The horror scene in 2024 was dominated by Longlegs. Osgood Perkins’ occultist shocker turned an prompt style traditional – not only for its ‘Silence Of The Lambs goes to hell’ vibe, or that Nicolas Cage efficiency. It was additionally stuffed with surprises, narrative and tonally, taking audiences on a wild journey. And together with his imminent new movie, Perkins is able to take followers without warning over again. The Monkey – a unfastened Stephen King adaptation – is an absurdist story of death-by-toy-ape, one which goals to take the undercurrent of darkish humour in Longlegs and convey it to the fore. Oh, and it’s going to be critically gory.
“If you happen to’re going for comedy you then’re going for extremes. Not subtlety,” Perkins tells Empire of the place he’s landed with The Monkey. “We’re responsible of placing much more blood in our human our bodies than is absolutely in a human physique. When somebody explodes on this film — and a few folks do — there’s plenty of mess.” Ah sure, the mess. As a result of The Monkey – like all good comedies – is all in regards to the absurdity, the pointlessness, the randomness of dying, the movie trying to deal out the darkest fates with an virtually cartoonish abandon. “All of the dying set-pieces have been exhausting to do,” Perkins says. “All of them have a Rube Goldbergian connectivity — this occurs, then this occurs, then this occurs…”
The outcome may not be precisely what audiences expect after Longlegs. However that’s precisely what Perkins was aiming for. “I truthfully really feel fucking nice about [how different The Monkey is from Longlegs],” he explains. “I can’t consider one other morbidly surreal horror comedy that’s additionally heartwarming and redemptive and stars a bona-fide film hunk. That’s the most effective information I can provide to individuals who preferred Longlegs — we make every kind. Why would anybody wish to be fed the identical meal daily?” Dinner’s up, gore-heads.
Learn Empire’s full function on The Monkey – getting the total story on Osgood Perkins’ wild follow-up to Longlegs – within the 28 Years Later challenge, on sale Thursday 16 January. Pre-order a replica on-line right here. The Monkey involves UK cinemas from 21 February.
