I want to start by saying this won't be for everyone. Its a little silly and it's a lot gory.
The Monkey is based on a 1980 short story by Stephen King. It follows twins Hal and Bill Shelburn from childhood to adulthood. After their father disappears, leaving their mother to be sole caretaker, the twins find a wind-up drum-playing monkey toy among their father's belongings. The monkey is responsible for a series of gruesome acts around their family from the time their father owned it.
As Bill says to Hal: "The monkey that likes killing our family, it's back."
It was that quote in the trailer that made me realize I had to watch the movie. And after watching, it was exactly what I wanted it to be: ridiculous and over-the-top.
The movie features a lot of death, and ways of dying that are, again, ridiculous. For me, that helps with the gore, that it's so over-the top. It also leans into the silly nature of the concept and is more black-comedy-horror than straight up horror.
Aside from the sort of insane nature of everything happening, it's somewhat grounded by solid filmmaking and great performances. Everything is shot well, it's obvious the director (Osgood Perkins, son of Psycho star Anthony Perkins) has a very clear vision of what he wants.
Theo James stars as the adult versions of Hal and Bill. He dances the line of drama and comedy really well, lending to the tone built by the movie. Same with Christian Convery, who plays the younger versions of the characters. It took me a minute to realize that it was the same actor playing the kids. Tatiana Maslany (a favorite from her roles in Orphan Black) plays the boys' mother, Lois. Plus there are some fun cameos from Adam Scott, Sarah Levy, and Elijah Wood.
As I said, the movie is not for everyone. While it doesn't fully feel like a Sam Raimi film, the general tone of the movie made me think of something like Evil Dead. If you're a fan of horror like that, I think it's worth a try!