Product Details

• Actors: Jason Beghe, John Pankow, Kate McNeil, Joyce Van Patten, Christine Forrest
• Directors: George A. Romero
• Writers: George A. Romero, Michael Stewart
• Producers: Charles Evans, Gerald S. Paonessa, Peter Grunwald, Peter R. McIntosh
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Orion
• VHS Release Date: October 6, 1998
• Run Time: 113 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0792899121
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #448,762 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

George A. Romero monkeys with nature in this gripping and fearful tale based on the novel by Michael Stewart. Allan Mann (John Beghe) is a law student who's hit by a truck while jogging, leaving him a quadriplegic. Luckily, his scientist friend Geoffrey (John Pankow) is experimenting with capuchin monkeys, making them smarter with injections of human genetic material. Geoffrey arranges with Melanie (Kate McNeil)--who's working on an experimental program that matches monkeys with paraplegics to perform guide-dog functions--to train his prize subject, Ella (Boo), to act as Allan's helper. Allan is paralyzed from the neck down, confined to a wheelchair he moves by working a lever with his mouth. He's really vulnerable. Ella can fetch things and do errands, and a real emotional bond develops between Mann and monkey. Too strong a bond, it turns out, as Allan begins to experience dreams from the monkey's-eye view (capuchin-cam), Ella's boosted intelligence giving her the residual benefit of a telepathic ability in which the monkey begins to act out Allan's subconscious rage. Allan's nurse, former girlfriend, doctor, even his mother are terrorized by the creepy capuchin, leading to a showdown between Ella and Allan himself. With Allan trapped in a house, alone with a super-intelligent and malevolent monkey, there is plenty of suspense to make you rip holes in your upholstery. But perhaps even more tension could have been wrung out of this story if Ella had been more sympathetic (being as she was the victim of a scientific experiment gone bad), her wicked antics the acts of a kind of exterminating angel. Performances are brilliant by both Ella and Jason Beghe, who turns in one of cinema's most accurate and intelligent depictions of a high-level quadriplegic character. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping Psychological Thriller...., April 7, 2005

By 

A. Minutella "mystery buff" (Lodi, NJ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Monkey Shines (DVD)

Yes, fans of George Romero who believe he's only capable of creating zombie/gore films and are looking for cheap thrills will likely be disappointed in this film; others who appreciate razor-sharp suspense, well-defined characters, and the fascinating thin line between man and animal will love this spellbinding thriller. A wheelchair-bound man who is sufffering from depression gets a scientifically altered monkey as a companion and helper...suddenly the man develops a renewed interest in life when the monkey steals his heart. But before long, science has hindered the progression of nature, and the monkey starts acting on its own animal instincts, ensnaring the man in a psychological battle of wills. The final half hour is edge-of-your-seat riveting; Romero did a splendid job balancing the drama and shocks with a fascinating insight in teh relationship between man and beast. "Monkey Shines" is, simply put, a classic suspense film, and most highly recommended for fans of quality cinema.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Monkey Shines, September 10, 2000

By 

Alison "alisong" (ny) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Monkey Shines [VHS] (VHS Tape)

From a purely animal training perspective this movie is brilliant. Romero did a great job directing these 6, 10 pounds capuchin monkeys to look like 1 monkey did the job. Much harder than Lassie and Flipper.The editing was also very slick. Watch the movie from a technical POV and see if you can find the different monkey faces, bodies and also puppets used in the more intense scenes.

I trained them all and was very proud of them.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Show me the monkey!, January 29, 2005

By 

Staci L. Wilson "Author: Animal Movies Guide ... (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Monkey Shines (DVD)

Allan Mann (Jason Beghe) had a bright and promising future. He had a beautiful girlfriend. He was physically fit. All of that is taken away from him in the blink of a headlight, when Allan gets run down by a truck and is left a bitter, hopeless quadriplegic. He loses all zest for life until a sprightly Capuchin monkey named Ella (played by Boo) enters his world. She's been trained to do everything for him, but soon she starts to read his mind... And what's in Allan's mind isn't very nice. Still, Ella is determined to fulfill her beloved master's every wish: Allan think, monkey do.

As someone who is not enamored of Romero's zombie flicks, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Yes, it's hokey here and there, but it never fails to entertain.

Based upon the novel Monkey-shines, by Michael Stewart.

Staci Layne Wilson