Entertainment
This New to Digital Horror Movie Sets the Bar High for Most Terrifying Kill of 2026
In a world where the horror genre is surging thanks to visionary names like Jordan Peele, Robert Eggers, Ari Aster, and Zach Cregger, another successful director in the genre often gets forgotten. Johannes Roberts is the man behind The Other Side of the Door, 47 Meters Down, The Strangers: Prey at Night, and Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. Over and over again, he has been able to take what seems like a mediocre idea and turn it into something surprisingly good. Primate is no different. Audiences rolled their eyes when the trailer for a movie about a killer chimp came out. Then they saw the movie. Primate, now available to watch on digital, is a terrifying bloodbath with chilling practical effects. One scene in particular shows why it works so well.
‘Primate’s Ben Is Made up of Practical Effects, Not CGI
A movie about a chimp with rabies who goes on a killing spree isn’t exactly the most original idea. Primate is pretty much Cujo, except with a chimpanzee replacing the St. Bernard, and a bunch of teenagers taking over for a mom and her sick son. Still, the premise doesn’t have to be new for it to be effective. Human beings have a complicated relationship with chimpanzees. The name of the species is silly sounding, so what’s to be threatened by? And they’re so much like us that it’s fascinating. They’re all so much like us, however, that it can be deadly if it all goes wrong.
We all remember that horrific real life story of the woman who had her face ripped off by a chimp. Listen to the 911 call, with the primate screaming in the background, and it’ll give you chills. Remember Jordan Peele’s Nope? It was a masterful film about an alien, yet the scariest part by far was the chimp attack scene. A powerful chimp could rip us apart if it wanted. In Primate, that’s what happens. It could still have resulted in a bad movie if not for one crucial decision. Primate doesn’t use a real chimp, and it doesn’t get lazy and go the CGI route. Instead, it’s all practical, with animatronics and actor Miguel Torres Umba in a suit. The audience can see that authenticity. Ben feels real, and because of that, half of the job of scaring us is already done.
‘Primate’ Uses Unnerving Slow Burn Tension in Its Best Kill Scene
Ben is a tragic character. He’s not a pet, but part of the family, the heartbroken chimp whose owner, a linguistics professor, has passed away.Primatearguably doesn’t give us enough of Ben as a normal, loving animal before it all goes bad, but we get enough to feel sorry for the poor guy. The opening scene, shown mid-story, where he rips off the face of veterinarian Doug Lambert (Rob Delaney), is disgustingly awesome. That kind of intensity wouldn’t have worked for the full runtime, though. Instead, the viewer meets Ben and sees what he’s capable of before going backwards to the start.
Primate is a slow-burning nightmare, with Ben gradually turning bad as the rabies takes over his body. That technique is used to perfection in the movie’s best kill. Deep in the second act, after Ben has already slaughtered several people, Drew (Charlie Mann) and Brad (Tienne Simon) arrive at the house looking for their friends. They can’t find anyone, so Drew hangs out on one of the girls’ beds. He’s the dumb, oblivious male trope, whereas the audience, like in the beats of a slasher, knows the killer is in the house watching and waiting.
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Ben is revealed by suddenly appearing at Drew’s bedside, with only a thin curtain between them. Drew jumps, immediately knowing something wrong, yet trying to joke his way out of the situation. The decision could be made to have Ben pounce immediately, like he’s done already. Instead, we get to see just how smart he is. Ben plays with Drew in the cruelest way, pushing his face against the curtain, letting his features be exposed bit by bit in an excruciatingly slow moment. When Ben is finally shown, no curtain in his way, he could again pounce at any second. Instead, he pins Drew’s arms down, showing this human that he can not match him. He waits, not out of hesitation, but almost as if he’s enjoying the fear coming off of his victim. Then it happens.
‘Primate’ Doesn’t Hold Back on the Gore
Primate has plenty of gore without overdoing it Terrifier style. Johannes Roberts is giving his audience a bloody, gooey movie as he focuses on keeping the death scenes realistic. Throw in geysers of blood and the tension is lost. The vet gets his face ripped off. Another character is scalped. None of that compares with what he does to Drew.
When Ben puts his fingers in Drew’s mouth and starts to pull down, any horror fan knows what’s coming next. Scenes like this have been done before. Or have they? Ben does indeed yank down on Drew’s jaw, tearing the flesh from his face as the lower half of his skull comes off completely. Drew, with his tongue hanging out in nothingness, can only watch as Ben holds his dismembered jaw in his hands. In an interview with Collider, director Johannes Roberts called Ben “the Freddy Krueger of chimps.” It’s not a crazy comparison. When Ben holds up Drew’s jaw and moves it around as he does his little chimp laugh, he becomes Freddy. This chimp is highly intelligent. Yeah, he’s strong as hell, and he takes his time, but being so much like us that he can make a joke as he kills a man is the scariest moment of all. You never saw Cujo do that.
Primate is now available to rent or buy on VOD services in the U.S.
- Release Date
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January 1, 2026
- Runtime
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89 minutes
- Director
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Johannes Roberts
- Writers
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Johannes Roberts, Ernest Riera
- Producers
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Vicki Dee Rock, Walter Hamada, John Hodges
