Monkey Shines 4K 1988 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

Allan, a promising student, ends up in a wheelchair after an accident. To help him get over his depression and find his will to live again, his friend Jeffrey, a genius scientist working on increasing the intelligence of monkeys, decides to give him a female capuchin monkey, the result of his experiments.

To teach the monkey how to care for the sick, Jeffrey turns to trainer Melanie. Allan and Ella, as he calls his new friend, get along perfectly, and after a while, Ella even begins to anticipate many of Allan's requests. Everything is going well, and the attraction between Melanie and Allan begins to develop into a stronger feeling. But one day, the monkey's dark side is revealed.

Review 4K Movie

Allan's life was going wonderfully. He was a student, an athlete, and simply handsome. He had a beloved and loving girlfriend, his own home, and a bright future ahead of him. But one day, while jogging, he was suddenly hit by a car. His body was paralyzed from the neck down. There is no hope for recovery; he will remain confined to a wheelchair forever and will always be dependent on the mood of his caregiver. After all, Allan is unable to even bring a glass of water to his mouth. His beloved girlfriend leaves him for a friend (who would have thought!). He doesn't want to live, but he can't even bring himself to commit suicide.

But Allan has another friend, Jeffrey, a scientist who is conducting research into increasing intelligence in monkeys. So far, it's only monkeys. But maybe it won't be long before it's humans, and maybe even a Nobel Prize. To this end, Jeffrey is conducting not entirely legal experiments with not entirely studied serums, the results of which are not yet fully known. He conducts his experiments on cute capuchin monkeys. Jeffrey decides to give one of them, Ella, to his friend. Melanie, a trainer and acquaintance of his, is training monkeys to care for paralyzed people. After all, a monkey is not just a caregiver, but also a devoted friend, loving, loyal, intelligent, and funny. Plus, very cute.

Everything was just great until it suddenly (again, suddenly) turned out that the monkey could pick up on its owner's thoughts and moods. Especially when Allan was angry or upset. And Ella took these thoughts as a guide for action. It is impossible to cancel these orders. And who is actually in charge: does Allan give orders to Ella, or does Ella influence Allan's mood, causing him to feel anger and, accordingly, express emotional wishes towards those around him? Science does not yet know the answer to this question. In addition, Ella turned out to be quite domineering and jealous, not willing to share Allan's affection with anyone. Ella was also decisive, enterprising, and, thanks to the serum, unusually intelligent. In addition, the serum had some side effects that turned the cute little monkey into a terrifying enemy.

This film by George A. Romero is far removed in its plot from his famous zombie-themed horror films, which may be why it is not as well known as his films about the living dead. And the deaths mostly happen off-screen, which is also unusual for Romero. But this movie is more like a sci-fi psychological thriller, which is also unusual because it pits human intelligence and character against animal intelligence and character. Not in the wild, as we have already seen in the films Ghost and Darkness or The Bear, but in the setting of an ordinary residential building. Moreover, one of the opponents is unable to move a finger, while the other is extraordinarily intelligent, agile, and ready to do anything to maintain power over his helpless opponent. Rather, the situation is more like the clash of characters in the film Misery. And so the duel between man and monkey is no less exciting than the duel between the writer and his fanatical admirer.

The monkey's performance in the film is simply amazing. It is not for nothing that they say it is impossible to outact an animal or a child. In addition, the little monkey is really very cute, funny, with huge intelligent eyes, and evokes a feeling of tenderness in the viewer, similar to that evoked by photographs of cute fluffy kittens. And when you see what this cutie is up to, you experience a kind of cognitive dissonance. It is not often in horror films that you experience fear, pity, and sympathy for the main villain at the same time. Jason Beah, however, coped with his acting task quite well. The film also has a love story between Allan and trainer Melanie. There is even an erotic scene, shot very modestly but very inventively, considering that one of the partners is completely paralyzed. Let's not quibble over such trifles as the impossibility of this act in reality, because the film is, after all, billed as fantasy.

The result is a very tense and powerful thriller that perfectly illustrates what happens to us and around us when animal instincts begin to dominate the human mind and upbringing, blurring the boundaries between beast and man. And which of these components will prevail in the fierce struggle within a single individual?