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S3:E7 The Monkey (2025 Film)
39 Plays27 days ago
Stephen King Month continues as we delve into The Monkey, a chilling short story from his Skeleton Crew collection—now reimagined in a 2025 film adaptation starring Theo James. We take a closer look at Osgood Perkins’ horror-comedy spin on King’s sinister wind-up toy monkey, which brings death and chaos to the lives of two brothers.
Hosted by Keri with co-hosts Lindsey and Crystal.
Links to Books & Adaptations Discussed in this Episode:
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Question of the Episode:
- What element in a horror film genuinely terrifies you or makes you uneasy?
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Thanks for listening to Based on a Book—see you in the next chapter!
Chapters:
(00:00) Introductions
(02:20) Ratings and Non-Spoiler Discussion
(06:05) Book vs Movie Breakdown (SPOILERS)
(45:54) Final Verdict
(47:12) Question of the Episode
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Stephen King Theme
00:00:07
Speaker
Welcome to Based on a Book, the podcast serving dread, unease, and the terror of the cursed childhood toy in your room. I'm Keri, your host for today's episode attempting to protect you from a diabolical monkey. I'm Lindsay, and I think I know the way.
00:00:25
Speaker
Just don't let go of my arm. And I'm k Crystal. This shit is exactly why I'm scared of the dark. September is for Stephen King to celebrate his upcoming birthday, which should be soonish with when this episode is released.
Adaptations and History of 'The Monkey'
00:00:43
Speaker
And my Stephen King pick is The Monkey, which is a short story originally published in 1980 in Gallery Magazine, but then published in 1985 in the story collection or short story collection that we know today as Skeleton Crew.
00:01:02
Speaker
And we are covering its recent 2025 adaptation starring Theo James. I love Theo James. But I would like to note before the 2025 film, it was originally made in 2022 under one of Stephen King's dollar baby contracts, which is actually pretty cool.
00:01:25
Speaker
But eventually it was taken on by Osgood Perkins to write and direct the film, who also did Long Legs and Gretel and Hansel. Have you guys seen Long Legs?
00:01:37
Speaker
No. haven't seen it yet, but I really want to. Yeah. Well, I know Crystal hasn't seen it, but I was wondering if Lindsay had seen it. It's on my list. Yeah.
Plot Summary and Hal's Cursed Toy
00:01:44
Speaker
It looks freaky. It looks really freaky.
00:01:48
Speaker
Nicolas Cage looks... Crazy. ah love it. Yeah. I think that one looks interesting. I kind of want to watch that now. But the monkey, the one that we're covering today, follows a man named Hal and his experience with a wind-up monkey toy and how it brought death and destruction into his life.
00:02:09
Speaker
And he literally cannot get rid of it because it just won't go away or keeps reappearing back into his life.
Hosts' Ratings and Story Impact
00:02:16
Speaker
And that's all going to say about it. So let's get into our writings. And this is our book writings of just the short story, not the movie, just the short story from these Skeleton Crew collection.
00:02:31
Speaker
So I'm going start with Lindsay, our horror queen here. What did you think of the book? So for this one, I gave it three and a half toilet brushes. Nope.
00:02:47
Speaker
Not toilet brushes.
00:02:50
Speaker
I liked the story. I thought the relationship between the main character and his older son was a little strange. It was a little interesting.
00:03:04
Speaker
But overall, i did enjoy the story. Okay. What about you, Crystal? I i i don't know what the hell just happened. I'm not going to lie.
00:03:19
Speaker
I think I give this three haunted heirlooms, but I don't know. know. i don't know Yeah, I feel that. i gave it... I was jumping between 2.5 and three monkeys.
00:03:41
Speaker
That's where, yeah, I'm like... I'm sitting in that range. I'm kind of... I feel like a three is a little generous. I'm kind of leaning more towards a two and a half.
Stephen King's Era-Capturing Details
00:03:52
Speaker
i didn't really love this short story that much.
00:03:58
Speaker
I'm actually of
00:04:01
Speaker
I feel like I'm a little surprised that if, I mean, if you see the cover of the collection, there's a monkey on the cover. So it kind of feels like this is the main story of this collection, which right feels very shocking to me personally.
00:04:22
Speaker
i haven't read all the stories in this short story collection, but I have read the Mist story. And don't know. I just didn't, I feel like there was something lacking a lot from this, this short story.
00:04:35
Speaker
i I did love, like, I didn't, like you guys told me to, to read the monkey and I was like, okay, fine, whatever. i did not research which collection it was in or anything like that. I just like quickly like looked it up and downloaded it onto my Kindle.
00:04:53
Speaker
And am super like, I felt transported back to the eighty s So I feel like, which I think is kind of really interesting with Stephen King, because we have read some of his stuff that he set in the 80s and most recently with The Life of Chuck, which is set in present time.
00:05:14
Speaker
And yet he still manages to really embody the era that the story is written in. hmm. Which I think is really neat. i didn't So I didn't have to know that this was written in the eighty s to know that this was to feel like I was in the 80s.
Comparing Book and Movie Adaptations
00:05:30
Speaker
It just had that vibe. There was nothing in particular that gave that away. But it was things like, you know, the brother is going to get popsicles or, you know...
00:05:42
Speaker
the the phone call, somebody calling on the phone or whatever. like it was just It just felt right. And the popsicles only cost a nickel. I know, right? Kind of made me want a blueberry popsicle.
