"It's unnatural, you and that monkey!"

You're probably already aware that George A. Romero died this week. It seems every obituary column makes mention that he was the innovative, independent filmmaker who pioneered the zombie subgenre, a fact that I've already covered. I've actually written about a couple of his zombie movies.

Everyone knows what Romero did for zombies. Almost no one is talking about what he's done for psychic, killer monkeys.

This week's Thursday Thriller is Monkey Shines.

Romero directed this 1988 film, based on a novel by Michael Stewart. It's about a law student named Allan (Jason Beghe), who is the kind of guy who loads his backpack up with bricks to go jogging.

During his morning run, Allan gets hit by a van and is paralyzed from the neck down. Shortly after, Allan notices a distance growing between himself and his girlfriend Linda (Janine Turner). His mom Dorothy (Joyce Van Patten) hires him a bitchy, live-in nurse named Maryanne (Christine Forrest), who brings along her obnoxious parakeet Bogey. Allan grows despondent and attempts suicide.

Lucky for Allan, his buddy Geoffrey (John Pankow) had just dropped by to check on him. Also lucky for Allan, Geoffrey is an ambitious, young scientist who's been experimenting on capuchin monkeys by injecting them with human brain cells to see if it will make them smarter. When his experiment seems to be going nowhere, he wonders if the animal's environment would make a difference. Geoffrey finds a monkey trainer named Melanie (Kate McNeil) to help get Allan set up with one of his lab monkeys so it can help fetch things for Allan when he needs them. Allan and Melanie name the helper monkey Ella.

Ella and Allan bond almost instantly. She does everything for him -- changes the battery in his wheelchair, brushes his hair, brings him his sippy cup. When Allan can't raise his hand in class, the monkey raises hers. Ella is also very protective of Allan. When Bogey gets loose one night and attacks Allan's face, Ella gets revenge. Ella gets revenge on a lot of people for Allan. Then Allan falls in love with Melanie. Things get complicated.

Monkey Shines is a decent movie. It's not Romero's best, but it's not his worst. It streams on Hulu Plus.