DVD Corner

The Monkey’s Paw Blu-ray Review

“The Monkey’s Paw” is a lazy movie.

Scream Factory (an offshoot of Shout! Factory) has become a fan favorite home entertainment company over the last few years as they have released classic horror and cult horror favorites on both Blu-ray and DVD. One of their latest offerings (“The Monkey’s Paw”) is an odd choice in that it’s neither a classic title nor a cult title. Instead, it’s a 2013 Chiller Films production based on W.W. Jacobs classic tale of the same name about a magical monkey’s paw that grants its owner 3 wishes.

If the “be careful what you wish for” story sounds familiar, that’s because the concept has been copied endlessly. There’s even been numerous film adapatations of the famed story. This film version (which claims to be a sequel to the original tale) finds a factory worker (Jake Tilton) being given the titular object. As you can imagine, Jake’s 3 wishes don’t exactly go as planned especially when he resurrects a dead colleague (Tom) who returns as a crazed murderer.

I’m not going to beat around the bush. “The Monkey’s Paw” is a not so subtle, low budget horror stinker with a Z-grade cast that contains the likes of Corbin Bleu, C.J. Thomason, Stephen Lang, and Charles S. Dutton. The film, which plays very much like a SyFy Channel Original, is riddled with bad acting, plot holes, poor direction and overly dark cinematography by Scott Winig. One would think that the basic story could be taken in a unique direction in this modern age, but writer Macon Blair whips up a surprisingly melodramatic horror tale that mostly revolves around the undead Tom. I won’t give away any specifics about Tom’s character in case anyone wants to see this movie, but suffice to say, it’s not a captivating story arc for a horror movie.

“The Monkey’s Paw” is presented in 1.78:1 1080p with a 5.1 DTS-HD MA track.

Extras include a “The Monkey’s Paw” theatrical trailer, an all too brief cast and crew interview filled “Making The Monkey’s Paw Featurette,” and a commentary by Brett Simmons, Scott Winig and C.K. Thomason.

Overall Thoughts: My advice? Pick up another Scream Factory title like “The Fog” or “The Slumber Party Massacre.”

July 9, 2014 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Scream Factory, Stephen Lang, The Monkey's Paw Blu-ray Review