By: Jamie Steinberg
My friends and I spent the entire ride home from Primate comparing and contrasting the movie to similar in premise film Cujo. With the graphic scenery turned up a notch, this motion picture harkens back to its predecessor with even greater jump scares. Be prepared to go ape wild for this intense new horror film.
Ben (played by movement specialist Miguel Torres Umba) is the beloved adopted pet to Adam (Troy Kotsur), a well-known author who lives off the coast of a Hawaiian island in a cliffside mansion. Daughters Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) and Erin (Gia Hunter) stay connected to their late mother through their relationship with Ben, as she was a linguist who actually taught Ben sign language. This loving connection gets torn to shreds when Ben contracts rabies from a rabid mongoose. With the rabies setting in, Lucy, Erin and some friends find themselves fighting for their lives as a hang out in the pool sets off Ben at the sight of water. From there, the group has to figure out a way to escape in order to call for help before Ben can come up with a way to get around the
Director Johannes Roberts (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City) brings a total gorefest to our screens as soon as Ben begins to foam at the mouth. I watched a number of scenes through the slits in my fingers as Roberts excelled at making the audience scream and squirm in their seats. Yes, the storyline is familiar to those of us who (as previously noted) were familiar with Cudjo; however, this modern take amps things up as a realistic looking ape rips off faces.
Primate wastes no time in getting to the premise with a fast-paced eighty-nine minutes of film. Shout out to Johnny Sequoyah as Lucy who gives a standout performance while the others serve the needed purpose as victims to Ben’s madness. Be prepared to dig your nails into the arms of your chairs for a disturbingly good watch.