There isn’t really a season for horror films, which are often easy to produce and consistently drawn an audience and profit. But it’s fair to say the start of a new year is a time where an influx of horror films tends to stand out, especially with few high-profile new releases.

That’s the case for 2026, as we’re getting horror movie releases each weekend in the month. Here to cap the first full weekend in January, our horror entry is the new film Primate. After some festival and limited runs to end 2025, it’s swinging into action to kickstart 2026. But will the audience go bananas for it?

I’m not just throwing out puns for fun, as you might guess from the title the film focuses on an ape. In this case it’s Ben (voiced by Ben Pronsky), who is more like a member of the family. He’s been with his family for a long time since a language expert brought him home and taught him to speak.

But she has passed away, leaving Ben, her husband (Troy Kotsur) and her daughters Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) and Erin (Gia Hunter) grieving. Lucy has avoided her Hawaiian home for some time, but now that it’s summer break she’s heading back. She brings a few friends (Benjamin Cheng, Jess Alexander, and Victoria Wyatt) home with her.

The group plans to have some fun, while Lucy re-connects with Erin and Ben. Her father, meanwhile, is headed out on a business trip. But, before he leaves, he notices that Ben, who is behaving strangely, was bitten by a rogue mongoose. He sends the mongoose in for testing but doesn’t think much of it.

Turns out, that bite was the beginning of the end for Ben—and for many of the house guests. He turns violent, and they are forced to fight for their lives.

It’s a decent set up for a horror film. The film opens with a solidly violent sequence then jumps back 36 hours to build up the characters and world. That’s where things start to fall apart. After that opening, we’ve back where we started, and launched into carnage.

I’ll start with the good—which is the horror sequences. When Ben is raging and the core group is fighting, running, hiding, or jumping into pools, it works pretty well. The kills are savage and the film certainly leans into an over-the-top level of violence. There are also a few sequences that really build up the tension as well.

I particularly liked a pair of Third Act sequences, one involving Alexander and one making the most of Kotsur. But a few clever sequences can’t patch over the issues here.

The film comes from director Johannes Roberts. He’s no stranger to horror films, offering a re-boot of The Strangers, a re-boot of Resident Evil, and the diving shark horror 47 Meters Down over the years. Seeing that list gave me pause, and Primate certainly adds to that oeuvre.

The characters here are mostly caricatures. The performances often leave something to be desired and most of the dialogue hits with a thud. Granted, those aren’t the reasons people turn to horror films, but it certainly helps to keep them engaging. This film has some decent sequences and kills, but the rest is in shambles and at times laughable.

Sometimes you need a good laugh, so that might be appealing to you as we kickstart the year. Otherwise, I wasn’t impressed by the film. Even hardcore fans of horror might be hard-pressed to find the love for Primate, even if the characters leave you sometimes rooting for Ben.

Primate opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, January 9.

Matthew Fox is a graduate of the Radio, Television and Film program at Biola University, and a giant nerd. He spends his free time watching movies, TV, and obsessing about football. He is a member of the FSWA. You can find him @knighthawk7734 on Twitter and as co-host of the Fantasy Football Roundtable Podcast.