Real-life tragedy that inspired 'sadistic' new Stephen King adaptation The Monkey

Longlegs' Osgood Perkins is back in the director's chair for The Monkey

The latest big screen adaptation of a Stephen King story is now out in cinemas, with the author himself branding Osgood Perkins' take on his 1980 tale "b*****t insane". Meanwhile audiences at early screenings described the film as "sadistic" and a "chaotic bloodbath".

The film centres around two twins whose lives are plagued by a cursed wind-up monkey that connects to a number of bizarre deaths. After 25 years, it comes back to unleash more havoc, with the siblings forced to confront their cymbal-bashing nemesis once more.

According to the official synopsis: "When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy."

While the film is based on the King short story of the same name, the horror comedy also draws inspiration from a real-life tragedy that befell its director. At the film's heart are bizarre deaths and unusual deaths, and that's something Perkins has first-hand experience of.

Perkins is the son of Anthony Perkins, the renowned actor who starred as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The actor died of AIDS complications in 1992 having never publicly revealed his sexuality. 

His mother was Berry Berenson, a model, actress and photographer. Just nine years after the passing of his dad, Berenson also passed away at the age of 53. She died on September 11 as a passenger on the first plane to hit New York's World Trade Center.

Perkins often tucks references to his family in his films, and he dedicated his second film I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives in the House to his father. Meanwhile Longlegs was an ode to his mum, with the story centred around a parent who hides details about her child's life from her - until she has no choice but to stare it in the face.

Speaking to Vulture, Perkins explained: "My father was a homosexual man, or at least a bisexual man, who had a life that wasn’t reconcilable with his family life. For us, growing up, we just weren’t given that language. We weren’t given that access. Instead, there was a narrative put on things about what the family was like and how we were together and how my dad was. The challenge of rectifying what I felt I understood and what I was being told is the genesis for the mother that chooses to be complicit in a story.”

With The Monkey, Perkins' inspiration is even more clear cut. In a revealing interview with Empire, he explained why he chose to tackle the story of mass murder with a humorous touch.

"I spent a lot of my life recovering from tragedy, feeling quite bad. It all seemed inherently unfair. You personalise the grief: 'Why is this happening to me?' But I'm older now and you realise this s*** happens to everyone. Everyone dies. Sometimes in their sleep, sometimes in truly insane ways, like I experienced. But everyone dies. And I thought maybe the best way to approach that insane notion is with a smile."

The Monkey is now out in cinemas