Monkey Shines

"Once there was a man whose prison was a chair. The man had a monkey, they made the strangest pair. The monkey ruled the man, it climbed inside his head. And now as fate would have it, one of them is dead."

1988 1h 53m EN

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 378

HorrorScience FictionDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A quadriplegic man is given a trained monkey help him with every day activities, until the little monkey begins to develop feelings, and rage, against its new master and those who get too close to him.

“Once there was a man whose prison was a chair. The man had a monkey, they made the strangest pair. The monkey ruled the man, it climbed inside his head. And now as fate would have it, one of them is dead.”

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Cast

Jason Beghe
Allan Mann
John Pankow
Geoffrey Fisher
Kate McNeil
Melanie Parker
Joyce Van Patten
Dorothy Mann
Christine Forrest
Maryanne Hodges
Stephen Root
Dean Burbage
Stanley Tucci
Dr. John Wiseman
Tom Quinn
Charlie Cunningham

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: George A. Romero
Writers: George A. Romero
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 76% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by George A. Romero, shot by James A. Contner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Shire. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Pasquale Buba shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jason Beghe and John Pankow and Kate McNeil carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Once there was a man whose prison was a chair. The man had a monkey, they made the strangest pair. The monkey ruled the man, it climbed inside his head. And now as fate would have it, one of them is dead.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0095652 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

George A. Romero directs. James A. Contner behind the camera. David Shire scores. Pasquale Buba cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 76% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
238 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by George A. Romero, shot by James A. Contner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by David Shire. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Pasquale Buba shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Jason Beghe and John Pankow and Kate McNeil carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Once there was a man whose prison was a chair. The man had a monkey, they made the strangest pair. The monkey ruled the man, it climbed inside his head. And now as fate would have it, one of them is dead.".
8IMDB entry: tt0095652 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 10 themes, including "experiment", "based on novel or book", "paralysis", "revenge".