00:05:54
Speaker
i don't think it's going to be a nickel. ah So i like i'm I'm not going to sit here and say that this was a bad story, but it wasn't... I don't know. I don't know.
00:06:06
Speaker
I think the only reason I'm leaning more towards three, personally, is that I have kind of – it has stuck with me. it has left me thinking. And there were definitely moments, especially towards the end, where I found myself kind of holding my breath.
00:06:22
Speaker
And I liked that. But that was really about it. Yeah. it It definitely had – and like i didn't feel nothing about it and i think that's why i struggle with my writing as well where it's like when i go on the lower end it's usually because i'm not feeling anything about it but that wasn't true for this there was definitely like an unsettling thing about this story and there was definitely moments where like i was like feeling like creeped out by what was happening.
00:06:56
Speaker
for sure. And if that's like happening in the story, it's doing something to you. It's having some type of effect on you, which is good in my opinion. But now that we set our ratings of the book,
00:07:09
Speaker
we should go ahead and get into our full spoilers of our book versus movie breakdown. So this is your warning because from this point on, we are going to be getting into some serious spoilers of the short story in the 2025 adaptation. So if you have not read or watched it, do that.
00:07:28
Speaker
Come back to join us in the discussion or stick around if you don't mind the spoilers to see if this is something you may be interested in Before we continue, just know that this is a Rated R, horror comedy adaptation.
00:07:42
Speaker
It's gruesome, it's gory, and it's dark. So be mindful of that before watching it or reading the story. So getting right into it.
00:07:53
Speaker
the book and the movie are extremely different in several ways. Honestly, when I, I watched the movie, so I read the book, watched the movie, actually went back and read the book again or the short story again.
00:08:09
Speaker
Cause I was like, wait a minute. Like, do you ever, do you guys ever like when you watch the adaptation, you almost like changing your mind? Like, wait, did that actually happen in the book? And I'm like, okay, yeah, that's how it happened in the book.
Liberties Taken in Movie Adaptation
00:08:19
Speaker
And then I read it. and I'm like, wait, that's not how it happened in the book actually.
00:08:24
Speaker
Yeah. I'll like change my mind on it. So earlier today, you asked us to keep in mind what our favorite kills might be. And I had not watched the movie at that point.
00:08:36
Speaker
And so I was thinking of like, oh, from the book, I think, well, maybe this one, maybe that one, whatever. And then i watched the movie right off the bat. i was like, within like, I don't know, the first three minutes, I'm like, that wasn't in the book, but that might be my favorite one.
00:08:53
Speaker
Yeah. And then there's more. And then there's and more. yeah And i was like, what is happening? Yeah. Yeah. So. Yeah. Also, I guess I just outed myself for not watching the movie until the very last minute. But what else?
00:09:10
Speaker
You watch the movie. That's all that matters. There you go. So first thing, different. The movie takes on the original ideas of the book, but expands it into a much more elaborate and dynamic plot, in my opinion.
00:09:27
Speaker
There are characters that are more significant, that are just touched on in the book. Both are focused on Hal, which is our main character. are You could say that's our main character.
00:09:38
Speaker
Hal's perspective. But we are getting a much bigger picture of what's going on. Perkins, the director and screenwriter, talked about how his intention when making this movie from the story was capturing the essence of Stephen King, but still wanting to like shake up the story with their interpretation.
00:10:06
Speaker
the book almost like In my opinion, the book almost feels like it's like being pitched as an idea for a movie. Like it's, it doesn't feel completely solid.
00:10:20
Speaker
Yeah. It doesn't feel completely solid to me. So literally Perkins said, i took liberties like a motherfucker wanting to also reshape the story with his own experience with death.
00:10:34
Speaker
And Stephen King had no notes for him and didn't tell him to change anything. So he took liberties like a motherfucker he made it into his own thing.
00:10:44
Speaker
But I think still captured the essence of Stephen King like his intentions were because I feel like the comedy aligned with how Stephen King was. What do you guys think about that? you guys agree or disagree? Yeah, I think that's totally fair.
00:11:01
Speaker
i The whole concept is it it's a toy. i mean, and to avoid being too much like Annabelle where you have a haunted Toy.
00:11:14
Speaker
mean, comedy route was the way to go. Yeah. Yeah. I get that. I don't know that I would say that it was the comedy that embraced the spirit of t Stephen King so much as the um the buildup of anxiety. Like like the...
00:11:30
Speaker
When you know a kill is coming and you're just like waiting for it to just happen. like That build up was definitely there in this movie. Just like Stephen King is really, really good at kind of building that momentum right before a kill.
00:11:46
Speaker
And that, I don't even know, like that grip on your heart where you're holding your breath. That was definitely there in this movie. Even with the comedy, you still got that.
00:11:58
Speaker
Which I feel like that's a really hard balance to strike. But I was definitely like waiting for it to happen so many times in this movie.
00:12:10
Speaker
Yeah, like like we said, the tones are completely different. The movie it takes a dark comedy approach and the book is a little more dreadful, like recalling his past.
00:12:21
Speaker
Both are bleak, but one has like a funny edge to it. You know, Perkins was originally approached with a script that was dark and sad, but he wanted to reshape it going his own direction.
