Director Osgood Perkins follows up 'Longlegs' with a giddy, gruesome, film that would make the King of Horror proud

As far as tone is concerned, Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey is unlike any Stephen King adaptation audiences have ever seen. There have been King films in the past that have funny lines and funny scenes, but the 2025 movie is the first to go all out and consistently use extreme horror as a vehicle for comedy.

Even though it takes major liberties with the Stephen King short story that inspired it, Osgood Perkins's film The Monkey still follows the basic premise of the original. It focuses on a guy dealing with a magical toy monkey that causes mysterious and absurd deaths every time it bangs its drum.

The Monkey is out now, and you might spot a couple of familiar faces appearing in the new horror movie – but not Stephen King.

Stephen King fans know film and TV adaptations of his books are hit-or-miss — “The Monkey” is one of the good ones.

Oz Perkins takes a wildly different approach than Stephen King, but his version of The Monkey makes the same compelling point.

W hat if I told you Oz Perkins' The Monkey isn't the first to adapt Stephen King's short story? While Neon's 2025 goreganza is the approved and licensed adaptation, there's a less