think of the Simpsons episode where Homer gets the helper monkey mojo and then like corrupts it.
01:03:47
Speaker
And Homer just dumps him from back in front of like the helper monkey building and he's just like, pray for mojo.
01:04:00
Speaker
that ah that That was like one of like the i like the last helper monkey things. Because I think It was 2010 is when they changed the like federal regulations around service animals.
01:04:10
Speaker
And so 2010 is like primates are no longer considered service animals. So that's why there's no more help monkeys anything. That sucks. I feel like they did a good job.
01:04:24
Speaker
Yeah, it was some sort of like, it was like, yeah, they changed like like the American Disabilities Act and stuff. Yeah. they're like they're they're still They're still helping. they're so like Helping hands are still like you know assisting everyone who already had monkeys, but they weren't giving out new monkeys.
01:04:39
Speaker
They switched gears like other forms of assistive living devices and stuff like that. Well, I mean, as we get close, I think hopefully we'll get more robotic stuff. and We'll get robot monkeys. Yeah. Oh my god. just like okay well instead of like You know what the problem with the monkey was? The mouth. Let's get rid of the mouth. and Now it's just like a horrible pair of eyes.
01:05:01
Speaker
um Yeah, what about you? like Was this one of your first or early like monkey horror movies you've seen?
01:05:11
Speaker
and don't think only first. think I just watched, like ah actually, I first watched it a couple years ago. um Really? Congo was definitely, like if you're talking about killer monkey stuff, like I was like obsessed with Congo.
01:05:25
Speaker
I had all toys. i had all but because ah i mean It was post-Jurassic Park. was like, this is the new Jurassic Park. i'm I'm getting on the ground floor of this. This is the new hotness.
01:05:39
Speaker
Yeah. i mean, the toys were pretty awesome. I don't know if you saw the Congo toys. The humans, not so much, but they had tons of different like like all different gorilla characters. and They're all great like all pretty awesome looking.
01:05:50
Speaker
That was the best part that toy line.
01:05:56
Speaker
Yeah, definitely Congo, and then, like, um... I mean, Planet of the Apes is probably, like, one of the main, like, monkey movies.
01:06:05
Speaker
Okay. sense. At that point, the monkeys were in a different, like, tier, because that wasn't, like, humanoid monkey people.
01:06:16
Speaker
Now, it would have been a whole different movie if Ella just mutated into a humanoid. Yeah. That would have been, like, okay, holy shit, and, like, All the vicious thoughts that like she had as a monkey now are like, she can do it. like She can really go on instinct and physically move shit.
01:06:35
Speaker
But you get into like a Teenage Mutant Turtle kind of territory with that. Yeah. You still gotta to watch Tales from the Teenage Turtles, but um there is something sort of like Monkey Shine with the brainwave thing.
01:06:51
Speaker
I don't want to spoil it for you yet, and it's like, It's so, like, clever, because you really have to, like, watch the whole series for the payoff. But it's also strangely, like, for a kid's movie, that is, like, messed up on the implications of, like, hey, we just made you aware of things. You were, like, happy in your own little world, but now that you are different and now you're smarter, it's like, oh, shit, like, you're conscious. You know what i mean? Like...
01:07:18
Speaker
Is Ella pissed because she's just like, wait, I'm a monkey? And this is my job? You know, like, was that the thing?
01:07:26
Speaker
Is that why she's like a killer monkey? Because she's like, this is bullshit. Like, I have all these feelings now, and I've got all this, like, emotion, and I'm not supposed to have them.
01:07:37
Speaker
i don't want to be a servant to this guy. like Yeah, yeah. Um, I mean, she, she liked caring for him. it looked like it would be different if like the first week was like, she was doing good. And then the next week she was doing bad.
01:07:52
Speaker
This loop seemed like it took months for this point to get to by the third act. That's what's like the slow burn of the movie. I
01:08:02
Speaker
i enjoy it. Like, it's still fun. I think, um, I watched it with friends. I watched it with Joe, like back in the day. um But that was, like, a good first experience watching it.
01:08:14
Speaker
I think we just, like, caught it on, like, the Fear Network or something like that. Back when that was a thing.
