Monkey Shines is a 1988 American horror film written and directed by George A. Romero, based on the novel by Michael Stewart. The film stars Jason Beghe as Allan Mann, an athlete who becomes a paralyzed quadriplegic and develops a bond with an intelligent service monkey named “Ella”. The film, which was produced by Peter Grunwald and Charles Evans, was Romero’s first studio film, and was distributed by Orion Pictures. The film’s distributor, Orion, was desperate for a hit, as it was in financial difficulty. First, the studio forced Romero to add a happy ending to the picture, a plot device which the director had long avoided in favor of more ambiguous endings. Second, after poor previews, the studio recut the film without Romero’s knowledge to add a “shock” ending.
