A new teaser trailer for The Monkey, the latest film from Longlegs director Osgood Perkins, will probably put you off those awful cymbal clashing toys for good.
Back in August, the first trailer for The Monkey didn’t show off all that much, just the titular monkey doing a light spot of drumming with a shot of lead actor Theo James covered in a lot of blood. Just yesterday, Neon put out another teaser trailer, this time a redband one, so it’s got more of that classic horror stuff: violence. A lot of it is just implied, the calm before the storm when it comes to deaths, instilling a strong sense of anxiety around swimming pools, hibachi chefs, and, well, drumming. Much like Longelgs, the vibes look quite strong once again, though that film’s ending was a bit pants so I have some reservations about it all the same.
The official synopsis explains: “When twin brothers Hal and Bill discover their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths starts occurring all around them. The brothers decide to throw the monkey away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years. But when the mysterious deaths begin again, the brothers must reunite to find a way to destroy the monkey for good before it takes the lives of everyone close to them.” If you feel like you’ve heard this somewhere before, that’s because it’s based on the Stephen King short story of the same name.
It has a strong cast outside of James too, as there’s also Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings), Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk), Laura Mennel (The Man in the High Castle), Sarah Levy (Schitt’s Creek), Colin O’Brien (Wonka), Rohan Campbell (Halloween 2018), and Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth). James Wan, co-creator of Insidious and Saw, is also producing this film, so there’s a good mix of old and new horror talent to be found here.
The film is only four months away now too, as it’s due out February 21, 2025.