monkey shines an experiment in fear

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Monkey Shines

A quadriplegic man has a trained monkey help him with his paralysis, until the little monkey begins to develop feelings, and rage, against its new master. A quadriplegic man has a trained monkey help him with his paralysis, until the little monkey begins to develop feelings, and rage, against its new master. A quadriplegic man has a trained monkey help him with his paralysis, until the little monkey begins to develop feelings, and rage, against its new master.

• George A. Romero
• Michael Stewart
• Jason Beghe
• John Pankow
• Kate McNeil
• 97 User reviews
• 80 Critic reviews
• 71 Metascore
• 7 wins & 2 nominations

Top cast 33

• Geoffrey Fisher

• Melanie Parker

• Dorothy Mann

• Maryanne Hodges

• Dean Burbage

• Dr. John Wiseman

• Linda Aikman

• Doc Williams

• Charlie Cunningham
• Ambulance Driver

• Party Guest
• Anesthetist
• Young Allan

• Child Playing
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

• Trivia This was the first film role for Stephen Root , then a stage actor. According to Root, he had been instructed by his agent not to let the casting directors know that he was inexperienced with film as an actor. Root's official debut was Crocodile Dundee II (1988) , which had been released in theaters a month before this film, despite being shot a month after it.
• Goofs Fisher incorrectly refers to performing an "autopsy" on Ella. An autopsy is performed on human remains. The correct term for examining animal remains postmortem is "necropsy". This is a common mistake for most people, one that Fisher would not make, given his profession.

Geoffrey Fisher : You're a clinical cunt.

• Crazy credits "Introducing Boo as Ella"
• Alternate versions Earlier versions of Monkey Shines allegedly contained a bizarre brain surgery scene, as well as several abusive scenes involving the small monkey, Ellie. Although the scenes were all staged and no animals were harmed in the making of the movie, the filmmakers decided it would be better to simply leave them out to avoid conflicts.
• Connections Featured in Document of the Dead (1980)
• Soundtracks There'll Be Another Spring Written by Peggy Lee and Hubie Wheeler Performed by Peggy Lee Courtesy of Capitol Records, Inc. Under license from Capitol Special Markets

User reviews 97

Fun and original horror..

• el_nickster
• Nov 17, 2002
• How long is Monkey Shines? Powered by Alexa
• Do disabled people in real life ever use monkeys for help around the house?
• July 29, 1988 (United States)
• United States
• Carnegie Mellon University - 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
• Orion Pictures
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $7,000,000 (estimated)
• Jul 31, 1988
• Runtime 1 hour 53 minutes

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed.

Monkey Shines: An Experiment In Fear

`Monkey Shines" opens with a textbook illustration of the Perfect Day Theory, which teaches that when a movie opens with a glorious depiction of a perfect day in the life of the hero, the joy is always a prelude to tragedy. In this case, Allan, the hero, goes jogging, is struck by a truck and awakens as a quadriplegic.

In an ordinary movie, his tragedy would, in turn, be a cue for a story of struggle and courage, and we'd get one of those made-for-TV docudramas in which everything is just a little larger, braver and more moving than in life. But "Monkey Shines," whatever its shortcomings, is not an uplifting parable. It is a horror story, and before it is over it will have thrown everything at us.

At first the story seems matter-of-fact. Allan ( Jason Beghe ) undergoes rehabilitation therapy and returns home with one of those wheelchairs that can be controlled by breathing into a tube. Not much goes right. His girlfriend jilts him and goes to live with his insufferably pompous surgeon. He is doted on by a smothering mother.

His best pal, a brilliant chemist, is a speed freak. His nurse is a shrill, sadistic harpy. At the pit of his despair, Allan tries to commit suicide. Then Ella arrives.

Ella is a Capuchin monkey, naturally intelligent, and her intelligence has been boosted by injections of human brain tissue, administered by Allan's friend the druggie chemist. Right from the first, there's a special rapport between the man and the monkey. Ella seems to understand Allan, to love him, even sometimes to be able to anticipate his needs.

At this point, the movie does indeed seem to be poised on the brink of becoming an uplifting made-for-TV parable. Ella steals the show, scampering around the room and hugging Allan and seeming instinctively sympathetic. But then the undertones of horror begin to creep in, orchestrated by George A. Romero , the writer-director, who will be forever remembered for " Night of the Living Dead ." First Romero provides a rival for Ella's love: the seductive young animal trainer ( Kate McNeil ) who trains Ella and then falls in love with Allan. Meanwhile, Allan fights off his protective mother ( Joyce Van Patten ) and endures the insults of his insufferable nurse ( Christine Forrest , as a classic harridan), while his chemist pal ( John Pankow ) shoots speed, pumps the monkey full of brain cells and wages war with the jealous head of his department.