00:12:32
Speaker
actually really love this quote from Perkins discussing the tone shift in his interview with Empire. said, I spent a lot of my life recovering from tragedy, feeling quite bad.
00:12:46
Speaker
It all seemed inherently unfair. You personalized the grief. Why is this happening to me? But I'm older now and you realize this shit happens to everyone. Everyone dies sometimes in their sleep, sometimes in truly insane ways like I experienced. But every everyone dies.
00:13:03
Speaker
And I thought maybe the best way to approach that insane notion is with a smile. And like that theme is continued throughout this movie, which is kind of like I said, a completely different tone in this short story.
00:13:20
Speaker
The next thing that's completely different, there's a lot more deaths in the movie versus the book. A lot more deaths. So many. We're going Final Destination style on this bitch.
00:13:32
Speaker
And it gets absolutely insane. And we're going to get into all that. Next big difference between these are the different monkeys. Monkeys have a difference in them where in the book, they're like they feel like this like the classic symbol...
00:13:49
Speaker
Yeah. Monkey. Yeah. And the one in the movie actually has drums instead of cymbals. And personally, I like the one in the movie more because I feel like it's almost a little more suspenseful, in my opinion.
00:14:07
Speaker
Like the winding up and it almost feels like it just looks better. yeah On screen. And they have these moments where it's like lifting of the arm and you don't know when it's going to come down type of thing.
New Elements and Dramatic Additions
00:14:23
Speaker
i like that better. do What did you guys think? Did you guys like that better in the book or the movie? Yeah. I liked the way the drumstick would spin.
00:14:34
Speaker
Yeah. Yes. It was so good. I love that. But I really was expecting cymbals. Yeah. I was expecting the cymbals. It kind of, at first I was like, wait, am i watching? I know there's a couple of different versions. Am I watching the right one? You know, like that moment of wait, that's different.
00:14:52
Speaker
But yeah, there's something about that extra added like suspense of raising up the arm and then the drumstick spins and then you hear it kind click. Yep.
00:15:05
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. So let's go ahead and get into exactly like how these stories begin. In the book, we start with a man named Hal going through some things in his aunt's attic who died. And he's with his wife and sons. And one of his sons finds a toy monkey in attic.
00:15:23
Speaker
And this toy, like I said, described to be wind-up monkey with symbols that clap. Hal is immediately freaking out. Absolutely flabbergasted that this monkey is here because it should be disposed of thrown down in this well on the property. It's impossible for it to be in his sense in his son's hands right now.
00:15:42
Speaker
And then the story continues with Howe's perspective of having flashbacks between his past and present and like how this monkey has given him absolute hell and how it's evil and like terrorized him.
00:15:58
Speaker
In the movie, we start with Adam Scott. I love Adam Scott. Yeah. Honestly, and I didn't, you know, in blind. I did not expect this. Yeah. Yeah.
00:16:09
Speaker
And he's only in it for like a very short moment, one scene. i was kind of disappointed. i wanted i wanted Adam Scott. Yeah. But also that was kind of perfect.
00:16:20
Speaker
Yeah, he's not in there for very long, but we start with Adam Scott. He's bringing this monkey into a pawn shop, and he's like, look, I'm trying to sell this thing right now. I need to get rid of this.
00:16:32
Speaker
And in the movie, the monkey, like I said, is a little different and much larger. Then I expected very big toy monkey. Like we said, has drums instead of cymbals. The person working there is like, uh, it's broken. We're not buying this. And Adam Scott is like, yeah, don't fix it or we're all fucked.
00:16:53
Speaker
Okay. So just leave it and just take it away from me. The monkey makes a noise. The guy at the pawn shop is crazy. Dunzo. Okay. Final destination style.
00:17:06
Speaker
Like this is literally what it reminds Like it's like and when I say final destination style, I'm thinking like The craziest way that you could possibly die from like circumstances around you and that's how you die.
00:17:20
Speaker
That's when i like you can I say Final Destination style. It's like freak accident falls into perfect circumstance with like the most like lowest probability ever. Yeah.
00:17:34
Speaker
And that's how they die. Yeah. Yeah. Immediately, right off the bat, extremely gory. And, you know, Adam Scott all of a sudden is trying to burn this monkey. And then it turns into we're moving forward in the story.
00:17:48
Speaker
We don't see Adam Scott again. And we're following two boys who are twins and their mom. And they're talking about how their dad is gone. And they're going through their dad's things and find the monkey.
00:17:59
Speaker
And this is where the flashbacks in the book do start to align with what's going on in the movie. Except we're like the the story, the timeline is starting when they're young.
00:18:10
Speaker
But in the book, it's like they're just, Hal is just thinking back to those moments. And then still being present with the monkey in his possession at that moment. I will say in the book, that was actually a little bit...
00:18:25
Speaker
difficult for me. i have a hard time keeping track of characters, especially in short stories where they're introduced quickly. and so it was hard to tell necessarily when we were in a flashback and then back. Like I had to really pay very close attention as I was reading, okay, we're flashing back now. This is not him and his kids. This is him and his brother.
00:18:49
Speaker
and that was, it was kind of difficult for me to keep track of it first. Yeah. i So I don't, I don't know. I love flashbacks. Yeah, there really was clear transition sometimes. Sometimes we were just back in the past.
00:19:00
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I totally agree with that. i need I need better warning. Like, I need you to say 25 years earlier or whatever.
