The 20th Anniversary version of Austin’s Fantastic Fest kicked off with a movie that was sure to whet the appetites of festival attendees with a feast of horror, gore, and humor. The movie is Primate, a film about a chimpanzee infected with rabies that attacks a group of unsuspecting teenagers partying at a parents’ paradise home. Although the film is highly derivative, I had a great time enjoying what it has to offer. It serves up some silly, but sometimes shocking, fun, which was the suitable appetizer for the other days ahead.
A group of college friends decides to vacation at friend Lucy’s (Johnny Sequoyah) home in Hawaii, where her deaf father (Troy Kotsur) lives with his pet chimpanzee, Ben (Miguel Torres Umba), and her younger sister (Gia Hunter). Ben has lived peacefully with the family for some time because Lucy’s late mother rescued and raised him as a member of the family. After getting infected with rabies, Ben lashes out, uncharacteristically, and begins attacking Lucy and her friends in some horribly violent ways.
Written and directed by Johannes Roberts, who co-wrote the script with Ernest Riera, Primate is obviously a new take on Stephen King’s Cujo, but it mixes in gallows humor with the appropriate tension and violence. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have fun with this movie, because it is a guaranteed good time for horror fans. Sure, the character development could have been better, and the story, on its own, is not particularly original. However, this movie makes for a great, horrific time, though it does not exactly deserve the theatrical treatment.
I grew up during the seventies, eighties, and nineties, and I have seen my share of movie copycats and knockoffs. Primate definitely falls into that category. Still, I can see horror fans enjoying this movie through a streaming platform at home with a massive bowl of popcorn. Fantastic Fest should not begin with a significant, exceptional release, because, if it did, it could spoil the rest of the festival. Primate serves as the right hors d’oeuvre to get their fiends ready for more.