MONKEY SHINES (DVD/ST&WS/FR-SUB/BEHIND SCENES BKLT/THEATRICAL TRAILER) DVD

Monkey Shines
A quadriplegic former athlete finds his darkest urges being acted out by an animal familiar in this psychological horror film. When Allan Mann (Jason Beghe) loses the use of his legs and arms in an accident, he becomes bitter -- no surprise given that his girlfriend dumps him for his surgeon, his new nurse (Christine Forrest) is a shrew, and his smothering mother (Joyce Van Patten) keeps threatening to move in and take care of him. Enter Kate McNeil (Melanie Parker), a scientist who is working to provide handicapped people with highly trained animal helpers. Soon Allan is bonding with Ella, an adorable Capuchin monkey, who, unbeknownst to him, has been injected with human brain tissue by drug-addicted scientist Geoffrey Fisher (John Pankow). At first Allan loves little Ella, but the monkey seems to grow jealous as Allan slowly develops a romance with the beautiful Kate. Meanwhile, Allan begins having strange dreams in which he experiences the world from a monkey's-eye point of view. These visions culminate in a fiery nightmare -- the same night Allan's ex-girlfriend and her new lover die in a house fire. Realizing the growing link between his own inner demons and the violence occurring around him, Allan tries to sever the connection with Ella. But the limitations of even his high-tech wheelchair give the psychic primate the upper hand. Written and directed by horror veteran George Romero, Monkey Shines re-teams the filmmaker with his frequent collaborator, Christine Forrest. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Cast Jason Beghe as Allan Mann John Pankow as Geoffrey Fisher Kate McNeil as Melanie Parker Joyce Van Patten as Dorothy Mann Christine Forrest as Maryanne Hodges Stephen Root as Dean Burbage Stanley Tucci as Dr. John Wiseman Janine Turner as Linda Aikman William Newman as Doc Williams

Crew James C. Feng - Art Director Mark Harrington - Art Director Peter R. McIntosh - Associate Producer Dianne Crittenden - Casting Barbara Anderson - Costume Designer Nick Mastandrea - First Assistant Director George A. Romero - Director Pasquale A. Buba - Editor David Shire - Composer (Music Score) Brenda Hoffert - Musical Direction/Supervision Paul Hoffert - Musical Direction/Supervision Hubie Wheeler - Songwriter Richard A. Whiting - Songwriter Peggy Lee - Songwriter Alan Brandt - Songwriter Raymond B. Egan - Songwriter Bob Haymes - Songwriter Jeannee Josefczyk - Makeup Cletus Anderson - Production Designer James A. Contner - Cinematographer Charles Evans - Producer Diana Stoughton - Set Designer Steve Kirshoff - Special Effects Tom Savini - Special Effects John Sutton III - Sound/Sound Designer George A. Romero - Screenwriter Billy Hill - Featured Music Gus Kahn - Featured Music Michael Stewart - Book Author

Monkey Shines
Overlong and saddled with an unsympathetic protagonist, this labored, lesser George Romero effort aspires to the level of acute psychological horror. Unfortunately, the writer/director gets bogged down in too much plot, burying a number of interesting ideas and great scenes in a formless mush. Romero regular Christine Forrest has a lot of fun with her nasty-tempered nurse character, while Joyce Van Patten gets to step past her usual nice-lady roles to portray an epically overbearing mother. But Jason Beghe isn't much of a leading man, and much of the rest of the cast seems anonymous. The biggest deficiencies, however, lie in Romero's script, which takes too many detours and too much time to build up to the extended set piece of the conclusion. For those willing to wait him out, though, the director delivers. Inventively portraying the limited options available to a quadriplegic in a motorized wheelchair as he's stalked by a relentless monkey through the obstacle course of his home, Romero mixes gripping mind games with grisly thrills. The script may seem a little queasy in it violence against the women characters, but that's par for the course in this genre. DVD viewers should fast-forward through the subplots and subpar character development and enjoy the last half-hour for the showpiece it is. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
 

(no awards)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English, French Sound Processing: Additional Features: Collectible booklet Original theatrical trailer DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 2 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 114 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1- Widescreen 0. Scene Selections 1. Logos/Title/Accident [5:39] 2. "Genius" Doctor [1:42] 3. Home To A New Life [1:56] 4. Weird Geoffrey/"Ace" [5:41] 5. Days Of Innocence [1:20] 6. "Head" Scientist [2:55] 7. Living By Numbers [1:04] 8. Suicide/Mom/Betrayal [2:47] 9. Monkey Trainer [2:36] 10. "Ella"/Smart Slave [7:20] 11. Bonding/A New Man [2:57] 12. Hairy Pupil/Fishing [2:05] 13. Moad Monkey/Scientist [5:12] 14. Foul Nurse/Evil Fowl [4:22] 15. Repetitive Science [:53] 16. Dream/Arrival/Bath [4:37] 17. Dream 2/Escape Route [3:08] 18. New Hope/Old Anger [2:12] 19. Blood Lust/Fire [6:34] 20. Passion Over Rage [4:12] 21. monkey Junkie [2:10] 22. Voluntary Movement [1:16] 23. "One Last Dose" [3:51] 24. Hung Up/Loose Lab [4:33] 25. Death By Hairdryer [3:46] 26. Uncivil Disobedience [5:51] 27. Shot By A Simian [3:06] 28. Battle Of Wills [6:20] 29. Mel's Turn In Hell [4:34] 30. Biting willpower [2:22] 31. Nightmare/Go Fish! [2:41] 32. End Credits [3:05] Side #2- Standard 0. Scene Selections 1. Logos/Title/Accident [:10] 2. "Genius" Doctor [5:39] 3. Home To A New Life [1:42] 4. Weird Geoffrey/"Ace" [1:56] 5. Days Of Innocence [5:41] 6. "Head: Scientist|00:01:20|| 7. Living By Numbers [2:55] 8. Suicide/Mom/Betrayal [1:04] 9. Monkey Trainer [2:47] 10. "Ella"/Smart Slave [2:36] 11. Bonding/A New Man [7:20] 12. Hairy Pupil/Fishing [2:57] 13. Mad Monkey/Scientist [2:05] 14. Foul Nurse/Evil Fowl [5:12] 15. Repetivitve Science [4:22] 16. Dream/Arrival/Bath [:53] 17. Dream 2/Escape Route [4:37] 18. New Hope/Old Anger [3:08] 19. Blood Lust/Fire [2:12] 20. Passion Over Rage [6:34] 21. Monkey Junkie [4:12] 22. Voluntary Movement [2:10] 23. "One Last Dose" [1:16] 24. Hung Up/Loose Lab [3:51] 25. Death By Hairdryer [4:33] 26. Uncivil Disobedience [3:46] 27. Shot By a Simian [5:51] 28. Battle Of Wills [3:06] 29. Mel's Turn In Hell [6:20] 30. Biting Willpower [4:34] 31. Nightmare/Go Fish! [2:22] 32. End Credits [2:41]