00:19:11
Speaker
and need you to do that for me, okay? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. In both the book and the movie, we have these brothers, Hal and Bill, who are pulled into this curse that their father was dealing with as well, where they wind up this monkey and immediately someone one is dying.
00:19:29
Speaker
In the book, like we said, we have adult Hal recalling this curse, thinking back to when he first winded up the monkey, witnessing these deaths around him and just feeling like he's going insane.
00:19:41
Speaker
Because he's just a toy. Yeah. It almost feels, in my opinion, too casual to me. Like sometimes there would be suspenseful moments, but it feels very like ah this is just what happened.
00:19:56
Speaker
I feel like in the book, especially like in the very, very, very beginning when they're going through Aunt Ida's stuff and his sons find the monkeys. He's trying to keep his cool.
00:20:08
Speaker
He's trying not to like. Lose it on his kids right there. And so I think that that's a lot of this was delivered. In very casual tone. Because he's still trying to keep himself calm. Yeah. In like a denial almost. Right. Because it's just a toy. There's no way this could be reality.
00:20:25
Speaker
You know. Yeah for sure. In the movie. Personally I like this timeline a lot better. it. also it feels like it's a lot more brutal and if you're like a horror lover a horror lover and you probably might think this is a little more entertaining personally i thought it was a little more entertaining uh first time winding up the key monkey triggers their babysitter's death which was absolutely insane
00:20:59
Speaker
But we all knew there was so much like suspense to it, too, because like we know that the monkey's drumming in the car. and But like they don't know the monkey's drumming because they're all inside. And the and the monkey's sitting in that front seat. and In the front seat. ah Like the way that they were filming this monkey and like Zoom, like.
00:21:22
Speaker
Letting the monkey have its moment. You know what I mean? Letting the monkey have its shot and its moment in specific scenes where it's by itself.
00:21:33
Speaker
Yeah. The character says no words, no lines. This monkey has no lines. And it was a,
Hal's Struggles and Movie's Gore
00:21:38
Speaker
it was a star. Yeah. he maililed it It's amazing. Yeah. His eyes over that steering wheel really scared me. that I don't like it. I didn't like it. Smile. It's weird ass grin with all of its teeth. Like yeah like human teeth.
00:21:56
Speaker
It's so creepy. Did you guys catch the name of the babysitter in the movie? No, I didn't. Her name's Annie Wilkes. ah Oh, I just got chills.
00:22:08
Speaker
I love all these tiebacks. Stephen King is so good at that kind of stuff. Well, no, that was in the movie. That was Perkins. That was Oscar Perkins. yeah oh Oh. Because her name was different in the book.
00:22:22
Speaker
What was her name in the book? I want to say Beulah. Yeah, she was like a completely different character the book. like That literally gave me chills.
00:22:34
Speaker
I am loving this. like The more we watch... You know, a lot of these scary movies that I never watch. The more we read just any of these genres, these authors, like we're starting to see, I'm starting to start pay attention to a lot of those connections, a lot of those like callbacks. And I love it.
00:22:53
Speaker
Yeah, it's good. So Hal is, you know, younger Hal in the movie is kind of catching to this and really hates his brother.
00:23:05
Speaker
His brother is a dick. ah His brother, Bill, is the worst. And absolutely, like, every was like, can you shut up, little kid? Like, you're being crazy.
00:23:15
Speaker
Like, the things that he was saying was absolutely insane. And, like, Hal gets to a point, like... He gets so angry that he hopes to kill his brother with this monkey.
00:23:26
Speaker
Like, just, like, has, like, a moment of, like, hitting an edge. Because he's also, like, being bullied at school and stuff. And winds it up. Like, and he's, like, hoping to have that his brother dies.
00:23:39
Speaker
And accidentally kills his mom instead. And this is when we find out that you don't get to decide who the monkey is going to kill. Like, the monkey is going to do whatever it wants.
00:23:50
Speaker
Yeah. Um, and so how also attempts to continue to get rid of it, which is also shown in the book, how attempting to get rid of it and it just appearing again.
00:24:03
Speaker
There was one point in the movie where he's like hacking it to pieces and there's like almost like blood coming out of it. It's like bleeding something. Yeah. Yeah. And he's even like, what the fuck? Yeah.
00:24:14
Speaker
Yeah. It's so gross. Yeah. It was disturbing. And like when their mom dies, they have to go to their aunt uncle's house.
00:24:25
Speaker
And this point in the movie, I'm sorry, but this was hilarious. When he is trying to explain to Bill that like, this is what this monkey is doing. And Bill like, doesn't really believe him.
00:24:37
Speaker
and then immediately next scene is the next funeral. Because like Bill had winded up and their uncle had died. It's like me the way that that was shot was literally cracking me up. And another one of those deaths that's just like what?
00:24:51
Speaker
Ridiculous. Like a stampede over him in like a sleeping bag or something. That was gross. They're like crazy deaths. And I think his mom had died of like some like insane like aneurysm. One in a four million chance of her dying of this kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah.
00:25:11
Speaker
So we eventually get to this breaking point when they're younger, after so many deaths in the book and movie that Hal throws it down a well in hopes that it won't show up again.
00:25:23
Speaker
And this at this point in like the book and movie, because, you know, we're going through the flashbacks and, you know, they're kind of doing the different timeline in the movie. The book and movie go off the rails where we got two different stories at this point.
