If that one scene in Nope (you know the one) wasn’t enough to convince you that owning a chimpanzee is a bad idea, Primate is here to remind you that these animals can literally rip you limb from limb. Directed by Johannes Roberts, who also co-wrote the script with Ernest Riera, the film is scheduled to release in January—and if it wasn’t on your radar before, allow me to firmly add it.

PSA: Primate Proves That Chimps Are Not Pets (But They Are Great Slasher Killers)

Primate begins with a pre-credits scene introducing us to the danger: a vet has been called to check in on a chimp named Ben that isn’t feeling so hot, only to discover the hard way that the super-strong animal has gone rabid. It’s an evocative opening, though it does create a little timeline confusion when we jump back in time a few days to follow Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) as she returns home to Hawaii to see her family and their unusual pet.

Her late mother, we learn, worked with Ben for years before her death, and he remains a beloved member of the family, able to communicate most basic needs via the use of sign language and a special tablet. Ben is acting a little off, though, so Lucy’s father (Academy Award-winner Troy Kotsur, in a stand-out role) calls in the vet we’ve already seen die before heading out for the night.

Of course, we know that Ben has rabies, so it’s only a matter of time before he goes bananas. In the meantime, Lucy, her sister, and their friends get to living it up while they have the place to themselves. The family owns a gorgeous secluded mansion complete with a cliffside infinity pool, and if you’ve seen The Strangers: Prey at Night, you’ll know Roberts loves a pool. He quickly finds a reason to drive the young people into it and trap them there—but just because chimps can’t swim, that doesn’t mean they’re safe.

Blending Animal Attack Horror with Slasher Thrills in Primate

One of the biggest things going for Primate is its ability to blend classic animal attack horror with slasher elements. The film draws clear inspiration from Cujo, but where the Trentons were largely safe from the beast’s foaming maw (if not the sun) so long as they stayed inside their vehicle, Lucy and friends aren’t so lucky. As the tagline for Primate warns, Ben is “dangerously close to human,” which means he understands how to use tools and constantly finds creative ways to take a swipe at his prey whenever they and the audience let their guard down. The sicker the chimp gets, the more he seems to radiate a savage, all-too-human glee.

At the same time, Roberts and Riera’s script leverages the communication gap between Ben and the family to devastating effect. Ben is so close to being able to tell them what’s wrong before his rabies progresses to the point of no return, but he doesn’t quite have the language. The fact that Lucy’s father is deaf adds an additional layer to the tragedy: we see how expressive the family is able to be through non-verbal communication, yet Ben is still isolated in his misery.

Toward the climax, however, even this form of communication starts to break down as the girls’ screams go unheard. While it feels like there’s more material that could have been wrung from this theme, it’s notable that Ben goes for the mouth more than once during his rampage, including in the film’s most memorable kill. In the end, maybe all communication is meaningless when nature decides to play a cruel prank.

Miguel Torres Umba’s Incredible Performance as Rabid Chimp Ben

This tragic aspect of the story doesn’t dampen the scares or thrills. Movement specialist Miguel Torres Umba, who portrays Ben, initially imbues the chimp with lovable warmth that makes his feverish, trembling intensity all the more frightening as the sickness takes hold. It’s a remarkable performance, one that lulls the audience into a similar state of wishful thinking to Lucy as she repeatedly reaches out to Ben in the hope that some part of the pet she loved is still in there. Primate rewards that desperate desire with brutal bites, bludgeonings, and beyond.

Primate Is a Lean, Mean, Face-Ripping Machine

Animal attack horror movies have trended hard toward sharks in the last decade (a world Roberts is no stranger to, having helmed 47 Meters Down and its sequel). It’s exciting to see a new addition to this subgenre focusing on a lesser-seen aggressor, especially one that doesn’t frame its killer creature as inherently evil, but rather a victim of both a natural blight and human foolishness. Ben should never have been put in the position he’s in—but now he’s here, it’s pulse-poundingly fun to see the damage that 100+ pounds of pure muscle can do when its brain is on fire.

Primate attacks theaters on January 9.

