Stephen King’s Gloriously Gory Horror Comedy Adaptation of 2025 Lands on Streaming
One of 2025’s best horror films is coming to streaming sooner than you can scream for help. Osgood Perkins’ hilarious rendering of the Stephen King story, The Monkey, will soon land on Hulu, giving horror fans the chance to stream one of the most original movies of the year. Starting August 7, The Monkey joins the streamer alongside other horror titles such as The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Thanksgiving, and Urban Legend.
The film follows twins Hal and Bill Shelburn, who one day find a wind-up drum-playing monkey toy inside their missing father’s closet. When they turn the key, strange deaths begin happening. Their mother eventually dies, and before they have to move with relatives, they decide to get rid of the toy.
The problem is that decades later, a freak accident convinces them that the monkey’s curse is alive once again. The siblings have been estranged for some time, and when Bill calls Hal and tells him of his suspicions, this sends Hal down a spiral. Either he hunts down the monkey and gets rid of it, or his family will suffer the consequences. The synopsis reads as follows:
When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tears their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree, forcing the estranged siblings to confront the cursed toy.
Written and directed by Perkins, The Monkey is based on King’s short story included in his collection Skeleton Crew. It stars Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Rohan Campbell, Sarah Levy, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, and Adam Scott, among others.
Despite its subject and tricky-to-master mashup between horror and comedy, The Monkey had a good reception in theaters. It grossed over $68 million from an $11 million production budget (though NEON’s excellent marketing campaign is rumored to have reached $10 million). Critical reception was equally good, and today, The Monkey holds a Certified Fresh label on Rotten Tomatoes.
The critics’ score sits at 77%, while the audience score is lower, at 56%. Sitting below Longlegs, which has an 85% score, The Monkey is Perkins’ second highest-rated film on the aggregate website.
Perkins Finds His Stride With 'The Monkey's Unique Horror-Comedy Blend
From its very first scene, The Monkey bluntly confirms what it actually is, and more importantly, the kind of Stephen King adaptation it is. It doesn’t beat around the bush in letting viewers know that it’s an absurdist comedy loosely inspired by King’s premise, if not the tone of his story. It’s a modern rendering by a horror visionary who likes to take risks whenever he can. Fortunately, he has seen more success than failure in his career so far, and Perkins has gained the trust of producers, distribution studio NEON, and, more importantly, audiences.
With the film’s positive reaction, Perkins had yet another triumph in the land of horror. Though the film sits outside the big studio universe, it seems that this is the spot where Perkins prefers to remain – inside a boutique studio system that lets him hold creative control over his movies.
Source: Indie Wire