00:25:38
Speaker
At this point in um the story, because, you know, this also, the book is only 30 pages. I think a little over 30 pages. And I think it's totally fine that they're going in their own paths. Because, I mean, kind of it little more exciting for our eyes sometimes.
00:25:56
Speaker
When we're watching it on screen. So, in the book, we're kind of wrapping up the story at this point. Because, like I said, it's only over 30 pages. Yeah. where Hal is encountering this monkey now in his adult life, having flashbacks of how this curse started, watching his sons encounter this monkey and wanting to stop this curse on his family.
00:26:16
Speaker
His sons are even afraid of this, and they talk about how terrifying it is just for it to make a sound, because if you wind it up, or if it just makes a small sound, it can cause death.
00:26:27
Speaker
This prompts Hal to try to get rid of it once and for all, dumping the monkey in the deepest part of a lake. in a bag weighted with rocks and disposes of it. This part in the book They come up with the idea to dispose of it. And Hal sends Petey out into the parking lot to get really big rocks.
00:26:47
Speaker
And he's watching him from the window. and he just knows that the monkey's going to do something. And that's why he's holding the toilet brush. I remember reading this part. I was like, oh, this is pretty intense.
00:26:58
Speaker
But he's holding the toilet brush and the monkey starts to clap his cymbals. And he blocks it with the toilet brush as he sees this car coming for his son Petey. And basically he learns that he was able to prevent it by stopping the symbols from clapping.
00:27:15
Speaker
And it burns the toilet brush too. So I thought and this was cool. Like seriously, this is the suspense that like was building in this moment. Like that's when I really started just, just like, okay, I'm going to have to really.
00:27:28
Speaker
like lock and Lock in. Lock in. And then they're out. He's like rowing out in the lake to get rid of this. And then like his son is screaming from the shore and the storm is like building and like ah that he's trying to row back and the boat's falling apart. And the, you know, I was dying.
00:27:47
Speaker
I was dying. This is why I think. This is closer to a three. It's just the the suspense and the anxiety I was feeling in this last bit. Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:00
Speaker
Even like the scary parts of like the fact that he was waking up with like cuddling the monkey. Well, he's creepy as shit. Yeah. In the book, I was like, oh my God, I would literally panic.
00:28:13
Speaker
And I just know like the fur is just like weird. And it just like scares me. I don't like it. I don't like it at all. The eyes are freaky. The mouth is freaky. The fur is freaky.
00:28:25
Speaker
stalkery. stalks you. i don't like it. And then when he dropped it into the bag and the symbol hits the rock and it manages to kill the fly that's in the room. Yeah.
00:28:37
Speaker
Like, Yeah, it's pretty good. Honestly, now that I talk about it more, pretty good that was pretty good. It's cursed toys, man. It's creepy as all shit.
00:28:48
Speaker
But like we said, know, tries to get rid of it. Bo is breaking apart as he's trying to get rid of it, but eventually gets back safely. and then eventually he did does hear the symbols as it's going down.
00:29:05
Speaker
into the lake. He or thinks he hears them, but then, you know, gets rid of it.
Climactic Chaos and Resolution
00:29:10
Speaker
And then we get at the end of the story, a little like newspaper clipping saying that hundreds of fish had died in the lake.
00:29:20
Speaker
And local scientists are baffled. Yeah. And that's just how the story ends in the book. Going back to the movie from now on, It's so fucked up.
00:29:33
Speaker
Yeah. Oh my god. It's so fucked. But honestly, I'm not gonna lie. i love I really like this movie. Like, honestly, at first I was like, that was crazy. That was really weird. But then I was like, okay, that was like, that was actually kind of good. and i actually really, i kind of liked it What did you, did you guys like it? Or did you guys like now?
00:29:55
Speaker
was like, yeah, I liked it. chris like No, no. I will never watch that again and I will not probably be recommending it to anyone other than to be like, y'all want to watch something really fucked up?
00:30:08
Speaker
like That would be it. yeah but It's so weird. And like I get the the comedy of it. I do. But I'm also just like, i don't I don't get it, but I get it. I don't know.
00:30:22
Speaker
i don't know. don't know how i feel about this one. Yeah. Yeah. so the cheerleaders for me oh my god but i can't wait to i wanted to talk about that well we're there now we're heading to ida's house so yeah that's the first cheerleaders standing in her yard yeah so we move away from the flashbacks that now following adult how 25 years later played by theo james who is very different than the how that we know in the book so the how in the book he had he was married he had two kids and
00:30:53
Speaker
you know He was doing everything to you know get this monkey out of their life, all this stuff. In the movie, he is not with his wife. He only has one kid who is his teenage son, Petey, that he sees once a year.
00:31:09
Speaker
And we are immediately in his perspective seeing his life where ah his ex is now with Frodo Baggins. Right?
00:31:21
Speaker
I was like, why is there a hobbit in this movie?
00:31:27
Speaker
With Frodo who wants to adopt his son and basically cut Hal out of his son's life. Basically Hal is really down in the dumps right now and from my From what I know, basically, because I've read the book, I'm assuming this is because he doesn't want whatever curse that he has on his life near his son.
00:31:54
Speaker
Yeah, that's how I took it. Yeah, that's why he doesn't want, he only sees his son once a year. He doesn't want to particularly be very involved in his life, but he's still upset that they're trying to cut him completely out of his life.
