‘The Monkey’: Osgood Perkins Talks Stephen King, Absurd Death Scenes & His Next Horror Film ‘Keeper’ [The Discourse Podcast]

Can you hear that? It’s the sound of a demonic monkey drumming up death and quite possibly the most fun you’ll have in a theater all year. In this episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo sits down with writer-director Osgood Perkins to discuss his latest film, “The Monkey”—a twisted and darkly comedic horror adaptation of Stephen King’s short story. The film follows twin brothers Bill and Hal, who, as kids, stumble upon their father’s old monkey toy in the attic. What follows is a series of gruesome deaths seemingly connected to the cursed object. Years later, after growing apart, the brothers are forced back together when the monkey resurfaces, bringing more chaos in its wake. The cast includes Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Rohan Campbell, and Colin O’Brien.

When Perkins first got the script for “The Monkey,” he wasn’t exactly thrilled. In fact, he kind of hated it. “They were kind of like, ‘What do you think about the script?’ And I was like, ‘I really think the script is very poor,’” Perkins admitted. Instead of rejecting the project outright, he saw an opportunity to reshape it from a dour, self-serious horror movie into something that genuinely honored King and his playful approach to horror.

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For Perkins, adapting King meant embracing both the terror and the fun of his work. “I wanted it to be, ‘Oh, my God, I’m being given this privilege, this golden ticket. I get to stand on the shoulder of a giant and screw in a light bulb,’” Perkins said. “[King] introduced the notion that horror can be playful, that you can smile your way through the terror. And I wanted to top-line that.”

The stamp of approval from Stephen King himself was the ultimate validation for Perkins’ approach. The legendary horror author called the film “batshit insane” and unlike anything he’d seen before—high praise from the master of macabre. For Perkins, it was an emotional moment. “When you get the father of modern horror to say, ‘Hey kid, you did good,’ that’s everything,” he said. “It’s the best. And for those of us who are chasing the kind of approval from the father…Some fathers give that; some fathers do not. I happened to be in the category of my father, who wasn’t available for that kind of thing. So, probably, part of me has always yearned for that. I’m 51 years old. But the kid in me, the kid in me needs that for growth.”

That mix of horror and humor is most evident in the film’s absurdly creative death scenes. “None of them could be real,” Perkins explained. “Physics don’t work that way. No one can say, ‘Oh, yeah, my cousin Gloria exploded in a pool.’ No, she didn’t.” The director and his team held regular “death meetings” to ensure each scene was as over-the-top as possible, a process that led to what he describes as “just a love fest” on set.

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Theo James delivers a dual performance as both Bill and Hal, with Perkins likening his performance to Wile E. Coyote. “Theo watches things happen at a distance—he’s a live-action Wile E. Coyote,” Perkins said. The director also praised Tatiana Maslany, calling her “the best actor I’ve ever worked with” and revealing that she will lead his next film, “Keeper.”

Speaking of “Keeper,” Perkins describes it as a more intimate, grown-up horror film compared to the playful chaos of “The Monkey.” “It’s a single-location, cabin-in-the-woods horror film, but it’s really a relationship horror movie,” he explained. “It starts with, ‘Oh, we’re going to his country house for the first time,’ and then suddenly, things go off the rails.” The film, starring Maslany alongside Rossif Sutherland, leans into psychological horror and tension, making it a stark contrast to the funhouse energy of “The Monkey.”

While Perkins is focused on “Keeper,” he hasn’t ruled out a sequel to “The Monkey.” But if he does it, expect it to be just as unpredictable as his other work. “We’ve joked about making a ‘Gremlins 2’ kind of sequel—just the dumbest, worst movie we could possibly make,” he laughed. “Wouldn’t that be funny?”

“The Monkey” arrives in theaters on Friday, February 21. Listen to the full interview with Osgood Perkins below:

The Playlist Presents – Osgood Perkins’ Film/TV Recommendation Playlist:

• “Looney Tunes” (Chuck Jones Era)
• “Misery” (1990)
• “Raising Arizona” (1987)

Bonus Music Recommendations:

• “Little Richard’s Greatest Hits”
• “Sam Cooke: Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964”

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