Shakma (1990)

Not exactly sure why, but I seem to enjoy horror films with primates as the villain like two other horror films of the same era Link and Monkey Shines. I did think it was a very good film, but as the viewer it really does depend or how much you give in or accept the role-playing game in which the characters are playing within a locked research lab. I did accept it and thought it was a very interesting and cool twist to be used. It is here that a baboon that has been injected with an experimental drug wrecks havoc on the unsuspecting players of the game. The always entertaining Roddy McDowall stars along with Christopher Atkins and Amanda Wyss.

The students in the med school of a university play a "Dungeons & Dragons" type of role playing game in their tower after hours. They're supervised by their head professor, Sorenson (Roddy McDowall). Unfortunately, one of their primate charges is a baboon named Shakma (played by "Typhoon"), who has been genetically altered - big surprise there - and who has now gone absolutely crazy, slaughtering any stupid human unlucky enough to be close to it. As the humans dwindle in number, they find that getting help from the outside world is next to impossible."Shakma" is pretty laughable, all right, not that it's *completely* worthless. The action is passable, the suspense passable. The most entertaining aspect is the animal action. Typhoon is a real force of nature and was obviously trained as well as a baboon could possibly be trained. Things get pretty gory, too. The movie is generally amusing for putting an "animal attack" spin on the standard slasher formula. Everything about it is no more than adequate on a technical level; it suffers the most from its silly script and inane characterizations. The actors treat the material with the best poker faces that they can muster: former teen idol Christopher Atkins, Amanda Wyss of the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street", Ari Meyers of 'Kate & Allie'. The casting of McDowall is certainly appropriate given his iconic role(s) in the "Planet of the Apes" franchise.This is a junk movie, to be sure, but it's still reasonably entertaining. One big problem is that it's overextended, going on too long at approximately an hour and 42 minutes.Five out of 10.

A wild baboon attacks medical students who are playing a game, trapped in a large tower.Why did this movie attract my attention? The great cast. We have Roddy McDowell with a bow tie, Playgirl model Christopher Atkins ("Blue Lagoon") and Amanda Wyss ("A Nightmare on Elm Street"). A solid cast right there, despite this being a film that few people have probably ever heard of. Granted, these were 1980s stars on their way down at that point, but still decent.Ari Meyers, who may be less well-known, is also present, dressed as though she was prepared to audition for a role on "Full House". The breakout character was actually Bradley, the homosexual nerd, played by unknown actor Tre Laughlin, who apparently never acted in anything else.The problem with this film is that it runs a bit too long, especially towards the last act, and that earns it a five. A six would have happened if it was trimmed down -- the monkey is not on screen too much or too little and we spent a fair amount of time watching these people play a game. Important in some ways, but the game has little to do with them getting attacked -- they could have been doing anything. (Although it is interesting to see how little is revealed to the audience -- if you figure out the rules of the game just by watching, well done).This also is the sort of movie where the audience might point out the dozen or so bad decisions made by each character. Despite a lack of phone or fire alarms, surely they must have some way to get in and out of the building... but it never seems to occur to anyone, with their best thought being to throw silverware out a vent to see if someone notices. (And if they do notice, why will it make them call the police?)Not bad as a hidden gem, but not something to go out of your way for, either. Could make a nice double feature set with "Link".

This is one of the most ridicules things I haw ever saw. But i still like it a lot. A great for viewing with a bunch of friends I guarantee it will haw you rolling down the floor. A group of teenagers battle to survive against the all mighty and angry baboon(u don't need pants for the victory dance...) There's a lot of scenes when the monkey roars like crazy and rampages thru corridors also a lot of stupid quotes and a whole bunch of very annoying characters. But it's fun just pure fun. I recommend it for people who like "stupid" movies and take pleasure in watching them because this movie as a horror is not scary at all. The monkey doesn't look so Evil that it could slay so many people but what I know, I never confronted a mad baboon. But I will bet twelve college students could stand against a panther or a small lion :)