Chimp Mad. Kids Dead.

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The movie Primate is disturbingly violent, sometimes venturing into exploitative territory beyond simple, silly horror. The story centers on Ben, a chimpanzee who’s been taught to communicate and is normally affectionate, but contracts rabies and becomes dangerously aggressive, attacking children. The violence is graphic – Ben brutally injures his victims with chest and head injuries, and even more horrific attacks – and director Johannes Roberts includes quick, shadowy glimpses of the carnage. The entire film takes place in near-darkness, within a remote Hawaiian house on a cliff, and while there might be a narrative reason for this, the darkness actually offers a slight relief from the gruesome scenes.

Recent horror films tend to be either overly complex and stylish, or intentionally cheesy and ridiculous. That’s why Primate feels surprisingly refreshing. Its story is incredibly simple – a chimpanzee goes wild and starts killing people – and the movie gets straight to the point. The beginning quickly establishes the main characters and their relationships, making it clear who’s likely to be in danger. Once the chimp attacks, the group traps themselves in a swimming pool, hoping the animal can’t swim. Like the classic film Cujo, Primate is essentially a story about being cornered and trying to survive a terrifying situation.

While Primate doesn’t have a complex story, it excels in its filmmaking. Director Roberts skillfully builds tension through visuals rather than relying on dialogue, and avoids typical horror tropes. The film’s darkness is effectively used, keeping the threat, Ben, hidden in the shadows. The father, Adam (played by Troy Kotsur, an Oscar winner for Coda), is deaf, and silence becomes a key element in creating suspense. Lucy and Erin often use sign language to communicate quietly. In one particularly unsettling scene, the sound cuts out completely, giving us a glimpse of what Adam experiences. Roberts also uses Adrian Johnston’s atmospheric score sparingly during tense moments, enhancing the feeling that anything could happen – a remarkable feat for a film that follows a fairly predictable path.

If you’re looking for a genuinely unsettling horror film, Primate delivers. Be warned, though – it’s a brutal watch. What really struck me wasn’t just the scares, but the performance of Miguel Torres Umba as Ben the chimpanzee. He doesn’t try to make Ben human, but he conveys such a palpable sense of the creature’s distress and confusion as he changes. That little spark of self-awareness is genuinely heartbreaking and adds a surprising emotional weight to what is, at its core, a pretty classic horror setup. Honestly, I didn’t feel good about anything that happened to anyone in this movie, and especially not to Ben. There’s something to be said for a January horror film that doesn’t pull any punches, but I’m not sure I’ll ever be eager to revisit it.

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2026-01-10 00:55