Movie Fans Aren't Prepared For 2026's First Truly Nasty Horror Villain

This article contains spoilers for "Primate."

I've been holding onto my Johannes Roberts stocks since he directed one of the best slashers of the 2010s with "The Strangers: Prey at Night," and they've sure paid off. The all-killer, no-filler creature feature "Primate" is an 89 minute throwback in all the best ways. We get to see an idyllic Hawaiian vacation for a bunch of early 20-somethings screech to a bloody halt as a rabid chimpanzee named Ben (Miguel Torres Umba) unleashes a whole lot of monkey mayhem. It's one of those movies that does exactly what it says on the tin, and is all the better for it. Any horror flick that opens with a gnarly face-ripping in the first five minutes immediately has my attention. But focusing too much on the spectacular gore undersells how Roberts, along with co-screenwriter Ernest Riera, package their thrills in a way that makes great use of the besieged cliffside mansion and all of the dangers it possesses.

"Primate" proves how simplicity can open the door for a whole bunch of creative setpieces that never makes this central location feel stale. Not only is this the first great horror movie of 2026, but a strong contender for one of the year's most memorable horror villains in Ben. For Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah), her younger sister Erin (Gia Hunter), and their father Adam ("CODA's" Troy Kotsur), he's a lovable extension of the late family matriarch who taught him linguistics before she passed. But a rabid-infested mongoose slowly transforms Ben into a full-bore animal slasher villain before our eyes. Since he can't swim, the college kids take refuge in the pool. Ben, however, shows them that they can't hide in there forever, and has a whole lot of fun tormenting them one by one.

What makes Ben so disarming is that you expect the rabies to alter him into a feral beast, like something out of the prologue of "28 Days Later." But where things get interesting is that he retains his intellect and doesn't just immediately lunge at the kids when they peek their head out. Ben plays the long game by giving them the impression that they have a chance. Lucy's crush Nick (Benjamin Cheng) at one point attempts to push Ben in the hopes that he'll tumble down the steep cliff. But Ben pulls an amazing gotcha in throwing Nick over instead. We get an incredible POV shot of him falling that culminates with his head being split open like a watermelon on the rocks below. If that weren't enough, Ben celebrates his trickery with a slow maniacal laugh. To his credit, it was pretty funny.

Johannes Roberts doesn't completely sideline the plight of this ensemble's efforts to survive the night, but understands that the audience is also here to have a blast rooting for Ben. He's calculating, lures them into traps, and has a very mean sense of humor about it too. This is best depicted in one of the film's standout sequences where Ben lulls Drew (Charlie Mann), a drunken party bro, into a false state of security before slowly pinning him to Lucy's bed, ripping out his jaw and taunting him with it while he's still alive. He mirrors the sadistic glee of "Terrifier's" Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton).

Roberts creates some effective suspense as to where Ben could be hiding in any given scene. It works not just because of the character, but because of the man embodying him.

I spent most of "Primate" wondering how in the hell Johannes Roberts and crew brought Ben to life, given that he looks so detailed and textured. CGI has become such a go-to solution that it never occurred to me that this rabid chimp could actually be practical. How silly of me. Actor/movement specialist Miguel Torres Umba brings Ben to life by way of a stunningly real animatronic suit from the artists at Millenium FX. Whenever Ben partially scalps someone in the pool using a suspended string of pool lights or bashes himself against a closet door, that's Uma's really putting the work in. It's almost always easier for the actors, characters and the audience to buy into the fear when there's something physically right in front of them.

For as much as Ben channels the likes of other ruthless animal killers like "Cujo" and Gordy ("Nope"), Uma's excellent creature performance imbues the expressive character with his own horror legacy. It feels like such a treat that one of the first movies of the year comes right out of the gate with a screen monster you can't help but love, especially when he taunts a character with the unlock button on the car keys she left behind. Ben carries this "watch what I'm about to do to this poor sucker" demeanor as he unveils a tender reaching-out moment as a ruse to snap Lucy's wrist. I've seen some folks describe this film as stupid, but it has way too much craft for such an easy moniker. It's incredibly refreshing that "Primate" has no shame of being a creature feature (unlike another recent holiday monster movie). It just is. Here's to you, Ben!

"Primate" is now playing in theaters nationwide.