Spotlight – George A Romero

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While writing my list of what to cover this Halloween, I noticed that I have started many lists about George A Romeo but couldn’t really narrow it down or beef it up to a decent number, so here’s my last ditch attempt to give some credit to one of the more charismatic American Horror Directors RIP.

05. Monkey Shines (An Experiment in Fear) (1988)

While this isn’t necessarily a horror and doesn’t contain any Zombies, I do find this to be one of Romero’s more powerful thrillers. An athlete; Allan, becomes quadriplegic after a tragic accident, but in his time of need, a good friend who is conducting experiments with monkeys offers Allan a well trained Capuchin named Ella, with a few modifications to his home Ells is able to aid Allen and keeps his company. Ella and Allans’ bond, initially healthy, is soon thrown into overdrive when Allan falls in love. Allan’s underlying rage and Ella’s frustrations soon turns into a rageful psycho trip for the unlikely pair.

Under the surface, Romeo plays with ideas about the connection with humans and animals in nature, gender roles and the inner rage of sudden disability. It’s all very powerful stuff and all bound up in a tiny doll like critter. If this is to your taste then there was a similar Humanize TV movie from Britain released in the same year called First Born, starring Charles Dance.