Two words: fucking delightful.

In their youth, twin brothers Hal and Bill (Christian Convery) make a discovery among the oddities their dad used to bring home from his trips abroad: a curious windup monkey that beats a drum along to internalized carnival music. Each time the key is turned and released, however, someone also dies suddenly and spectacularly — or so it seems, because that can’t be true, can it? In the hopes of preventing further loss of life, the brothers try to rid themselves of the despicable thing, agreeing to contain what refuses to be destroyed. Decades later, Hal (Theo James) finally hears from his brother Bill first the first time in a while, coinciding with a series of mysterious deaths beginning anew. It can mean only one thing: the monkey has reappeared once again.

Writer Stephen King is credited with an uncanny ability to remake the commonplace and mundane into things dark and twisty, explanation be damned. A 1958 Plymouth Fury, room 1408 at The Dolphin Hotel, and here an Organ Grinder Monkey — pun intended, just don’t call it “a toy.” What it is, where it came from, who made it, or why it possesses such terrible power are all a mystery, and may God have mercy on those who seek to figure it out (and everyone around them). In the hands of Longlegs director Osgood Perkins, it’s also a source of hilarity, because as inevitable as life’s end is, not everyone goes quietly in their sleep. If graphic horror injected with gallows humor trips your trigger, stop reading now and get thee to a theater. If not, may I humbly recommend that you turn the key and see what happens?

At last: the perfect film to pair with The Cabin In the Woods as a double feature, invoking the same existential dread, desperate need to do something, and all the “I can’t believe that just happened” a horror fan could want. Comedic elements are less silly than the Zombieland films or Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil (not that these are bad films) because the fictional place these characters occupy simply and unapologetically exists, much as it does in the underrated Willy’s Wonderland. We’re living in a post-Terrifier world now, where visceral carnage can be wonderfully over the top whether it’s deserved or not. While Art the Clown wallows in homicidal mayhem, the monkey silently observes its handiwork but doesn’t suffer fools; disrespect it at your own peril. No, really, go ahead. Please?

Much of the cast seems to be stacked purely for the body count, including Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, and even the director himself providing potential targets for monkey business… and business is good. Both Christian Convery playing the younger twins and Theo James playing the older siblings keeps the mayhem grounded, invoking classic Stephen King character tropes. From natural-born victims and bullies to small-minded small-town folks, the status quo of the quiet life — read: boring as hell — is irrevocably disrupted by a supernatural force of nature, a cursed object escaped from the vault of “Friday the 13th: the Series” or the curio shop from King’s own Needful Things. As a side note, if it seems weird the story begins in 1999 while the production era looks stuck in the 1970s, it is… weird, I mean.

Among the more twisted ideas herein is an evil need for someone to know what is truly at fault, like a serial killer’s M.O. for those in the know. Slanted differently from exploitive grindhouse or slasher horror, The Monkey takes its cues from the Final Destination series, borrowing Death’s Rube Goldberg redesigns but not above a handy cocked-and-loaded shotgun when available. The ending is a bit ambiguous but no less fun, so let the speculation begin about what the sort-of ending really means!

The Monkey is rated R for strong bloody violent content, gore, language throughout, some sexual references, and being incredibly “like life.”

Four skull recommendation out of four