Link (1986)
A young student (Elizabeth Shue) goes to work as an assistant to animal researcher Terence Stamp who's work with chimpanzees is reaching a conclusion. On arrival she meets Link, one of three resident chimps, even though he's actually an Orangutan, who's intelligence means he dresses and acts like Stamp's butler. Following a glorious half hour in the company of a slightly dotty Stamp, things begin to unravel when he goes missing and Shue finds she's alone in the old cliff top mansion with only the primates for company.
Australian director Richard Franklin's film is fast paced with an energy and vibrancy that you don't often feel in modern films. His death age just 58 was a loss to the horror genre as in my opinion he had an excellent CV of diverse genre films including Psycho II (1983) and Road Games (1981. Franklin frames his shots beautifully in a film full of unusual camera angles.
There's a realism to Link that you won't find in Planet of the Apes (Humans dressed as apes) or it's two recent re-imaginations (All computer generated), that realization the apes are actually performing in this film and interacting with humans. In fact great credit must be handed to Shue and Stamp as it really cannot have been easy and possibly quite dangerous at times even though the apes were well trained. However they convince, especially Shue in showing us the threat from these primates is real and not just a chimps tea party. It also proves compelling viewing and completely grounded in reality. Link himself, the Orangutan dressed as a chimp dressed as a butler is brilliant. Endearing yet also steadily unnerving. The look on his face as he discovers a nude Shue about to take a bath is rather frightening as you can quite easily fathom what he's thinking about. The second half, thanks to a combination of great acting, superb filming and terrific simians, is a tour-de-force of psycho horror cinema with an extremely sinister final shot.
If anyone wants to pick up a delightfully quirky and wildly entertaining horror thriller from the Network sale then look no further than Link. At only £3.49 it's a steal.
Highly recommended.
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