Monkey Shines (1988)

A quadriplegic man has a trained monkey help him with his paralysis, until the little monkey begins to develop feelings, and rage, against its new master.

Director:

George A. Romero

Writers:

Michael Stewart (novel), George A. Romero (screenplay)

Stars:

Jason Beghe, John Pankow, Kate McNeil

7 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Beghe	...	Allan Mann
John Pankow	...	Geoffrey Fisher
Kate McNeil	...	Melanie Parker
Joyce Van Patten	...	Dorothy Mann
Christine Forrest	...	Maryanne Hodges
Stephen Root	...	Dean Burbage
Stanley Tucci	...	Dr. John Wiseman
Boo	...	Ella
Janine Turner	...	Linda Aikman
William Newman	...	Doc Williams
Tudi Wiggins	...	Esther Fry
Tom Quinn	...	Charlie Cunningham
Chuck Baker	...	Ambulance Driver
Patricia Tallman	...	Party Guest
David Early	...	Anesthetist

Storyline

When Allan becomes a quadriplegic he loses all hope for living until he meets Ella - a monkey trained to fetch and carry for him around the house, obeying him in all things. But Ella is part of another experiment, and when she starts responding to Allan's underlying rage and frustration she has the ability to carry our her master's darkest wishes.

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Plot Keywords:

monkey | rage | quadriplegic | face slap | murder | 

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Taglines:

Once there was a man whose prison was a chair. The man had a monkey, they made the strangest pair. The monkey ruled the man, it climbed inside his head. And now as fate would have it, one of them is dead.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 July 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear

Filming Locations:

Carnegie Mellon University - 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$5,344,577 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 105 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was George A. Romero's first studio film. However, the studio he was working with, Orion Pictures, had re-cut the film against Romero's wishes which contributed to the box office failure of the film. Afterwards, Romero went back to independent filmmaking until The Dark Half (also from Orion).

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Goofs

Ella urinates on Allan as a sign of mating, but it's actually the male capuchin who urinates on it's mate. This would suggest that Ella is in fact a male capuchin.

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Quotes

Dean Burbage: Our approaches are quite different. Unfortunately for you, I happen to be the head of the department.
Geoffrey Fisher: Why don't you fire me then?
Dean Burbage: I don't want to fire you Geoffrey. I just want you to produce.
Geoffrey Fisher: You can't fire me can you? You know that if anyone around here is going to strike gold, it's going to be me.

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror VIII (1997)

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Soundtracks

"The Glory of Love"
Written by Billy Hill
Performed by Peggy Lee
Courtesy of Capitol Records, Inc.
Under license from Capitol Special Markets

User Reviews

Capuchin antics

Offbeat horror film has a paraplegic being given a capuchin monkey named Ella as a companion. Only problem: the cute little monkey has been subjected to genetic experimentation, and has a mind of its its own. Pretty soon, the monkey is up to no good, and the paraplegic is becoming telepathically linked to the increasingly evil simian. George Rnmero made this little gem. The cast is largely unknown, although watch for a young Stanley Tucci as one of the paraplegic's surgeons and John Pankow as the paraplegic's buddy (and mad scientist). A weird little tale that takes its time to get to the nasty stuff, which is just fine with me as the killings are pretty routine.