The Monkey is the latest venture from Longlegs director Osgood Perkins and unlike his previous film, The Monkey comes with a post-credits scene you'll want to stick around to watch, as it teases Perkins' next film, a horror movie called Keeper. And considering how poor The Monkey script was and the overall nonsensical storyline, Keeper is already looking like it will be a superior film.
Perkins seems to have taken a page out of Ti West's playbook, using the ending to tease his next movie, similar to what West did with the teaser for Pearl at the end of X. Perkins' next film is a very small indie movie that he made in Vancouver before filming could start on The Monkey. Funnily enough, that's also similar to West's creation of Pearl, which was made in secret directly after X. West was inspired by the pandemic's impact on cinema while Perkins had to contend with delays due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
So, unlike other movies that use post-credits scenes to tease direct sequels or wrap up a loose end from the film, The Monkey's is about promoting Keeper, which Neon will release in theaters this October.
What is Keeper about?
The teaser is sinister, showing several women crying out in pain. There's a lot of screaming and terror going on, indicating that Keeper will be a more traditional horror like Perkins' previous films Longlegs and The Blackcoat's Daughter vs. the darkly comedic tone of The Monkey.
Tatiana Maslany, who played the twins' mother Lois, will star in Keeper. According to Perkin's recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Maslany plays "a wife, who, following the abrupt exit of her husband, has to contend with a sinister force at their remote cabin getaway."
In fact, Maslany worked first with the director on Keeper and enjoyed the shooting experience so much that she then signed onto The Monkey.
Perkins told the outlet that the plan was to start filming The Monkey soon after Longlegs in early 2023, but that the strikes caused delays. Perkins and his Canadian cast and crew instead worked on the upcoming indie horror film "fast and on the fly" while the strikes were happening in the US.
"[Keeper] is an intimate, small, weird movie with, essentially, two characters," says the director.
Perkins is great at making intimate and weird movies, that seems to be his bread and butter, so I look forward to seeing what he cooks up with Keeper. It sounds like it will be more inline with his previous films, which I loved—unlike The Monkey. I thought it fell painfully flat due to its juvenile humor and bad dialogue. Not even the delightfully gory and often hilarious kills could save it.
The Monkey is now playing in theaters. Keeper will be released theatrically on October 3.