20 Underrated Recent Movies You Might Have Missed
11. Primate
Primate is only the latest horror film to go viral because of its absurd premise, given that it's a slasher movie where the expected masked killer is subbed out for a rabid chimpanzee.
And so, a group of young partiers are terrorised by a chimp portrayed by a very obvious guy-in-suit. How good could any of this possibly be?
Quite good, actually, if you're willing to meet Johannes Roberts' film where it is.
No, Primate isn't high art, but it is a well-made, solidly acted, and at times nauseatingly violent film that avoids taking itself too seriously.
For one, going the mostly practical route with the chimp was an extremely smart idea for a lower-budget production, ensuring that our chaotic villain gets a whole ton of screen time that VFX simply wouldn't allow.
Visually, it looks great too, the cast all do their jobs, and best of all, the gory kills are friggin' wild.
Primate might be easy to dismiss from a cursory glance, but it absolutely deserved to become a M3GAN-level phenomenon rather than the modest success it ultimately was.