01:08:22
Speaker
Yeah. It's that it's definitely it's it's worth watching. It's definitely we' worth were watching for, like, last 30 minutes where just, like, goes nuts. Where it's, like, guy in a wheelchair versus monkey. Actually, no. I think the first time I saw it was, like,
01:08:36
Speaker
unranked it, and then I sco caught it years later as like an an adult where I can watch it properly. I mean, if you saw it in like a video store, it's it's pretty like it jumps out like that... ah well The toy monkey poster does jump out at you, though it has nothing you to do with anything in the movie. Al doesn't even have a to a toy monkey like in his apartment like house anywhere. They could have just done that. You're right.
01:09:00
Speaker
Just have him have it like ah just have have like a toy monkey somewhere, then it's like, oh okay. That's where the the poster monkey comes from.
01:09:09
Speaker
But he's got some other he has like some other like stupid... like He's got a bartender toy or something. It's a mechanical toy.
01:09:17
Speaker
and think they couldn't get the license for that one. i't Is there a license for a toy monkey? Like a single monkey? Sometimes. feel like you can just make... You can probably just make those. they just like make those or Maybe me like a certain... Like the striped pants, yellow vest one is like a certain...
01:09:35
Speaker
like copyrighted. Copyright or something, yeah. Take off the pants. Yeah. ah
01:09:44
Speaker
Yeah, but I don't know. I also feel like the movie Outbreak pretty much wiped out the whole like helper monkey, have a nice monkey friend
Podcast Wrap-up & Next Week's Teaser
01:09:54
Speaker
trope. Yeah, they they really got into like, oh, monkeys going spread diseases now.
01:09:57
Speaker
12 monkeys, outbreak, 28 days later. ah Back the Planet of the Apes again. yeah So, yeah, that's, like, the new monkey thing.
01:10:09
Speaker
So, um I kind of, like, there's a time and place for, like, monkey friend movies. I feel like nowadays it's, like, hard to justify, like, hey, let's make this horrible monkey friend. You're like, what? Is that a real monkey? Yeah. It's like, I don't know. Once CGI gets more, like, Uncanny Valley-like, and now we can actually have a CGI horror monkey again.
01:10:30
Speaker
Give me that. Give me a Monkey Shines remake where... Have the monkey do crazy things like drive a car, fire a gun. Nope was probably the closest thing, even though there was only like a tiny second of in the movie, but like that part where like yeah know you see the monkey that was on the show that murdered everybody.
01:10:48
Speaker
Yeah, I guess more of that. Give me you Nope again. but like the But the entire movie is just like that ah building up to that scene or something? or like It's like that monkey goes on a rampage? mean, that scene comes at you and it's jarring.
01:11:01
Speaker
Yeah. But that's i saying I'm saying, kind of like a fan of the like grounded reality thing of just like, holy shit, we basically had a live monkey all the time and at any moment saw a wild animal that is like three times stronger than like the strongest human.
01:11:18
Speaker
Gotta get got you back to like the ah like roar. like so like Throw like 50 lions in there or see what happens.
01:11:28
Speaker
You can't make movies like that anymore. No.
01:11:35
Speaker
But ah yeah, so I think I'll wrap it up for Monkey Shines. ah Come back next week, we're diving into Jack Reacher, because there's a new season Reacher right now on Prime Video. The third season just started.
01:11:48
Speaker
But we're going to jump back to 2012 for the Tom Cruise movie, which was actually the first... I think that was the first ever adaptation of a Jack Reacher novel, which is hard to believe, but it was.
01:12:02
Speaker
The series started in 1997 in the books, but then there wasn't anything until 2012 as far as adaptations. You'd think there had been something before that, but... Nope, that was the first one, so we'll dive into that next week.
01:12:14
Speaker
And, you know, the further hurts I got of it all and everything, so come back next week for that. And head over Slate, we got all sorts of ah news, shows, reviews. I actually have a review of The Gorge, the new Apple TV Plus movie that came out on Valentine's Day last week.
01:12:29
Speaker
the anti-teller joy and miles teller the romantic sci-fi action whatever it was trying to do um so you can be ready with that and we've got all sorts of stuff coming up soon on the site head over check all that stuff out and uh yes for chris i'm zach and we will see you next week for more for everything action head to www.everythingaction.com you can also find us on facebook at facebook.com slash everything.action and follow us on X at Evie Action.
01:13:02
Speaker
We're also on Instagram and threads at everything.action. Find more episodes of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your at podcast app of choice be sure rate and subscribe.