James J Leahy

2 months ago | bfi.org.uk | Kim Newman |Katie McCabe |James J Leahy

In horror director Osgood Perkins’s nightmare version of America, a killer toy monkey’s rising body count becomes a source of local pride. 20 February 2025Stephen King’s 1980 short story ‘The Monkey’ is a surprisingly sombre take on the ‘cursed toy’ premise. When a moth-eaten toy clangs its cymbals, people die of natural but suspicious causes. The protagonist, a father worried that he’s failing his wife and sons the way his own father did, is also the victim of an economic downturn.