Young graduate student Jane Chase becomes the new assistant to an eccentric zoology professor at the remote home he shares with two brilliant chimpanzees and an elderly orangutan butler named Link. But when one of the chimps is found dead and the professor mysteriously disappears, Link becomes dangerously aggressive towards Jane. Now, the time for “monkey business” is over and the true terror is about to begin.
Practical Effects
The orangutan performance is genuinely unhinged practical effects magic.
Acting
Elisabeth Shue's scream queen origins before Cocktail fame.
Direction
Richard Franklin channels Hitchcock through a zoo's back door.
Director
Richard Franklin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Link was played by Locke the orangutan, who also appeared in Clint Eastwood's Every Which Way films. Locke reportedly threw actual tantrums when not filmed first.
Richard Franklin, a Hitchcock protégé, specifically wanted to create 'the Psycho of animal horror'—notice the shower scene homage when Jane discovers the chimp's body.
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