I have to admit that when I learned that Osgood Perkins (I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House, Longlegs) was working with James Wan on a Stephen King adaptation, I wasn’t optimistic.

After all, Wan is at best uneven as a director/producer while I’d argue that there are more mediocre to bad Stephen King adaptations than solid ones.

And then there’s Osgood Perkins, who’s very patient methodical directing style I would have assumed would be at odds with either.

Though much to my surprise, The Monkey is fun and mostly complements Perkins’ distinctive visual style.

And it’s also a comedy – a dark one to be sure, but a comedy nonetheless – which surprised me because I didn’t know he was capable of handing one so adroitly.