Outline:
A New Take on Primate Horror
Chimpanzees have long been a staple in Hollywood, often portrayed in three main ways: playing baseball with Matt LeBlanc, playing hockey with Kevin Zegers, and, more disturbingly, ripping your jawbone off of your face. While these scenarios rarely occur simultaneously, the film “Primate” takes a different approach by focusing on the more terrifying aspect of chimpanzee behavior. Directed by Johannes Roberts, this horror movie delves into the gruesome potential of these primates, showcasing their violent tendencies without the need for sports equipment.
The story follows Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah), a young woman returning to Hawaii with her friends Kate (Victoria Wyant) and Hannah (Jessica Alexander). Lucy’s mother recently passed away, prompting her to leave for the mainland to escape her grief. This left her sister Erin (Gia Hunter) and deaf novelist father Adam (Oscar winner Troy Kotsur) to deal with their loss alone. However, the family also has a pet chimpanzee named Ben, who learned to communicate via iPad from Lucy’s mother. After her death, Ben came to live with them, and while the family is grieving, they find some comfort in his presence.
When Lucy returns, the family is overjoyed, but their happiness is short-lived. During a night of revelry at their isolated house, Ben, who was recently bitten by a rabid mongoose, turns violent. The situation becomes dire as Ben attacks Erin, leaving Lucy and her friends trapped in a swimming pool. Chimpanzees cannot swim, so they are temporarily safe, but Ben remains a threat, waiting for the right moment to strike.
A Gritty Return to 80s Horror
“Primate” is one of the most vicious mainstream studio pictures in recent years. Johannes Roberts, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ernest Riera, presents the film as a gritty 1980s shock flick. The movie quickly sets up its characters and premise, brushing aside any contrivances needed to make the plot work. It then plunges the audience into a world of graphic violence, all set to a terrifying retro score by Adrian Johnston. The music sounds like a demon from hell got a synthesizer for Christmas and went to town on it. Ten out of ten for the evil jams.
Ben’s portrayal in the film is achieved through good, old-fashioned ape costume shenanigans. There was a time when people in monkey suits were everywhere in movies and TV. If a show went on long enough, eventually an episode with an ape would be made, and that ape would be some guy in a get-up. These costumes never looked real, but audiences were expected to suspend disbelief and bring their own imagination into the theater. We all wanted to watch a story about an ape, so we all agreed to accept that some guy in an ape suit was, for the purposes of this production, an ape.
Johannes Roberts doesn’t have to worry about that, because the chimpanzee costume in “Primate” is pretty danged plausible, and performer Miguel Torres Umba delivers an impressive performance. There are moments in “Primate” where you forget you’re not watching an actual ape smash a real human being’s head open on a staircase. The vivid gore effects only deepen the illusion that what we’re seeing is taking place in a real, physical space, so Roberts’ punishing kill scenes strike hard, and with wet, meaty, screaming splats.
A Film That Keeps You Hooked
You could pick nits with “Primate,” and I guess that would be thematically appropriate, but the film’s tight runtime and uncomplicated, visceral storytelling don’t give the mind any opportunity to wander. Roberts wraps his audience around his finger and then points us in the direction of gruesome, darkly humorous devilry. Maybe Ben really is the most valuable primate after all. He’s certainly the most extreme primate, even though, unfortunately, he doesn’t snowboard.
“Primate” swings into theaters on Friday.