Primate

WOW is PRIMATE a massive surprise. A throwback to 80's visceral gore and terror with the best practical effects in ages, it's an 800lb gorilla of scares, suspense and freak out moments.

AND it's well acted by a great cast.

Didn't see this one coming.

Mesa's own, Troy Kotsur, Best Actor Oscar winner for 2022's "Coda", stars as author Adam, whose luxurious cliff side beach house sees the return of his older daughter Lucy (a terrific Johnny Sequoia) after a long time away from him and his younger daughter Erin (Gia Hunter). The only other occupant of the stunning estate is the family pet chimp, Ben.

Throw in a couple other friends Kate (Victoria Wyant), her older surfer brother Nick (Benjamin Cheng) and Hannah (Jess Alexander) and you've got the makings of a relaxing welcome home party.

Ben isn't just any family pet. He's incredibly well versed in sign language and communication via a touch pad. His linguistic abilities are courtesy of the girls mom, Adam's recently passed wife, a brilliant scientist.

But Ben isn't himself.

He's been bit by a rabid mongoose that got into his pen and the disease is advancing rapidly.

Writer/Director Johannes Roberts, an avowed Stephen King fan, creates a modern day "Cujo" that grabs you by the throat and never lets go.

This isn't a standard stupid horror film where people go back into the house for no reason or go hide in the barn full of chainsaws. These kid's survival instincts are pretty damn great. Which makes you cheer for them all the harder when you start putting yourself in their place.

What PRIMATE gets so absolutely right is the terror of fighting a wild animal, driven mad by disease. Ben's power is immense and he LOVES tearing off a face if he can catch his prey, but he might bite a giant hunk of flesh off first to make sure you can't get away.

Like Andy Mushietti's "It" films, being the most vulnerable one on screen or a child does not prevent you from carnage, which violently ups the stakes.I spent the entire film wondering how in the HELL they filmed the attack sequences. It was too damn palpable and weighty to be CGI. When entire jaw bones are ripped off, you watch the tendons and skin stretch and snap, in all the right horror ways.

It's a callback to 80's slasher horror, but with great actors and far better effects.

Adrian Johnston provides a synth driven horror score that creeps you out with John Carpenter like beats and screaming notes to balance that piano that seems to always be lurking in the shadows.

Director Roberts serves up real style throughout, mapping out a house, backyard and grotto that you understand in positioning, doubling the suspense as they try to escape from Ben.

He also creates a well shot sequence when Adam returns home, immersing the viewer into Adam's world without sound, where chimps can be beating your daughter senseless in the background while you grab a cold slice of pizza in the kitchen. Kotsur delivers in these scenes, his anguish and shock is real.

The sound design teams are beyond expectation, punching up the silence with a lot of ripping flesh, breaking bones and assorted splatter.

Ben is actually played by a blend of effects, including an actor, Miguel Torres Umba, in effects masks and outfit so seamless that it defies belief.

If you think chimps can't be scary, you are very, very misled.

It's very early in 2026, but it's going to be hard to surprise me more than PRIMATE did. It's one hell of a horror movie, a clever concept executed at a very high level. When I saw Kotsur on screen, my immediate reaction was, "what the hell is he doing in a January horror flick?". I get it Troy. Good choice.

I can't wait to see what Writer/Director Roberts does next. 2026 is off to a great start in the theaters.

PRIMATE gets an A.