Summary
Fromthe movie’s ’90s settingtoStephen King’s praise, horror fans heard a lot aboutThe Monkeyin the months leading up to its February 2025 release. All eyes have been on filmmaker Osgood Perkins, who wrote and directed this highly anticipated adaptation of King’s short story, which was part ofthe 1985 short story collectionSkeleton Crew.
Now thatThe Monkeyis in theaters and reviews are coming in, it’s exciting to learn more about Perkins' next project. As it turns out, he has another horror movie coming out later this year, and it’s calledKeeper. Fans of Perkins' work will definitely want to check it out later in 2025.
Why Osgood Perkins' Horror Movie Keeper Sounds Great
Written by Nick Lepard and directed by Osgood Perkins,Keeperis about a couple spending time at a creepy cabin. The story follows Liz (Tatiana Maslany) and Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland) and takes a compelling turn whenLiz is by herself at the cabin and realizes something bad is going on. Although there are no more details than that, there is no doubt that there will be at least one twist. Maslany is a huge talent known for TV shows ranging from the eerie sci-fi storyOrphan Blackto the funny Marvel seriesShe-Hulk, which likely won’t get a season 2.
As reported byTotal Film, it sounds like people who seeThe Monkeywill get to watch a trailer forKeeperafter.
Keeperis Maslany’s second film with Oz Perkins as she plays Hal and Bill Shelburn’s (Theo James) mom, Lois Shelburn inThe Monkey. Fromeven just one trailer for the movie, it’s clear thatThe Monkeyis wild and out there. WhileKeeperhas a different tone,both movies take seemingly ordinary situations and make them terrifying.
Keepercarries on an important horror movie tradition:an isolated cabin setting. Countless films have taken on this trope, from2011’sThe Cabin in the Woodsand its haunting endingtoThe Rental. It doesn’t get more atmospheric than this location. It will be interesting to see Perkins put his stamp on this scary trope since he’s a filmmaker with an interesting POV. While another writer/director might do a page-by-page adaptation of a Stephen King short story or novel, heput his own artistic stamp onThe Monkey.The movie’s high Rotten Tomatoes scoreproves that his efforts and hard work paid off. While some horror films about cabins in the middle of nowhere can be disappointing because they don’t have anything smart to say, there’s no doubt thatKeeperwill have a compelling tone and perhaps a philosophical message about life.
The filmmaking process forKeeperwas also unique and different from Perkins' other work. In an interview withThe Koalition, Perkins saidKeeperwas made in two weeks. He explained:
“We did this thing in a house, and from the moment that I got up from crying and called my producer Chris to wrapping the picture, it was something like 14 weeks. Then we madeThe Monkey,and then we’re finishingKeeper,and Neon’s putting them all out. We can’t be stopped. Let’s go.”
What Are Osgood Perkins' Best Horror Movies?
Osgood Perkins' two most memorable horror movies are arguablyLonglegsandThe Blackcoat’s Daughter. WhileLonglegswas afavorite 2024 horror movie for many,The Blackcoat’s Daughterhad a quieter release in 2015. The two movies have similar slow and haunting tones, so much so that a fan has atheory thatLonglegsis a prequel toThe Blackcoat’s Daughter.The former is about a young FBI agent, played by Maika Monroe, investigating a serial killer named Longlegs. The latter is a series of interconnected stories, with one of them telling a tale of a student at a boarding school in the wintertime noticing something supernatural. There’s no doubt that each story sticks with audiences for a long time after they’ve finished.
Which horror movies did Osgood Perkins make for Neon?
In an interview withRogerebert.com, Perkins said hekept thinking about the character who would become Nicolas Cage’s Longlegs. Perkins said:
“Longlegs was this entity that kept surfacing in things that I was trying to write. There would be moments where I’d have written a scene or an act of something, and he was this shadowy figure who was in the fringes of those moments, peeking around and trying to fit into the story.”
Perkins is a creative and compelling horror filmmakerand fans will definitely look forward to watching
