Breaking the January Curse?
It is a tale as old as time in the film industry: “F*** you, it’s January.” Traditionally, studios treat the first month of the year as a landfill for horror movies they have no faith in (see: Night Swim). So, when Paramount announced Primate, a killer chimpanzee movie released in the dead of winter, expectations were underground.
However, Primate manages to be a pleasant, albeit flawed, surprise. Directed by Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City), the film eschews the complex, “elevated horror” tropes of recent years for something far simpler: A monkey gets rabies, goes crazy, and rips people’s faces off.
It isn’t high art. It isn’t going to win awards. But if you are looking for a visceral, mean-spirited creature feature with a killer soundtrack and impressive practical effects, Primate delivers the goods.
Paradise Lost
The setup is efficient. Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) returns home to her family’s lavish estate in Hawaii. Her father (Troy Kotsur) is a wealthy man who keeps a rescued chimpanzee named Ben as a family pet. Ben is clever, communicates via an iPad, and is generally beloved.
However, the family’s tropical paradise turns into a prison when Ben is bitten by a rabid mongoose. (Yes, the movie ignores the fact that Hawaii is famously rabies-free, but we move on. The infection takes hold rapidly, transforming the gentle pet into a frothing, homicidal monster. With her father away on business and a group of friends visiting, Lucy finds herself trapped in the estate, fighting for survival against an animal that is faster, stronger, and smarter than she is.
Practical Effects and Primal Fear
The strongest asset of Primate is undoubtedly its commitment to practical effects. in an era where CGI animals often look weightless and floaty, Ben is brought to life through a combination of a suit performer and animatronics. This gives the creature a tangible, terrifying presence. When Ben grabs a character, you feel the weight and the muscle behind it.
As illustrated above, chimpanzees possess a muscle density and skeletal structure that allow for explosive strength far exceeding that of humans. The film respects this biology. Ben doesn’t just bite; he tears. The gore in this film is surprisingly gnarly for a mainstream release. There are face rips, jaw removals, and bludgeonings that will satisfy gorehounds.
Adrian Johnston’s soundtrack is another highlight. It leans heavily into an 80s/90s horror aesthetic, with synth-heavy tracks and tense stingers that feel reminiscent of XCOM or Predator. It elevates scenes that might otherwise feel flat, adding a layer of retro-tension to the proceedings.
The Pool Problem
Where Primate stumbles is in its pacing and its use of location. The estate is massive, yet a significant chunk of the runtime—perhaps 25%—is spent with the characters treading water in the infinity pool.
The logic is sound: chimpanzees cannot swim due to their low body fat ratio, making the water a safe zone. However, cinematically, watching teenagers float in a pool while a monkey paces back and forth destroys the tension. It halts the momentum right in the second act. The film had a massive house to play “hide and seek” in, yet it chose to isolate the cast in the one place where the killer couldn’t get them.
Furthermore, the characters are largely disposable. Aside from the deaf father (who is absent for much of the runtime), the cast consists of bickering sisters, a promiscuous friend, and two “douchebag” guys introduced solely to be killed. You aren’t rooting for them to live; you are waiting for them to die.
Primate: Primate is a solid 6/10. It is a serviceable, entertaining B-movie that knows exactly what it is. It doesn't have the pretension of Nope or the campiness of Cocaine Bear. It plays it straight, scary, and bloody. While it suffers from a sagging middle act and a lack of character depth, the payoff in violence and the quality of the creature effects make it worth a watch for genre fans. It’s better than Night Swim, but it won't dethrone Cujo or Congo anytime soon. – Asmodeus
Spoiler Talk: The Kills and The Logic
Warning: Major Spoilers Below
If you are still reading, you want to know the dirty details. Let’s break down the highlights (and lowlights) of Primate.
The Flash-Forward Opening
The movie makes a bold choice by opening with a scene from the 40-minute mark. We see the family vet trying to treat Ben, only for Ben to snap and rip the vet’s face in half. It’s a jarring, violent opening that sets the tone immediately. Without this scene, the slow build of the first act might have lost the audience.
The Rabies Plot Hole
The film hinges on Ben contracting rabies from a mongoose.
Rabies attacks the central nervous system, specifically the limbic system, causing aggression and hydrophobia. The film portrays this accurately. However, as noted in the review, Hawaii is the only US state that is rabies-free. The movie attempts to hand-wave this by suggesting the mongoose was an “invasive species” brought in, but it’s a glaring error for anyone with basic geographical knowledge.
The “Douchebag” Kills
The film introduces two guys, Brad and Drew, purely as fodder. Drew’s death is the film’s highlight. He is lying in bed, thinking the chimp is friendly. Ben crawls under the mosquito net, pins Drew’s arms down with his feet (showcasing that primate dexterity), and slowly rips his lower jaw off. It is gruesome, practical, and fantastic.
Brad, on the other hand, gets a shovel scene that happens mostly off-screen, which felt like a missed opportunity for a man vs. monkey brawl.
The Car Escape
One of the most frustrating sequences involves Hannah (Jess Alexander) trying to escape in a car. She has the wrong keys, but Ben—being a clever chimp—knows how to use the key fob to unlock the doors. It’s a tense sequence in which Hannah almost escapes but opens the door too slowly. The sheer speed of the animal is terrifying here; he drags her back in and finishes the job. It’s a moment where you almost root for her to survive, making the kill sting a bit more.
The Finale
The climax involves the father returning to save his daughters. He engages in hand-to-hand combat with Ben (which is ill-advised, but he has “Dad Strength”). The fight ends with the Dad stabbing Ben with a broken wine bottle.
However, the true kill comes at the infinity pool.
Ben charges one last time, and the Dad tackles him over the edge of the infinity pool. Because of the sheer height of the drop (hundreds of feet onto rocks), the impact finally kills the beast. The final shot of blood clouding the pristine pool water is a nice visual bookend to the chaos.