Remakes are tricky business. Do you attempt to recreate and risk the whole endeavor feeling unnecessary, or take things in an entirely different direction and potentially piss off hardcore fans? Director Mike P. Nelson is no stranger to this dilemma: his 2021 reboot of Wrong Turn divided audiences and critics alike. With his Silent Night, Deadly Night reboot, he’s cruising for another bruising, taking a hard left turn from both the tone and content of the original film to create something that’s fun, festive, and maybe even a little heartwarming. It won’t be for everyone, but with one Silent Night, Deadly Night remake already in the books (Steven C. Miller’s 2012 effort), it’s nice to see something at least marginally fresh coming down the chimney—even if it is dipping into the stockings of other media across genres to fill its sack.

The Silent Night, Deadly Night Reboot Is a Pole Apart from the Original—and That’s Okay

Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025) stars Rohan Campbell as Billy Chapman, who, as a child, witnessed his parents being murdered by a man dressed as Santa Claus. In Charles E. Sellier Jr.’s 1984 original, this traumatic event, combined with the brutal discipline later inflicted on Billy at a Christian orphanage, ultimately leads him to don a Santa suit and violently punish those he deems “naughty.” Nelson’s remake strips away the religious element and replaces it with a supernatural one: Billy’s urge to kill and sense for who deserves it is passed on to him by the previous killer Santa in his dying moments, and that man’s deep voice now rings in his head, guiding him every step of the way.

If that sounds a little like the plot of Dexter mashed together with The Santa Clause, it should—and Silent Night, Deadly Night isn’t just borrowing plot elements from these widely disparate pieces of media. Tonally, Nelson’s film has a lot more in common with the sly, self-aware humor of Dexter than it does with the original film’s hard, tragic edge, and its cute central romance would feel more befitting a light-hearted Tim Allen movie than a Christmas slasher. You see, in the middle of his annual killing spree (communicated via layers upon layers of bloody smears under each door of an advent killer), Billy meets Pam (Ruby Modine), an outburst-prone clerk working in her late mother’s tchotchke store. Initially only planning to pass through her small town on his way to his next kill, the nomadic Billy soon falls for Pam, ignoring the warnings of his own holly-jolly Dark Passenger.

Silent Night, Deadly Night Delivers with a Supernatural Twist

That total tonal pivot will likely alienate some fans, but for those just itching for some gory holiday fun, Silent Night, Deadly Night delivers the goods. It might be kind of a romance now, but that won’t stop Billy from burying the axe. One kill scene in particular descends into a full-blown massacre, providing a particularly cathartic target that will bring down the house. There are also plenty of not-so-subtle references to the original franchise to make fans smile, including the obligatory mention of garbage day, as well as a few nods to other Christmas slashers.

Nelson even tries to tap into the Santa suit-sparked psychosis that drove 1984’s Billy to kill. While the scene in question generates plenty of laughs, with the addition of the supernatural element, it makes little sense if you look too closely. It’s all a little less straightforward than the original, and the guiding voice in Billy’s head takes some getting used to, but if you go in looking for a good time, there’s certainly one to be found here.

Unwrap Silent Night, Deadly Night for a Killer Holiday Romp

For his part, Campbell leans in to the tongue-in-cheek material wholeheartedly, and it’s nice to see him getting another shot at an iconic slasher role after the horror community widely rejected his Halloween Ends turn (for what it’s worth, I thought Corey was the most interesting element of that mess—put the pitchforks down). His chemistry with Modine is compelling enough to keep the film moving even when it gets bogged down in the plot complications created by Billy’s quest to kill killers, and there’s something absurdly sweet about this romance between two broken people. I suspect this fresh take on Silent Night, Deadly Night will pair nicely with Tyler MacIntyre’s It’s a Wonderful Knife, itself a fun, romantic twist on a beloved older movie. There are plenty of pitch-black Christmas horror films out there for people looking for coal in their stockings. The world is bleak enough right now—I’ll enjoy a sugar cookie where I can get one.

Silent Night, Deadly Night releases in theaters on December 12.