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Osgood Perkins' The Monkey: A Hilarious Stephen King Horror-Comedy?

Osgood Perkins: From Bleak Horror to Hilarious Stephen King! A Bold New Direction

Osgood Perkins' The Monkey: A Wild Swing From Bleak Horror Masterpieces

Director Osgood Perkins made a huge splash with Longlegs, a seriously unexpected hit! After a string of intensely bleak horror films (The Blackcoat's Daughter, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, and Gretel & Hansel) that weren't exactly embraced by mainstream audiences or critics—those projects got a decidedly awful average Rotten Tomatoes score, the success of Longlegs totally blindsided everyone! It showed his immense talent in spite of previous challenges, even becoming a surprising box-office smash! This title grossed over $108 million on a tiny $10 million budget. Critically? An awesome 85% Rotten Tomatoes score! Seriously.

That awesome twist ending really highlighted that this talented individual didn't merely deliver that expected, expected generic product, this was creative and memorable and far beyond what anyone else could possibly produce! Even that amazing and unexpected level of financial success shows just how immense Perkins’ talents truly are!   But even after all those achievements and recognitions, let’s not forget how unpredictable this particular filmmaker is. Perkins now heads towards another amazing achievement which will demonstrate yet another totally unpredictable moment for this person.

Also Read: Stephen King's 'The Monkey': New Horror Movie After 'Salem's Lot' Remake

From Grimy Horror to Zany Comedy? The Monkey's Surprising Tone

Maika Monroe as Lee Harker in Longlegs in front of movie credits Image

Perkins' next project: A Stephen King adaptation, The Monkey. Based on those trailers already released online (and on YouTube!), we might have expected another chilling ride in darkness! But hold onto your hats. It is unlike everything he did before! NEON released a seriously wild trailer. The tone? Way more comedic and cartoony than anything in his previous work or King’s source material.

That trailer? Seriously wild. We’re talking cops describing a gruesome crime scene as "Spaghetti City", knife-wielding in a sushi restaurant and one character actually showing off a severed, painted fingertip.   It is insane; bizarre and unexpected, completely demonstrating this unpredictable style that makes the whole trailer absolutely fantastic. One hilarious moment shows our frantic protagonist Hal seeing blue electrical sparks across a puddle to a swimming pool – which could’ve easily been part of Tex Avery cartoon; completely demonstrating those unpredictable levels of humor in this particular King adaptation!

Also Read: Nicolas Cage's "Longlegs" Serial Killer is "Unrecognizable" Says Director Tease.

Osgood Perkins Is About to Deliver that Surprising Blend of Genres

Longlegs 2024 Movie Poster Image

Here's why that massive shift to the more zany comic aspect is totally exciting:  it proves this immensely capable filmmaker isn’t just capable of one thing.    Longlegs itself hints at dark humor, which was entirely unexpected, especially in a grim setting. Yet despite how those grim and macabre plot details continue to prevail throughout this specific timeline and specific plots; this surprisingly funny moments do greatly improve the storytelling process; something totally uncharacteristic of Perkins' earlier, grim and intensely hopeless narratives found within his own collection of previously created work! So Perkins’ new adaptation shows this unexpected side for the same character within this storyline which hasn’t actually been developed fully; even adding a completely unexpected genre in the form of a horror comedy into this well-established King work!

These developments are extremely interesting!  We really don't expect a horror movie directed by a known expert within a single genre, creating this wildly unpredictable narrative that goes entirely out of expectations and delivers an interesting new version of the storyline which was previously known!

Also Read: Is Stephen King's 'The Monkey' Truly Family Friendly? A Cursed Toy Movie Is Here!

Conclusion: Get Ready for a Hilariously Terrifying Stephen King Adaptation!

Longlegs showed Osgood Perkins as a hugely capable horror director.  This film helped bring a much-needed level of success after a series of commercially unsuccessful works, earning his name great critical acclaim.  His next venture however shows just how capable he is – even demonstrating versatility by delivering a major genre shift in a well-known storyline – and we don't know what else he could create from here!  It is seriously exciting. That unexpected turn towards dark comedy, based on initial trailers suggests The Monkey is a major departure and might end up producing results completely unexpected; and in a positive direction that hasn’t quite been expected from his earlier filmography.

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