The Monkey's Paw
2013
The Cast
This is another "Be Careful What You Wish For..." movie. When Gillespie (Kelly) is fired from his job at the packing plant he besides to have his revenge on those he thought responsible. So, that night at the bar, he entices Jake (Thomason) over and proceeds to tell him the story of the monkey's paw, which is sitting on the table. Thinking it all to be a joke, he makes a wish to have the car in front of the bar. Gillespie hands over the withered paw and says it now belongs to him. When Jake and Cobb (Lang) leave at the end of the night the car is in the parking lot... alone... unlocked... keys in the ignition... On the joyride, Jake swerves to miss a crocodile in the road and crashes into a tree. Cobb is thrown through the windscreen and dies minutes later. Shocked and afraid, Jake quickly wishes that Cobb wasn't dead... and this is where the fun starts.
Of course, there are only three wishes so with only one left Jake will have to be very careful about how he words his last wish.
I admit to hoping this would be along The Wishmaster lines but sadly it wasn't... and it wasn't as good either. Though what this story had was lashings of realism, which created an environment for the curse to run riot in. You have a business that's not doing so well. A boss and husband who sleeps around. A wife who knows something is wrong and wishes for her younger years and her love of that time. A man complacent with his life, though he believes there's no prospects or advancement, life will be like this until he dies. A man who's been through a lot and is in love with a woman who hates him and won't let him see his son. All of this anchors the viewer in the here and now and gives them enough drama to keep them interested.
Add to this the element of horror, the supernatural, and murder and you have a good film. Simmons does an admirable job with the direction and has a surprisingly subtle hand with using light to create the right atmosphere at the right time. There are some really nice iconic and powerful part silhouettes, which he uses to create tension and suspense. The pace, on the whole, is brilliant. He keeps it at a slow crawl, which allows him to create a shiver of anticipation under your skin... though, at times it can be too slow. For example, the beginning sequence at the plant. Most of this isn't required. I know it's there so the audience can meet the characters, however, it felt overstretched. There's also a few scenes which are kind of superfluous, like the opening scene. This is then retold in greater detail by Gillespie at the bar. To be honest, it's not even a hook to draw viewers into the film. However, I did like the fact that Simmons cut away from some of the goriest parts of the film, letting the viewers imagination fill in the messy bits.
The acting is above average, though there are times when things get a little messy. The worst being the ambulance scene at the climax of the film. Thomason just can't seem to get afraid, anxious, and scared quite right and opts to shout and thrash about. It's both Kelly and Lang who add power to the cast and film. Lang is so good as the resurrected and murderous Cobb. While Kelly does an ordinary Joe so well. There's not one scene these two are in that even comes close to bad. It's a shame that Dutton, who plays detective Margolis, isn't around a little more either.
I'd recommend this to horror lovers who like their macabre curses and evil manipulated wishes gone awry. I will only be too happy to watch this film again, though it might take me a couple of years.
I Wish this to be an Eerie Supernatural Curse of 6.25 out of 10.
