At first glance, the gothic and the noir genre may seem quite mutually distinguishable: the former, with its castles, ghosts, and curses, involves a fear of the past; the latter, set in modern urban landscapes, a fear of the future. Yet, a deep sense of fatalism and impending doom permeates both. They also often feature anguished and troubled protagonists who try to navigate through oneiric, manic worlds. Stylistically, both employ expressionistic elements, at times even to t

In an age where horror films need to continuously compete to meet the growing standards of an actual “scary movie”, the film Primate takes the traditional template of a horror movie whilst adding its own unique spin, with a killer ape named Ben. Nicole Au picks apart the various aspects of this movie in this review, attempting to see how Primate stands on its own and in the bigger scheme of the horror genre.