At first Allan sees Ella as his best friend. Then he begins to wonder - especially after he starts having nightmares from a monkey's-eye view, and especially after one of the dreams depicts his ex-fiancee and his surgeon burning to death. When he discovers that they actually have died in a fire, he realizes that Ella can read his mind, and with her unforgiving and savage animal instincts she is, God forbid, acting on his subconscious wishes.

Romero shifts into violent melodramatic overdrive for the conclusion of his film, which must be seen to be believed, and which I will not reveal. He has always been a director of cheerful excess, and sometimes, as in " Dawn of the Dead " (1979) it is exactly the right thing to go over the top. There is a certain exhilaration in the green slime that sprays out of the ghouls in that film, a certain joy in violating all restraints of taste and swinging for the scoreboard.

But "Monkey Shines," I'm afraid, simply contains too much.

Just a shade of understatement would have gone a long way. It could have benefitted from losing a few subplots, especially the protective mother and the jealous university dean. That would have allowed the story to proceed more directly to its inevitable conclusion. Instead, Romero loses momentum in the closing passages because he has too many loose ends to keep track of. Somewhere within this movie's two hours or so is hidden an absolutely spellbinding 90-minute thriller.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Jason Beghe as Allan Mann
• Christine Forrest as Nurse Maryann
• Joyce Van Patten as Dorothy Mann
• John Pankow as Geoffrey Fisher
• Kate McNeil as Melanie Parker
• Boo as Ella

Produced by

• Charles Evans

Written and Directed by

• George A. Romero

Photographed by

• James A. Contner

Based On The Novel by

• Michael Stewart
• Pasquale Buba

Leave a comment

Now playing.

Unstoppable (2024)

The Girl with the Needle

Striking Rescue

You Are Not Me

Latest articles.

We Need Art More Than Ever: Jude Law, Jurnee Smollett on "The Order"

Hulu Stumbles with Warmed-Over Espionage Actioner "Paris Has Fallen"

Margo Martindale Anchors the Clever, “Fargo”-esque Tale of “The Sticky”

Kyle Mooney and Evan Winter Go Back in Time with "Y2K"

The best movie reviews, in your inbox.

We sent an email to [email protected]

Didn't you get the email?

By joining, you agree to the Terms and Policies and Privacy Policy and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

username@email

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

• About Rotten Tomatoes®
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening This Week
• Top Box Office
• Coming Soon to Theaters
• Certified Fresh Movies

Movies at Home

• Fandango at Home
• Prime Video
• Most Popular Streaming Movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• 89% Wicked Link to Wicked
• 89% The Order Link to The Order
• 95% Beatles '64 Link to Beatles '64

New TV Tonight

• 64% Secret Level: Season 1
• -- Dexter: Original Sin: Season 1
• -- Bookie: Season 2
• -- No Good Deed: Season 1
• -- Dream Productions: Season 1
• -- The Great British Baking Show: Holidays: Season 7
• -- Queer Eye: Season 9
• -- Paris & Nicole: The Encore: Season 1
• -- Die Hart: Season 3

Most Popular TV on RT

• 98% Black Doves: Season 1
• 96% Star Wars: Skeleton Crew: Season 1
• 74% The Madness: Season 1
• 94% Creature Commandos: Season 1
• 100% Arcane: League of Legends: Season 2
• 85% The Day of the Jackal: Season 1
• 95% A Man on the Inside: Season 1
• 70% Dune: Prophecy: Season 1
• 66% The Agency: Season 1
• 36% Senna: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV

Certified fresh pick

• 94% Creature Commandos: Season 1 Link to Creature Commandos: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

All Star Trek Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

61 Best Christmas Movies on Netflix

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming.

Awards Tour

Rotten Tomatoes Predicts the 2025 Golden Globe Nominations

Golden Globe Nominations 2025: When and How To Watch

• Trending on RT
• Awards Season
• Re-Release Calendar
• New Animated Movies
• TV Premiere Dates

Monkey Shines

Where to watch.

Rent Monkey Shines on Fandango at Home, or buy it on Fandango at Home.

What to Know

While not one of horror legend George Romero's more evolved efforts, Monkey Shines delivers enough primal fear to satisfy more forgiving genre enthusiasts.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

George A. Romero

Jason Beghe

John Pankow

Geoffrey Fisher

Kate McNeil

Melanie Parker

Joyce Van Patten

Dorothy Mann

Christine Forrest

Maryanne Hodges

More Like This

Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear

Rentals include 30 days to start watching this video and 48 hours to finish once started.

Customers also watched

Other formats

297 global ratings

How are ratings calculated? Toggle Expand Toggle Expand

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Registry & Gift List
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .

• TV Listings
• Cast & Crew

Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear - Full Cast & Crew

• 71   Metascore
• 1 hr 53 mins
• Drama, Horror, Suspense, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction
• Watchlist Where to Watch

An experiment provides a simian aide that has been trained to assist a quadriplegic, but the man feels a strange connection with the mammal, which is exhibiting "feelings."

Special Effects

Executive producer, assoc. producer, production designer, music director, cinematographer, production company.