One of the great things about horror movies is that there are SO many different subgenres and small niches within the genre. Because let’s face it, there are countless things out there to be afraid of. Many of these are imagined or fantastical threats, such as aliens, monsters, ghosts, or demonic entities. But sometimes, those fears hit a little closer to home. A little more plausible. For instance, many viewers find body horror difficult to watch because our bodies can so easily betray us. Andy anything to do with viruses...forget about it! And while there are plenty of monster movies out there, some of the most effective focus on real-life animals that exist right here on Earth. Jaws (1974) made us all afraid of sharks (unfortunately), Arachnophobia (1990) tapped into our common fear of spiders, while more modern films such as Crawl (2019) and Rogue (2007) highlight the absolute terror of crocodiles (or alligators, whatever). If you are examining the animal kingdom and identifying species that could quite literally rip our heads off, you need look no further than chimpanzees. One of the scariest elements of Jordan Peele’s Nope (2022), in our opinion, were the flashbacks of Gordy the chimp descending into a violent rage. We may adore chimpanzees, but the fact remains: if they went “bad,” you would be in serious trouble. And in the case of Johannes Roberts’ new film Primate, you are in some very serious jelly indeed.

 

College student Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) returns home to her family's Hawaii home after finishing her finals. You'd think that going to visit your family in HAWAII might be something you'd be pretty excited about but Lucy is a little wary of reuniting with her loved ones. Her mother recently passed away and Lucy has been (understandably) a little emotionally distant from her novelist father (Troy Kotsur) and younger sister Erin (Gia Hunter). To make things less (or more) awkward, Lucy has brought a few friends back with her (Victoria Wyant and Jessica Alexander). The friends relax and chill out (and bicker a little) against the stunning backdrop of their clifftop mansion and Lucy's dad promises that he's going to make more of an effort to connect with his children. Everything seems to be going ok. Ah, one thing we should have probably mentioned is that Lucy's mother was a linguistics professor and had been working with a chimpanzee to develop his communication skills. Since her tragic passing, Ben has been living with the family and despite one of Lucy's friends being a little apprehensive of sharing accommodation with something that could tear her limb from limb (fair), he's just happy to amble about and do his thing. That is until he contracts rabies. Suddenly, this cuddly primate turns from a family pet into a ferocious predator...

 

Whilst there are a couple of things that prevent Primate from being a hard recommend, there is just about enough here for it to satisfy those looking for an undemanding slice of B-movie entertainment. You know that chimp at the beginning of 28 Days Later that is infected with the rage virus that bites an activist and starts the end of the world? Ok so imagine that chimp holding a group of young, sort-of-stupid people hostage at a remote clifftop Hawaii mansion. Sounds fun, right?! Well, for the most part it is. Rabies doesn’t tend to increase intelligence levels in its victims but the decision to add some cunning to the acquired ferocity is a grimly entertaining (if unbelievable) little addition. As the primate stalks its hapless victims through the night, the film begins to feel almost slasher-adjacent - strap a hockey mask on the ape and it could pass for a Friday the 13th entry.

 

Importantly, it delivers most if what you’d hope for going in to a film about a killer pet chimp. There are chase scenes and games of cat and mouse (or chimp and mouse) and hide-and-seek and plenty of blood and gore. Heads are pulverised, faces ripped off. It doesn’t hold back. Director Johannes Roberts is well versed in this time of thing, having overseen shark movie 47 Metres Down and The Strangers: Prey at Night. Whilst there is a level of tension to proceedings, Primate manages to generate entertainment from this carnage because for the most part, the potential victims are all disposable idiots (see slasher reference above). And I know this chimp is murderous and terrifying but if you call a chimpanzee ‘Ben’ and make it wear little jumpers and force it to live in a house then…you know, you can’t really complain when things go wrong. None of what transpires is this poor ape’s fault! It's also nice to see that Ben himself is being played by an actor (Miguel Torres Umba) instead of hokey CGI slop. It makes the violence feel that little bit more impactful. All these ingredients add up to make a pulpy good time.

 

However, Primate does drop the banana on a couple of things. Firstly, the characters. Yes they are all beautiful to look at but they are all pretty plain and uninspiring and more than that, they make a number of annoyingly stupid decisions. Again, it's the type of thing you'd expect in a schlocky 80s slasher movie but here it mainly frustrates. And although the film delivers in terms of gore and maintains an efficient level of tension, it does feel a tad restricted at times in terms of plotting and use of location. Our central protagonists spend about half the film in a swimming pool and it hampers the pacing in the middle act somewhat. Still, viewers approaching the film with appropriate expectations and a tolerance for gleeful horror nonsense are likely to leave satisfied.

 

 

​