00:32:08
Speaker
um Before they move forward with doing all that, Hal spends time with his son going away for the weekend. And then while they're away, Hal's brother Bill, from their past, like they haven't spoken to each other in a really long time. Who's still a dick.
00:32:27
Speaker
Yeah, who's still a jerk. And they're twins. For some reason, I forgot they were twins. Yeah. Were they twins in the book? Yeah, I don't think they were twins in the book. They're not twins in the book, but I forgot they were twins while i was watching the movie.
00:32:43
Speaker
Especially because we are hearing theo James like narrating certain things. And sometimes Bill is saying something, and narrating something.
00:32:56
Speaker
And it's not how, but we're only hearing Theo James' voice. Right. Right. And it was messing with me. Yes. So Bill, his brother, calls Hal while they're away. And he hasn't heard from him so long, saying that their aunt had a freak accident.
00:33:14
Speaker
And he's like, the monkey is back. Because, you know, if there's a freak accident, that means the monkey's back. This freak accident was absolutely insane. Yeah.
00:33:24
Speaker
This is Final Destination, too. This is Final Destination. This really is. And again, the suspense. Like, tripping, falling, getting fish hooks in your face, then trying to put peroxide in blowing up fire in your face from the gasoline on the stove, running out, freaking out, fire in your face, and immediately being impaled in the face by, a like, the wood of a mailbox.
00:33:53
Speaker
Yeah. It was like every, the worst things that could ever happen happening in like five seconds. Also, who caused it to happen? She heard something in the basement.
00:34:06
Speaker
But was it the monkey? I'm assuming the monkey. who had the monkey? It just appears. It randomly appears places. But who turned the key? Who turned the key?
00:34:18
Speaker
i think Bill already had the monkey at this point. and It was at the estate sale. i think the estate sale was a flashback. No, the estate sale the day after she died. Yeah, right after right after they have an estate sale and the monkey is being sold at the estate sale.
00:34:35
Speaker
And ah some a character, we don't know who this character is, purchases the monkey and takes it. Takes it to Bill. Takes it to Bill that we find out later. So who turned the key?
00:34:46
Speaker
Who turned the key to Killian Ida? We don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if she turned it herself. If she was like, what's this old thing? And then it didn't work, so she put it in the basement. Oh, but it never kills the person who turns the key.
00:35:01
Speaker
and Maybe we're wrong. Yeah. and So at this point, you know, with the freak accident happening and Hal's like, there's no way the monkey is back because I threw it down a well. It should not be back. There's no way.
00:35:19
Speaker
And then he witnessed this one was freaking nuts. He's staying because he's at a motel, right? With his son. He's the He's like, there's no way this monkey is back. And then he witnesses literally a woman exploding to pieces.
00:35:34
Speaker
At the motel. Okay, but that's not how I happen. like The air conditioning unit fell off of yeah the roof of the building.
Favorite Moments and Final Verdicts
00:35:42
Speaker
yeah That that was my i was summarizing. Yeah, but I mean, like this is that this is the final destination part. It falls off the building. It almost hits Hal, but it doesn't. And he takes a sigh of relief, but then it sparks.
00:35:54
Speaker
And it like the electricity is still active, and it hits the water, which is running into the pool. And then she just happens to dive into the pool. like It's just so final destination. It's insane.
00:36:06
Speaker
yeah all of these are like that and explodes like completely like he gets hit in the face with a leg whole leg when he says is that a leg i lost it as a jason oh out he spits out something Because something got in his mouth.
00:36:22
Speaker
Probably blood. Something gets in his mouth a lot. they He does that with... Oh, the other one. Okay, yeah okay ok we'll get to that. We'll get to that. we're got hot Yes.
00:36:33
Speaker
I'm thinking of the other one. And so he witnesses that. He's like, we gotta go. We gotta go. he wakes up. First of all, he takes a pillow. He's like screaming into it. And then he takes pillow. He's like, we gotta go.
00:36:46
Speaker
And you know what I can't stand? I understand we have a strained relationship with our son, but I cannot stand when we have the kid, teenager, whatever, who won't get with the program when we got to go, go, go.
00:37:03
Speaker
Okay. And they're too busy questioning everything, being down in the dumps about it. I'm like, dude, i save this for another day. Save it for another day. Like we're trying to get, I know lied to you about my whole life.
00:37:16
Speaker
I know I lied to you about my whole life but we're like literally I need you to believe me now need you to believe me right now because we are we're on a mission at this moment if he doesn't even know about the lie yet yeah and like well I mean like he just like doesn't trust anything from his father because he knows that his father is about to just you know leave and not see him anymore which I get but it's just like I'm gonna need you to just All teenagers suck.
00:37:45
Speaker
It's just how it is. Eventually, so they get to the aunt's house because, you know, remember Bill's like, and we got to get this monkey. But he's, you know, sending him on a stupid chase for no reason because the monkey's already gone. Eventually getting to Anne's house looking for the monkey, even hearing from the real estate agent that he's talking to that there have been like lots of deaths happening in town. So he's like, okay, the monkey's definitely back.
00:38:12
Speaker
She's so chipper talking about all these freak deaths. Yeah. and And then she dies while showing this showing the house from a falling shotgun.
