©Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Ben is like the Cujo of chimpanzees. He was always part of the family, until the fateful day a rabid mongoose bit him. From then on, he acts like a furry four-foot serial killer. The opposable thumbs evolution provided him lead to a long, bloody night for Lucy and her friends in Johannes Roberts’ Primate, which releases Friday in theaters.
Supposedly, rabies has never reached the Hawaiian Islands, thanks to their strict animal quarantines. Unfortunately, the party is over. Who knows what other infected animals might be lurking in the rainforests, waiting to pounce in a sequel? Ben the chimp has an advantage when it comes to luring in prey, because Lucy’s family trusts him. He was raised by her late mother, a linguist, who taught Ben an extensive human vocabulary (much like the chimp documented in James Marsh’s Project Nim). He can still communicate, but the lyssavirus rotted away his mind and soul.
Inconveniently, Ben’s infection metastasized just in time for Lucy’s homecoming from college. Since her family lives in an ultramodern cliffside smart-home worthy of a tech mogul, Lucy’s bestie Kate eagerly accepted the invitation to join her for a Hawaiian vacation. Awkwardly, she further extended the offer to the annoying Hannah (much to Lucy’s chagrin). True to form, Hannah immediately starts putting the moves on Nick, the childhood friend for whom Lucy has long carried a torch. Regardless, Lucy’s top priority will be protecting her angsty little sister Erin, who still harbors feelings of abandonment.
Of course, Lucy’s best-selling novelist father Adam must travel to a book-signing, so there will be no adult supervision when Ben attacks. To further complicate matters, Adam also happens to be deaf, so he would not hear the terrified teens’ screams or the rabid chimp’s blood-curdling screeches. To the credit of Roberts and co-screenwriter Ernst Riera, this character trait is thoughtfully integrated into the narrative, so it never feels exploitative or merely tacked on. It also eventually adds real tension, when Roberts turns off the film’s sound, to show Adam’s inevitable return from his silent perspective.
Most likely, Primate will not garner many endorsements from zoologists. For instance, the notion chimpanzees have a severe aversion to water is not necessarily true. However, their heavy, muscular bodies make swimming nearly impossible, so taking refuge in the family pool somewhat holds up to logical scrutiny. Regardless, Roberts and Riera are probably accurate enough for government work and less pedantic horror consumers.
Indeed, Primate is fun, in an admittedly trashy kind of way. Ben’s best kills should delight fans with their spectacular gruesomeness. Frankly, it is easy to enjoy the spectacle, because Lucy and her friends are so stupid and shallow (especially the hard-partying meatheads who find their way to the beach house). Consequently, few viewers will emotionally invest in their fates.
©Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Truly, the youthful cast has only one function—to serve as meat for Ben’s grinder. Still, Johnny Sequoyah and Victoria Wyant approach the film with a level of professionalism (as Lucy and Kate) that is appreciated. Nevertheless, most of the interesting human moments come from Troy Kotsur as Adam (a deaf actor duly cast as a deaf character). Admit it, it is always fun to see an Oscar-winner (CODA in Kotsur’s case) pop up in an unapologetically gory horror movie.
Nevertheless, the honors for the film’s best performance easily go to Miguel Torres Umba for the sheer physicality of his work as Ben. Rather than rely on lifeless AI, Roberts fitted him up with a literal monkey suit and practical prosthetics. As a result, Ben’s scenes have a weirdly deranged vibe that truly distinguishes the film from garden variety animal-attack exploitation.
Capturing nature at its nastiest happens to be Roberts’ forte, having directed the 47 Meters Down sharksploitation movies. However, the execution is tighter and tenser throughout Primate. Even by the standards of the animal-attack horror subgenre, Ben’s misadventures are wildly over-the-top, but the film works on its gleefully nutty level. Recommended for fans of campy natural beastie horror, Primate opens in theaters this Friday (1/9).
Grade: B-
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Here’s the trailer of the film.