Film Review: Primate
2 min read
“Something’s wrong with Ben”- Primate Official Website
Snapshot Review: What do you get when you replace the dog and car in Cujo with a chimpanzee and a swimming pool? Primate. Director Johannes Roberts’ (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City) latest horror flick takes a familiar scenario and tries to update it using what is clearly a person in an almost (but not quite) convincing chimp costume with an Oscar winning actor (CODA’s Trou Kotsur) thrown in. I suspect the budget couldn’t afford CGI, so instead had to rely on a small actor playing the part of rabid chimpanzee Ben, who traps a group of young 20’s kids in a swimming pool. I will give credit though, the chimp acting is mostly good, but there are just enough tells to remind you ‘this is a person’. Unfortunately the chimp face is not as good and closeups look pretty bad. Though the film uses every cheap ploy to pull scares out of you (think absurdly loud burst of sound, jump scares, resurrections, etc.)…it’s actually pretty entertaining. Gore fans will love a few of the graphic scenes (just think of news stories you’ve heard about chimp attacks), and there are some tense moments. Overall, it’s not bad on a shoestring budget if you don’t raise your expectations too high.
Release Date: 30 Jan 2026
Genre: Horror
Starring: Johnny Sequoyah, Jess Alexander, Troy Kotsur
::: Renowned For Sound Technical Director and Film Reviewer ::: Robert is an IT geek, movie fan and part-time movie reviewer/editor. Robert also looks after the ‘behind the scenes’ technical elements of Renowned For Sound.
