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The Monkey (2025)
The Monkey (2025) poster

The Monkey (2025)

Horror, Comedy • 1h 37m

Director: Osgood Perkins

Best English-friendly & video release

Updated 11 months ago


About the film

When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy.

Part of Stephen King Adaptations

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Director: Brian De Palma

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1993 Criterion LaserDisc

TV series

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the WB release without the filtering, 1.85 ratio restored for US Cut; both US and International Cuts are 4K.

Best Audio:

US Cut: 1999 WB DVD/Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

No Blu-ray or DVD release until the Criterion 4K Blu-ray has presented the US in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The International Cut has never been presented in it's OAR of 1.66:1 in any home video releases.

The packaging on the back of the WB 4K Blu-ray incorrectly states it as 1.85:1 when the movie is actually 1.78:1 as is the original Blu-ray. 

Director: George A. Romero

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

Shout! Factory Blu-ray for the original Dolby stereo, 4K Blu-ray is a downmix

Director: John Carpenter

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray or Carlotta 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode)

Video Notes:

Sony 4K Blu-ray and France Carlotta 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode) are similar

Director: Lewis Teague

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray 

Video Notes:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray > disappointing US Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray / R1 Lionsgate DVD sounds best and has the original mono and the R1 Lionsgate DVD has a Dolby Stereo remix

Director: Rob Reiner

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

US Sony 2023 Steelbook 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

US Sony 2023 Steelbook Edition 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

US Sony 2023 Steelbook Edition 4K Blu-ray > Sony 2019 Standard Edition 4K Blu-ray

US Sony 2023 Steelbook 4K Blu-ray added Dolby Vision and more extras

Best Audio:

Original Mono mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray

5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray Sony Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

DVD and Blu-ray both have lossy Mono

Additional Info:

The DVD has an isolated score track 
In addition to the new Atmos track, both 4K Blu-ray releases have ported over the previous lossless 5.1 remix from the older 1080p Blu-ray in DTS-HD MA 5.1 and also include the original theatrical mono mix in lossless DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono

Only the US Steelbook has Dolby Vision

Director: Paul Michael Glaser

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Paramount US 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

70mm 6-Track: Paramount US 4K Blu-ray

35mm matrixed Dolby Stereo: 1995 Live Home Video US LaserDisc

Audio Notes:

Although the provenance of Paramount's 5.1 track is not confirmed, the fidelity is outstanding and speaks for itself.
The 7.1 track on the Capelight/old Lionsgate release is just an upmix with nothing gained over the 5.1.
The original stereo mix is only present on older DVDs and LaserDiscs; all Blu-ray 2.0 tracks are downmixes.

Additional Info:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray has no extras, Capelight 4K Blu-ray has most of the extras, Olive Films Blu-ray has a exclusive commentary

Director: Michael Gornick

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Mary Lambert

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Paramount Scares Vol. 1 Set 4K Blu-ray

More from Osgood Perkins

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Director: Osgood Perkins

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Decal 4K Blu-ray

More Horror on Blu-ray

Director: Roman Polanski

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Carlotta France 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

UK 4K teased by 88 Films https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=24252379

Video Notes:

Carlotta France 4K Blu-ray > Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray (better encode on Carlotta without any low-pass filtering, more extras and English subtitles on Vinegar Syndrome)

Director: Roy Del Ruth

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration of the original 3D left eye and right eye camera negatives

Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack & Merian C. Cooper

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Director: Bernard Rose

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Scream Factory/Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Turbine 4K Blu-Ray

Additional Info:

SF and Turbine also have the 2004 Audio Commentary with Bernard Rose, Clive Barker, Alan Poul and actors Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd and Kasi Lemmons

Director: Fede Álvarez

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray

Director: Peter Jackson

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow US/UK 4K Blu-ray or Turbine Germany 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Both will look identical in motion but the Turbine looks marginally better due to a higher bitrate allocation by each cut being given its own disc, whereas Arrow had FiM seamlessly branch the two onto one. However, Arrow has both cuts in Open Matte (on Blu-Ray) and corrected the opening Universal logo's aspect ratio. https://slow.pics/c/McvVcYDG

Best Audio:

Cinema DTS

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray also includes exclusive "Reborn Cut"

Director: Lam Nai-choi

Best English-Friendly & Video:

88 Films UK or Vinegar Syndrome US Blu-ray (preference)

Video Notes:

Different color gradings, 88 Films disc is encoded by FiM but Vinegar Syndrome encode (by Marcus Johnson) is more than robust

Audio Notes:

Vinegar Syndrome potentially has better audio than 88 Films, due to VinSyn possibly having EQ'd the audio mix after Fortune Star scanned the track in a way that makes it sound too hot, whereas 88 left it alone without addressing that issue. However, no direct comparisons exist

Director: Tobe Hooper

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

4K Blu-ray has both the original Dolby Stereo mix and a 5.1 remix.

Additional Info:

HBO Max Streaming includes the theatrical version with original credits, goofs. 1080p with the 5.1 remix

Director: Alexandre Aja

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

US Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

US Lionsgate Limited, France ESC, or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray?

Video Notes:

Germany Plaion is reportedly better than UK Second Sight.

Not sure about the US Lionsgate or France ESC.

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Researched and maintained by

tyyux

· last reviewed 11 months ago

Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.