By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
Ignorant of details, facts, and laws, this is a faulty premise that slips on a banana peel and lands in a void of careless despondency. “Primate” is a new horror film using the age-old monster movie concept. While it brings a decent level of intensity and suspense, the ridiculousness of the story and incredibly weak acting downgrades the film into B-movie territory.
Taking place in Hawaii, where it is illegal to own a chimpanzee, a famous author named Adam (Troy Kotsur) has a pet chimpanzee named Ben (Ben Pronsky-voice). His daughter, Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah), returns home from school with her friends Kate (Victoria Wyant) and Hannah (Jessica Alexander) to see her sister Erin (Gia Hunter) and their hairy family member. When Ben gets infected with rabies (Hawaii is the only state to not have a single reported case of rabies), the pool party goes bananas, and the body count increases in a hurry.
When it comes to monster movies, English director Johannes Roberts is a veteran, having helmed the “47 Meters Down” movies as well as “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City,” none of which are particularly good. Unfortunately, the same holds true for “Primate.” He seemingly avoids any attempt at authenticity, ignoring key basic facts like Hawaii’s law concerning chimpanzee ownership. He clearly understands that there’s never been a reported case of rabies in Hawaii by inserting a line saying such for one of the characters, but he simply glosses over it and never attempts an explanation as to how it suddenly appeared. Then there’s his depiction of the chimpanzee in a rabid state being a highly intelligent, stealthy hunter, when in fact rabid animals lose cognitive function, becoming more aggressive and unpredictable but incapable of stalking their prey with any kind of stealth. This all contributes to a degradation of believability that undermines the horror.
What Roberts does well is he creates high tension that will have viewers fiercely gripping their armrests in anticipation. He sufficiently creates fast-paced action early and never eases up on the throttle, taking audiences from one blood soaked killing to the next. Whether it is the protagonists trying to sneak their way to safety while the chimp seems out of sight or the ensuing hair-raising chase sequences, Roberts gets the adrenaline pumping with well-timed jump scares. He also creates uniquely grotesque kill scenes using practical effects, from pure bludgeoning to ripping a person’s face off to forcibly removing a character’s lower jaw. This definitely increases the entertainment value, especially for gore enthusiasts. However, with underdeveloped storylines and characters devoid of common sense, the sheer lack of intelligence catches up to the film rendering it all pointless.
Then there’s the acting, or lack thereof, which has the audience rooting for the rabid ape not even halfway through the movie. Like most B-horror movies, they bring on a cast of mostly young, nondescript actors who could be CW regulars, and add one respectable veteran. The respectable veteran in this case is Oscar winner Troy Kotsur (“Coda”), who lends a bit of credibility and the unique trait of being deaf. This allows for a twist to the tension, since his character is unable to hear the chimpanzee’s approach, similar to the young female character in “A Quiet Place.” As for the younger stars of the film, their inability to offer any kind of depth to their characters or even deliver their horribly written lines with any kind of convincing quality simply makes them one-dimensional play toys for the beastly chimp to dispose of without any emotional remorse.
If you’re into monster-style horror films filled with violence and gore without much thought and can turn your brain all the way off, then you might find some enjoyment from this chilling thriller. Ultimately, “Primate” tries to be “Cujo,” only with an ape instead of a dog, and in terms of capturing the scary intensity of an animal obsessed with ripping the characters’ face off, it succeeds. Although, its primitive stupidity and abysmal acting reveal its true nature as just another bottom feeding horror flick.
This movie earns