00:38:23
Speaker
dies And i think that's when the thumb gets in his mouth and he spits it out. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah. And then here here's Petey, the whiny teenager. I'm like, dude, get with the program, please.
00:38:39
Speaker
We are on a mission. But eventually Hal and his son Petey learn that Bill, Hal's brother, twin brother, lives in town and has the monkey.
00:38:50
Speaker
And then when it switches in the movie to Bill, i was like, oh yeah, i forgot they're twins.
00:38:59
Speaker
really did. I was like, that's Theo James with black hair. Weird. creepy. it literally And he's just like... and you know I was watching these interviews about Theo James like doing these characters and having to do like twins like that and how he acts as Hal versus how he acts as Bill...
00:39:24
Speaker
And acting as Hal being like, you know, not so driven in his actions, much more like timid in his actions. And then, you know, with Bill, he's like very much like, I'm just doing, I'm just go, go, go doing whatever I want kind of thing. And i was like, I can't imagine how you have to play two different characters reacting to each other in the same scenes, in the same moments.
00:39:52
Speaker
thought that was interesting. Yeah. So eventually we find out that he hired someone to come and get the monkey during the aunt's estate sale. Using the monkey as retaliation. And Bill is just sitting there winding up this monkey, causing deaths all over the place.
00:40:14
Speaker
And he's doing this because he's suspected from when they were kids, when their mom died, that it was how winding the key in hopes to kill him.
00:40:25
Speaker
And Bill has also figured out whoever winds up the monkey doesn't die. So he's just winding up the monkey and just waiting until his brother dies. He's like, okay, he didn't die. Wind it up again.
00:40:38
Speaker
Wind it up again. That's literally what he's doing. So at this point, this is where I'm kind of like, in my opinion, like losing the plot. Like it's ah losing my attention a little bit.
00:40:51
Speaker
yeah for Bill wants Petey to come wind up the monkey. and if he doesn't, then Bill will just keep doing it until the monkey eventually kills Hal, regardless of how many people die.
00:41:06
Speaker
Like, I'm not really understanding why Petey is being forced to do this. Like, what the purpose is I think his, you know, because Bill's crazy at this point. And I think that it his thought was...
00:41:21
Speaker
since Hal wound it up and it killed his parent, Hal's parent, then maybe if Petey winds it up, it'll kill Petey's parent. yeah That's kind of how I was thinking it.
00:41:36
Speaker
But also, it might just have been Bill being crazy and just wanting to torture his brother through his son. You know? Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense.
00:41:48
Speaker
But Petey is forced to go into the house by this random guy that Bill had hired to get the monkey in the first place. And that guy's death is crazy, too.
00:41:59
Speaker
With the the bees at the wall? That had me messed up. All flying in just into his mouth. That freaked me out. Yeah? Yeah.
00:42:09
Speaker
But he's forced to go in the house where Bill is and Howe goes in to save him and eventually leads to the monkey drumming to the point of causing like chaos in this town and like widespread death.
00:42:21
Speaker
There were like meteors falling. I thought that one was a plane crash. There were bodies falling out of the sky. like Falling on them. that was wild it was insane earlier in the movie Petey had pulled out a brochure and it was like skydiving and he was like oh and they do weddings and then the the bride falls through put that together thank you Lindsay
00:42:49
Speaker
That was good. Oh, Lord. But then Bill and Hal have this moment like, let's give up on this fight and forgive each other for all the hell that we've been through.
00:43:02
Speaker
We both lost our mother and let's deal with this together. Even though like all this chaos is happening around them. They have a cursed monkey on their hands. They're like, let's, you know, forgive and forget.
00:43:14
Speaker
Everything's fine. Hal lifts Bill up and then Bill is immediately decapitated by a bowling ball.
00:43:23
Speaker
It was. Which is crazy. yeah And then the movie wraps up with Hal and Petey driving through town with this monkey in the backseat.
00:43:35
Speaker
don't understand. I need this so they're driving away. Yeah. They're at the stoplight. And then there's like a ghost horse thing. The horseman.
00:43:46
Speaker
Death. The pale rider on the pale horse. Okay. so okay Okay. I was like, where? But why? Because they both quoted it earlier in the movie. Okay. Okay. Fair enough.
00:43:57
Speaker
It just seems so... like of all the like And don't get me wrong. This movie is full of random. But that to me was one of the most random moments. Because i was just like, huh?
00:44:08
Speaker
Yeah, honestly I agree, that was pretty random and then Hal's like, let's go dancing because that's what his mom did and that's just kind of how it ends with some decapitated cheerleaders to top it off at the end I am curious what ah like you we mentioned this earlier what your favorite death was the movie or the one that was like maybe the most unsettling or the one that stuck with you guys the most For me in the movie, it was the very first one, the the harpoon.
00:44:39
Speaker
Yeah. the the pawn like The pawn shop guy. Yeah. yeah That was crazy. What about you, Lindsay? Probably Uncle Chip and the horse stampede.
00:44:51
Speaker
Yeah. but's up to I was eating during this movie. I don't know why. That was a mistake. Isn't Uncle Chip played by Perkins? I'm pretty sure. Mm-hmm. Yeah, then the director played Uncle Chip. Yeah, that was cool.
00:45:04
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Mine, honestly, isn't even a death. It was an injury. i hate anything have to do with your head. i don't like injuries on the face or the head because i just it's just sensitive. I mean, it's not your most sensitive place, but it's just like it's protecting important things in here.
