Do you know what you should watch? You should watch a movie about a giant mutated insect chasing people in a locked-down hospital. And it should preferably be from the eighties. And if it could be of the B variety, that would be perfect. Well, wouldn’t you know, I think I got just the thing you are looking for. Blue Monkey is a highly entertaining B horror movie featuring all the things you would want from an eighties creature feature. Despite what its title suggests, we won’t be fighting against killer monkeys but killer insects. I’ll refer you to Monkey Shines and Shakma for that type of entertainment.
After all, the original title was INSECT! with all caps lock and an exclamation point. Something that’s very reminiscent of all those fifties and sixties natural horror movies. You know the ones I’m talking about, where radiation somehow makes organisms bigger and deadlier. Here, the action starts almost right away as an elderly man is bitten by a strange creature and taken to hospital. His condition soon worsens prompting a lockdown of an entire building. Trapped with this dangerous mutant, a detective, a doctor, and a zesty kid will have to find a way out of this situation.
As these are the eighties, you can expect to see some pretty odd things by today’s standards. Things like smoking and drinking in hospitals. Blue Monkey also has that cheeky humor despite taking itself somewhat seriously. On that note, the cast was fucking perfect. Steve Railsback, whom you might remember from countless eighties movies, including Lifeforce, was excellent as the grizzled chain-smoking detective. He later said that he was embarrassed by his involvement but I still think he gave one hell of a performance. A true professional who stays committed to the role no matter what.
However, you can say that he’s the unluckiest man alive when it comes to picking good roles. The female doctors in this hospital look like fucking models, starting with Gwynyth Walsh and Susan Anspach! Sadly, there won’t be any nudity. The pacing is surprisingly fast for this type of movie. Add to this a standard, 90-minute running time and you’ve got a pretty solid eighties creature feature night. Blue Monkey also has that vintage B movie charm. You can feel that the crew had a lot of fun on the set. Moreover, the humor in the movie is pretty cheeky and surprisingly effective.
It never goes over-the-top although it comes awfully close a couple of times. The practical effects were quite good and pretty graphic. There were even a couple of really nasty scenes involving cocoons, moving lumps, and other fun Alien artifacts. Producer Sandy Howard openly stated that the inspiration for the movie was Aliens [1986]. It’s a fun game to count all the things lifted directly from this franchise. Also, there will be lasers and stuff, which is always fun. The creature itself wasn’t too bad but we never got the chance to see it in its full glory.
Which is a shame because I absolutely love movies that show off their rubber monstrosities in their full glory. Finally, if you’re looking for movies like Blue Monkey, make sure to check out our Subversive Rabbit list of Movies About Ants. Although it doesn’t feature any creatures and is a much more serious movie, Warning Sign is also a good choice. It’s going to hook you with its opening scene and I urge you to give it a chance. Especially since we relatively recently went through a deadly global infection.
Director: William Fruet
Writers: George Goldsmith, Chris Koseluk
Cast: Steve Railsback, Gwynyth Walsh, Don Lake, Helen Hughes, Susan Anspach, Stuart Stone
Fun Facts: The title of the movie, Blue Monkey refers to the nightmare one of the kids had in the movie in which he calls the creature he saw a blue monkey. The initial idea for the title was Green Monkey but was scrapped when the production learned that there’s a conspiracy theory that green monkeys are responsible for the AIDS epidemic. Oddly enough, the copy I watched features the title INSECT! (foreign market title). However, In the UK, the tape was commonly referred to as “The Invasion of the Body Suckers”.
Rating:
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092677/
