The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
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Monkey Shines
Horror · Science Fiction · Drama · 1988
A quadriplegic man is given a trained monkey help him with every day activities, until the little monkey begins to develop feelings, and rage, against its new master and those who get too close to him.
Movie details
Monkey Shines
“Once there was a man whose prison was a chair. The man had a monkey, they made the strangest pair. The monkey ruled the man, it climbed inside his head. And now as fate would have it, one of them is dead.”
1988 Horror · Science Fiction · Drama 1h 53m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.3 / 10
Community rating
A quadriplegic man is given a trained monkey help him with every day activities, until the little monkey begins to develop feelings, and rage, against its new master and those who get too close to him.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Monkey Shines?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
George A. Romero
Written by
George A. Romero
Jason Beghe
Allan Mann
John Pankow
Geoffrey Fisher
Kate McNeil
Melanie Parker
Joyce Van Patten
Dorothy Mann
Christine Forrest
Maryanne Hodges
Stephen Root
Dean Burbage
Stanley Tucci
Dr. John Wiseman
Court is in session
Put Monkey Shines on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.