Product Details

• Actors: Susie Porter, Kelly McGillis, Marton Csokas, Abbie Cornish, William Zappa
• Format: PAL
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00006421M

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good erotic thriller is somewhat eroded by pretense, May 4, 2003

By 

BD Ashley "vidiot_y2k" (Otago, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Monkey's Mask (2002) (DVD)

Based on the book by Dorothy Porter, THE MONKEY'S MASK is a watchable but also rather pretentious "erotic" mystery.
When a literature student Mickey (Abbie Cornish) goes missing, the girl's parents hire lesbian PI Jill Fitpatrick (Susie Porter- I'm not sure if she's any relation to the author) to try and locate their daughter. The only evidence of her last appearance is a videotape of Mickey reading a sexually explicit feminist poem, which will offend prudes, but which personally I found quite amusing. They're just words, after all.
To try and piece together the clues as to Mickey's whereabouts Jill interviews the girl's lecturer Diana (Kelly McGillis) who has actually been encouraging her students to write like that. I wish my teachers had been that cool. Pretty soon Diana becomes the prime suspect. However Jill finds herself attracted to Diana; who is a straight married woman, and soon the pair begin an elicit affair which puts the whole case in jeopardy.
This Australian film is a bit pretentious, as with a lot of "art" movies, but THE MONKEY'S MASK does manage to keep viewers watching with its plot twists and tricky camerawork. It gets a few demerit points for the amount of awful poetry in the film, but on the plus side there are numerous lesbian scenes between McGillis and Porter. DVD extras include a short film by the movie's director, Samantha Lang, a Dorothy Porter interview and a reading from the book (which I found boring), as well as cast and crew bios and samples of songs from the movie's soundtrack.
THE MONKEY'S MASK is a good movie, but personally I found the poetry irritating. But that's just me, so if you enjoy and appreciate poetry, you'll probably raise my rating by 1 star. I'm just an uncultured chump anyway.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars very erotic, October 28, 2002

By 

Mel K "Laroque" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Monkey's Mask (2002) (DVD)

frankly, I just wanted to see this film for its eroticism, which I heard was incredible. but the story is actually a pretty entertaining one, albeit slow at times. i expected little, got more than i thought, but still, this flick is an easy rental at best. those are my two cents....

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual detective work, May 9, 2006

By 

Sasha (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Monkey's Mask (2002) (DVD)

There is definitely a detective suspense thriller within the elements found in The Monkey's Mask. The development of the detective's character - the realistic portrayal of a discontent woman often sidetracked from her goal - maintains an interesting path. The appearance of Kelly McGillis, holding on to a solid cinematic presence, is a familiar and interesting addition to the cast. Several heated scenes delve more deeply into the detective's life, but they don't jump too far from the film's theme, so they're not as gratuitous as many viewers may think. Awkward moments are intended occasionally and are truly awkward. It's an odd film, but interesting viewing.