The Film:
Monkey Shines is a very different film from the majority of George A. Romero's work. This is not surprising because it was one of his first studio films after making many movies independently. The differences are the most notable in the production values and overall look of the film. It looks very much like a tradition type of film. The story of the film is a pretty straight forward story. Alan Mann (Jason Beghe) has recently become paralyzed from the neck down from a terrible accident. Shortly after his girlfriend leaves him for the doctor that helped him, his mother hires a mean caregiver, and his close friends don't come around much. He is very down and out until his friend Geoffrey Fisher (John Pankow) gives him a specially trained monkey named Ella to help take care of him. Unbeknownst to Alan the monkey given to him was injected with material that is supposed to enhance the Ella's abilities. Thanks to those enhancement injections and the growing relationship between the two, they begin to have what appears to be a psychic connection. As a result Ella begins to hunt down and kill all of those that Alan feels wronged him and wished were dead.
This is were the film turns into a revenge type film where the monkey goes and kills all the people that Alan has thought about killing, though the film doesn't go to too great of lengths to really show why Alan wants to kill these people so badly. The film also has a pretty distinct Jekyll and Hyde feel to it. When someone upsets Alan he thinks about doing something bad to them. Then at night Ella fulfills those desires of Alan. This is definitely one of the more interesting aspects of the film especially towards the end where Ella begins to think more own her own and tries to keep everyone away from Alan. Alan is aware at this point that he has created a monster that has to be stopped.
Overall the movie is a pretty good horror film with some unnecessary side plots that are either never resolved or just not very good, and a disappointing ending. The ending in the film is not the original ending that they wanted. In the original ending a lot of the side plots are more clearly resolved but the new studio forced ending leaves a lot of those plots out to hang and embraces a pretty unsatisfying ending. Even with some of the lack of clarity in the story of the film, the film is a pretty good horror film that effectively communicates the helplessness of the lead character and slow creation of a monster in Ella. The picture quality on this Blu-ray is pretty good. The transfer has a natural looking layer of grain that is consistent throughout. The colors are good but lack the type of pop that one would expect. No real problems with the transfer that I could see. Overall the picture quality is solid and good just not spectacular.
3.5/5
The Extras:
This release by Scream Factory is pretty loaded for not being branded a Collector's Edition. It contains An Experiment in Fear - The Making of Monkey Shines, another well made making-of documentary from Scream Factory. This features a significant chunk of the main individuals involved in making the films. A lot of interesting information was given here including the problems with the final cut and the difficulties of making a movie with monkeys. The disc also has a new Audio Commentary with Writer/Director George A. Romero that gives even more info in the making of the film and the difficulties Romero had with the studio. Those are the big new extras for this release, though it also comes with deleted scenes, alternate ending, behind the scenes footage, vintage making of and interviews, trailers, and still gallery. Overall a very good selections of extras that provide a lot of interesting insight into the making of the film and the difficulties when releasing it.
4/5
Overall: Recommended
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