‘The Monkey’ review: Stephen King’s killer toy becomes ‘Longlegs’ creator Osgood Perkins’ plaything

Los Angeles Times

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Review: Trauma haunts 'The Monkey,' but the film is more interested in going bananas

Directed by Osgood Perkins, who broke out with the ominous 'Longlegs,' his follow-up is jokier and less effective, piercing the jugular with splatter gags.

Vulture

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Osgood Perkins Gets Into the Family Business

Osgood Perkins might be better known as Dorky Dave from ‘Legally Blonde.’ He’s also Norman Bates’s son and the director behind ‘Longlegs’ and ‘The Monkey.’

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Osgood Perkins adapts Stephen King in a burlesque horror tone, far from the macabre "Longlegs" languagers.

npr

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In 'The Monkey' the goring is never boring : Pop Culture Happy Hour

In the new horror-comedy The Monkey, Theo James plays a pair of identical twin brothers who get saddled with a cursed wind-up toy monkey that causes people around them to die freakish, gory deaths. It's based on a Stephen King short story, and directed by Osgood Perkins, who made last year's Longlegs. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture Copyright 2025 NPR

Portland Mercury

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The Monkey, A New Film From Longlegs Director Osgood Perkins, Allows Us To Laugh at the Meaninglessness of Life

The new work from Longlegs director Osgood Perkins helps us laugh at the meaninglessness of life. by Dom Sinacola Depending on how one wants to categorize ground chuck, at least two people in The Monkey are ground into it. The first is the victim of a horse stampede, and the other becomes a meaty mess via lawnmower.  We learn about the former when a sleeping bag is casually overturned, slopping out smushed man-oatmeal. The lawn care incident unf…

Chicago Tribune

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‘The Monkey’ review: Stephen King’s killer toy becomes ‘Longlegs’ creator Osgood Perkins’ plaything

Filmmakers tinker with the question of tone from project to project, many not as much as they should. But writer-director Osgood Perkins has no problem with tonal adjustment. His recent and most popular feature, last year’s “Longlegs,” worked in a sustained register of steady, clammy, creepily effective dread. Perkins makes a hard left into merrily grotesque slapstick with his new film, his fifth, “The Monkey.” The knob has been turned to a dist…