Monkey Shines

For the 19th century film, see Monkeyshines. For the video game, see Monkey Shines (video game).

Monkey Shines
Monkey Shines movie poster
Directed by	George A. Romero
Produced by	Charles Evans
Screenplay by	George A. Romero
Story by	Michael Stewart
Starring	Jason Beghe Boo John Pankow Kate McNeil Joyce Van Patten Christine Forrest Frank Welker Stephen Root Stanley Tucci Janine Turner
Music by	David Shire
Cinematography	James A. Contner
Editing by	Pasquale Buba
Distributed by	Orion Pictures
Release date(s)	July 29, 1988 (USA)
Running time	113 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$7,000,000 (estimated)
Box office	$5,344,577 (USA)

Monkey Shines (sometimes called Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear) is an American horror film originally released in 1988. Written and directed by George A. Romero, the film is based on a novel with the same title authored by Michael Stewart.

Plot summary

Monkey Shines tells the story of an athlete, Alan Mann (Jason Beghe), who is rendered quadriplegic when struck by a truck. Mann fails to adjust to his condition, becoming suicidal and despondent. When Jeff, a scientist friend of his (John Pankow), who has been experimenting with the injection of human brain tissue into monkeys, learns this, he is prompted to supply one of the experimental monkeys, named "Ella" (played by Boo, whose vocal effects are provided by Frank Welker), to Alan as a helper.

Their relationship is amicable at first, with Mann's life being made much easier, and the two bond deeply, even sharing poignant moments with moving music. But soon their interaction takes a decidedly sinister turn. The monkey seems to become a telepathic receptacle for Mann's anger at his state and his desire for revenge against friends and family for slights both real and imagined. Simultaneously, Mann develops a romantic relationship with Melanie (Kate McNeil), a specialist in quadriplegia and helper monkeys. The film contains a rare example of an intimate love scene with a severely handicapped protagonist.

Ella's protectiveness turns to savage jealousy even as Alan is informed that his condition may be reversible. First, she kills Alan's former girlfriend (Janine Turner), who is now in a relationship with his former doctor (Stanley Tucci), by setting their romantic hideaway on fire. Ella then kills Alan's jealous, overbearing mother (Joyce Van Patten), by electrocuting her in the bathtub. Ella then kills Jeff by injecting him with the very syringe of Sodium pentobarbitone he had intended to use on her, and disables Melanie, before trying to light her on fire. Alan, helpless and alone, is able to summon the strength to turn on the tape player with the romantic music, summoning Ella to cuddle close to him. When Ella cradles Alan's head, Alan, rightfully betraying Ella's trust, bites and thrashes his head back and forth in a violent manner, hitting Ella into the handles of his wheelchair before finally relinquishing his bite and throwing her toward the open deck of his tape machine, killing Ella.

Alan undergoes surgery to restore his mobility, eventually regaining the ability to walk short distances with the aid of crutches. But before then, as he in rest post-surgery, he has a nightmare that he flat-lines and Ella leaps out of his back while the doctor is making his surgical incision.

References in other media

In the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Monkey", the character Craig Feldspar hires a helper monkey named Dave Dreiwitz after being injured and needing to use a wheelchair. The monkey eventually grows homicidal and attempts to murder him in various ways.

Referenced in John Hodgman's Areas of My Expertise section on "Man vs. Animals".

Referenced in the Psych episode "Yang 3 in 2D".

Release

Monkey Shines, George Romero's first commercial film, appeared in 1988: while the film got a mixed response from the critics, the movie failed financially, leading director Romero to return to independent film. He learned that his film was cut by the distributor, Orion Pictures, and objected to this. Meanwhile, Orion was having financial difficulties and hoped a cut film would help them. Things did not work out with this film. Now the film has become a cult classic.

• Chosen by the SDSU SHS Communication Staff as "the most influential movie of our lives."

External links

• Monkey Shines at the Internet Movie Database
• Monkey Shines at AllRovi