Stephen King’s The Monkey Gets Gut-Busting New Trailer

There’s no doubt that the new Stephen King adaptation The Monkey is a horror movie, yet the new trailer leans hard on the comedy angle as well. The movie — based on a short story by the same name — is billed as a mixture of both, and so far it looks like it will be able to deliver on this delicate balance. It seems to be full of gore, jump scares, and unceremonious violence, and undercutting all of this with some ironic laughs somehow makes it even more ominous. The Monkey hits theaters on Friday, February 21st, but there is now plenty of content to get into ahead of time.

The new trailer introduces The Monkey‘s central premise in voice-over narration, keeping things pretty simple to start while promising to explore its parameters more thoroughly as it goes. Some of the outrageous set-ups show where you might let out a laugh in the theater, along with some blunt dialogue and deliveries by the cast.

We’ve seen most of the shots in this trailer before, but the Red Band release simply allows the filmmaker to preview more violence and gore, which seems to be important to this movie. We see a shot of someone being shot with a crossbow, beheaded at a hibachi restaurant, crushed with a bowling ball, and so on. All of it comes back to the sinister toy monkey that features so prominently in the advertising campaign.

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The premise of this story is that twin brothers Hal and Bill unearthed a vintage toy monkey in their father’s attic, and realized too late that it was possessed by some kind of evil force. It leads to several deaths before the brothers try to hide the toy where no one else will ever find it and move on with their lives. Years later it returns, not only causing more bloodshed but forcing them to reckon with the past as well.

The original short story was published in Gallery Magazine back in 1980, then later included in King’s short story collection Skeleton Crew. It is considered by many to be King’s take on “The Monkey’s Paw” with his own personal twists. It was generally well-regarded among King fans, though it hasn’t exactly stood out from his other work over the years.

Filmmaker Oz Perkins adapted the story into a screenplay and directed. He also plays a role in the movie, which he has said is very different from his other films. We’ll be able to see for ourselves when The Monkey hits theaters on Friday, February 21st. King’s Skeleton Crew is available now in print, digital and audiobook formats.