PRIMATE, in theaters now, is a thrill-a-minute horror that grips you by the jaw and never lets up. Think “Final Destination”-meets-“Cujo.” The film follows a family, living in Hawaii, who have a “pet” chimp named Ben. Ben can communicate using sign language and a tablet with predetermined words. For all intents and purposes, Ben is not just a pet but is also key to the research being conducted by the partriach of the family, who is deaf.

The movie immediately lets us know we’re in for a horrific ride within the first five minutes. We’re barely introduced to Ben before havoc begins to unfold in graphic ways. Prepare yourself.

After its blood-curdling intro, PRIMATE jumps back 36 hours to introduce us to the eldest daughter of the family who is on her way home to Hawaii with a couple of friends to reuinte with her dad and little sister. She meets a couple of nare-do-well teen boys who have never talked to women before and also finds out a friend she’s not too keen on is joining them on the journey home.

The acting is a bit “meh”… but that’s not why we’re here. We’re here for action and horror – and whew are we about to get it in spades.

The film doesn’t waste any time getting the daughter and her friends home before we see her dad zipping off to a book-signing stop. We can piece together that Ben is his life’s work and he’s written volumes about his experience – he seems pretty important in the world of chimp research and judging from the size of the massive mansion perilously perched on a cliffside in Hawaii, I’d say he’s doing very well for himself. The unwelcome/welcome friend doesn’t take long to find herself face-to-face with Ben… and Ben doesn’t look very healthy. The family mostly shrugs it off, but the dad discovers a dead mongoose in Ben’s outside pen. He decides to scoop it up, keep Ben isolated and get that mongoose tested by a vet.

As dad leaves for his book signing, he leaves 3 teen girls and one random love interest boy whose role is never clearly defined. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter – these kinds of movies need the most options possible for deaths and dismemberments.

Without giving too much away… the film is predictable at times, but genuinely terrifying at others. I think the terror is assisted greatly by physical effects with the chimpanzee. The character is credited at the end – so there’s a real person in a chimp outfit for most of the film. In this age of AVATARS and cheap CGI thrillers, this was a VERY welcome change in a horror film.

The acting is thin, but the action is not! This film is packed with suspense and tense situations that really will have you on the edge of your seat and maybe even screaming back at the screen. I can’t stress enough that the gore is real in this film. They darken the blood, but I mean, you can still see what’s happening… and some of it is W I L D. This is where I make the “Final Destination” comparison because that film series excels in gruesome death scenes and PRIMATE is very much in that same lane.

Is it worth your time? Well, it’s only about 90-minutes long, so the answer is a resounding yes. Especially if you love horror with practical effects. I can only hope other horror films take a cue from PRIMATE.