00:45:21
Speaker
Right. And i literally freaked out when the aunt fell off the stairs and she had a bunch of fish hooks in her face. Mm-hmm. And I've seen so many videos of people like, you know, throwing a line and accidentally getting like a fish hook in their neck or something. And it just creeps me out. I hate that. I hate that so much.
00:45:45
Speaker
But final verdict. Book, short story or the movie.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:45:51
Speaker
Which one did you like better? I'll go Lindsay first this time.
00:45:56
Speaker
I'm going to have to go with the movie on this one only because in the book they kill a cat and a dog.
00:46:07
Speaker
Yeah. understand that. No. But I'm going to say the short story is better. Mm-hmm. For the creepy, like, I was definitely way more creeped out by the short story than I was the movie. And I think that's okay. The movie was still entertaining in its own way. I'm not going to say that it wasn't good.
00:46:27
Speaker
But for the creep factor, I like the creep factor of the story. i like that. Wondering if the monkey's still out there. And, yeah. Yeah, for sure.
00:46:39
Speaker
going to have to go with movie on this one, personally. um I just think it was more entertaining and honestly more memorable, in my opinion. It's definitely memorable.
00:46:50
Speaker
Yeah. I thought, I didn't think I would like it as much as I did, but I thought it was pretty entertaining. It's not just because it has Theo James in it. Nobody say that. Okay?
00:47:02
Speaker
He was only in it for like half the movie.
00:47:06
Speaker
All right, let's go our question of the episode. So my sister and I were having a conversation about things that really scared her in horror movies. And she sat down to watch this one with me and she is like, does this have scary eyes in it?
00:47:21
Speaker
And i was like, I don't think so. And then there were so many scenes of like the creepy eyes of the monkey. And she was so freaked out. Especially that scene and in the window when he's looking at the reflection in the window. And then he kind of sees the monkey because it's being reflected from behind him.
00:47:41
Speaker
hated that. So... I'm curious, like I was thinking about this, what element in a horror film genuinely terrifies you or makes you uneasy?
00:47:54
Speaker
Who goes Crystal first? Oh, this one, like, when you said this question, the first thing that popped in my head was, like, kids music or or music boxes that are slightly off-key, that play real slow, that can't handle that.
00:48:12
Speaker
that i will be i And we kind of saw that in in Bly Manor with the O Willow Alley, but I'm talking about the ones that are, like, really creepy, you know, like the carnival music played off key and minor keys and like, yeah, no, that's instant creep factor for me.
00:48:35
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. What about you, Lindsay? So this might be kind of dumb, but something that really freaks me out every time is um chainsaw noises or chainsaw.
00:48:48
Speaker
ah specifically because of the video game resident evil 4 there there's an enemy called chainsaw man scarred me for life i can't do chainsaws yeah i well do you go to like haunted houses and stuff no i was gonna say that's like every haunted house that's like their main attraction is a chainsaw yep that's like your worst nightmare yep can't stand them yeah Mine will would have to be like those moments where, like this is going to kind of specific, but like where you're looking down, I'm just going to give an example, but this is like the general vibe.
00:49:36
Speaker
You're like looking down a dark hallway and something is just there. and then you look away and you look back and it's not there.
00:49:47
Speaker
And you look away again, and you just know it's going to be in your face. That freaking scares me. And it's usually like, because honestly, the scariest things to me are like paranormal horror movies. Those ones are the scariest ones to me and really freak me out.
00:50:04
Speaker
Or like like a really scary like home invasion type movie really scares me. but Yeah, like that type, that will get me every single time.
00:50:15
Speaker
i think it's like Haunting of Hill House, since we're talking about those. I think it was like the bent neck lady did something like that. And it really had me, I started levitating.
00:50:27
Speaker
i'm really did. I think I jumped like five feet off the floor. Reminds me of those those TikToks where people only move when you turn the lights off and then you flip them back on and they're different from where they were Yeah.
00:50:41
Speaker
I'm like, I'm not going to watch this. Do you guys remember those, oh my gosh, those games where it was like, find the dot on this page and it's like really hard to find the dot and you're like looking, looking and you go to the next one and then something pops up in your face.
00:51:00
Speaker
I freaking hate those. I had a teacher do that to us in school. Yeah, my dad did that to once. Here, watch this video. Yeah, horrible. hate that. All right.
00:51:11
Speaker
And that brings us to the end of today's episode and another Stephen King adaptation to check off our list. We're getting through these. I can't wait till we get through like a ton. And then eventually one day we'll have read the entire backlist.
00:51:28
Speaker
That'll be really cool. That's a lot. Yeah. We got this. We got this. thanks so much for joining us. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review and share it with someone who'd appreciate it All of our socials are linked in the description. So let us know your reaction to this adaptation.
00:51:49
Speaker
Also our in our description, you will find our affiliate link to this audio book, on Libro.fm. So if you are audiobook listeners like us, be sure to check it out. And if you have any adaptations, you would love to see us cover our adaptation submission form is linked there as well.
00:52:06
Speaker
Until next time, maybe think twice before winding up any old toy monkeys you find in storage or at the thrift shop. Because after this, i sure won't be.
00:52:19
Speaker
Add that to the scary things to avoid in the thrift shop. will see you in the next chapter Based on a Book. Bye!