Characters die in many bizarre ways inThe Monkey, but I still can’t stop thinking about one specific death in the film.The Monkeysets itself apart from other horror movies by featuring some of the most grotesque deaths I have ever seen in a film. Themost disturbing scenes inThe Monkeyinclude Annie getting decapitated at a restaurant, a woman exploding after being electrocuted in a motel pool, and Barbara getting her head blown off by a shotgun. However, there is one death scene that has stood out to me more than the others.
Thecast ofThe Monkeyincludes Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Colin O’Brien, and Elijah Wood. However, director Osgood Perkins also casted himself in the film.Osgood Perkins' best moviesincludeThe Blackcoat’s Daughter,Gretel & Hansel, and last year’s critically acclaimed horror filmLonglegs. Throughout his filmography, Perkins has proven that he is capable of accessing a dark and disturbing part of his mind. Now,Perkins has once again proved this by giving himself the grossest death scene inThe Monkey.
Who Oz Perkins Plays In The Monkey
Osgood Perkins Plays Uncle Chip In The Monkey
Hal and Bill discovering the monkey as children eventually leads to the death of their mother. Early in the film, a young and naive Hal turns the monkey’s key, hoping that it will kill his brother. However, his mother, Lois, ends up dying from a rare aneurysm instead. After the death of their mother, Hal and Bill go to live with their Uncle Chip and Aunt Ida in Maine. InThe Monkey,Perkins actually plays Uncle Chip, who openly admits to Hal that he and Ida probably won’t be good guardians.
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Early inThe Monkey, it is evident that both Hal and Bill truly love their mom. This made her death by far the most heartbreaking death inThe Monkey. After she dies, I believe that both Hal and Bill lost part of themselves. It is clear that neither of them care much about their Uncle Chip or Aunt Ida, which is why they decide to turn the monkey’s key to see if it will result in death. Of course, it does, andUncle Chip is brutally killed about halfway throughThe Monkey.
Oz Perkins' Chip Has The Monkey’s Grossest Death Scene
Uncle Chip Is Trampled By Horses In The Monkey
Not long after Hal and Bill move into Chip and Ida’s home in Maine, Chip is tragically killed while on a hunting trip.Chip is sleeping in a sleeping bag on the ground when he is trampled by a horde of 67 horsesin the middle of the night. Only a brief shot of Chip getting trampled is shown during the actual movie, but the aftermath of his death results in by far the grossest moment inThe Monkey. When the sleeping bag is opened following his death, Chip’s body is nothing but a bunch of mush.
The shot of Chip’s body is undoubtedly the grossest moment in the entire movie.
If someone saw this brief shot in the film without any context, they would probably think a bunch of raw ground beef was placed in the sleeping bag. This proves how unrecognizable Chip’s body truly was. Chips' death may not be the most absurd death in the entire movie. I would probably have to give that honor to hundreds of bees flying into Ricky’s mouth at theend ofThe Monkey. However, the shot of Chip’s body is undoubtedly the grossest moment in the film.
The Monkey’s Gross & Absurd Deaths Are A Clear Highlight Of The Movie
The Monkey Features Various Bizarre Deaths
The tagline forThe Monkeyis “Everybody dies. And that’s f***ed up.” Therefore, it is clear that this movie’s marketing was preparing audiences for how gory and disturbing it would be. However, I think I still underestimated just how elaborate and creative most of the death scenes inThe Monkeywould be. Perkins and the rest ofthe creative team behindThe Monkeyclearly had tons of fun coming up with the most horrible ways to kill its characters.
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Without a doubt,The Monkeyis at its best when it showcases the bizarre ways that its characters die. In fact, the movie starts to drag slightly when it focuses too much on its actual story. The relationship between Hal and Bill is somewhat intriguing, but the gross and absurd deaths are defintiely the highlight of the movie. It is these deaths that makeThe Monkeyone of the most entertaining horror movies to come out in recent years.
