The Monkey appears in an aspect ratio of 2.00:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The image worked well.
Overall sharpness seemed solid. Some interiors looked a smidgen soft, but those were the exception to the rule, as the majority of the shows were accurate and detailed.
No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I noticed no edge haloes. Source flaws were absent, as the episodes looked consistently clean.
Unsurprisingly, Monkey gave us a palette that focused on amber and teal. Other hues appeared, but those dominated. Within those parameters, the colors were positive.
Blacks seemed deep and dark, while shadows showed good smoothness and clarity. I felt happy with the image.
As for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Monkey, it lacked a ton of ambition. The soundfield focused on music and ambience, though it opened up on occasion.
Unsurprisingly, the film’s sporadic flashes of violence became the most active moments, and they packed a reasonable punch. Beyond these, the mix delivered a solid sense of place without lots of major involvement,
Audio quality was fine. Speech seemed natural and concise, without edginess or other issues.
Music offered good clarity and range, and effects worked well enough. They didn’t have much to do, but they appeared reasonably accurate, and when the mix demanded greater range, the effects seemed impressive. All of this ended up as a perfectly satisfactory soundtrack for this sort of story.
We get a few brief featurettes here: “Outrageously Gory and Thoroughly Gratuitous” (3:26), “The Cast of The Monkey” (4:09) and “Becoming Hal and Bill” (3:14). Across these, we hear from writer/director/actor Osgood Perkins, visual effects supervisor Edward Douglas, special effects coordinator Greg Pyne, and actors Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Colin O’Brien, and Christian Convery.
The programs look at story and characters, tone choices, various effects, cast and performances. A few decent notes emerge – mainly related to the challenges of one actor playing two roles – but the reels lean toward promotional fodder.
A Funeral Gallery presents three screens of material. We see pamphlets that would come with the services for three of the movie’s dead characters. Though insubstantial, this extra seems kind of fun.
The disc opens with ads for Presence and Hell of a Summer. We also find two teasers and one trailer for Monkey.
Though it occasionally flirts with more serious topics, The Monkey mostly attempts to give us a giddy mix of dark comedy and gross-out gore. It accomplishes its goals and turns into a fun romp, albeit not one for the squeamish. The Blu-ray provides good picture and audio but it skimps on supplements. Osgood Perkins delivers another winning movie here.
