The first big horror film of the year is here! Primate, starring Academy Award-winner Troy Kotsur, Johnny Sequoyah, Victoria Wyant, Benjamin Cheng, and Jessica Alexander is swinging into theaters this week. And to celebrate we had the opportunity to sit down with the director/co-writer of the film, Johannes Roberts, as well as Kotsur and Sequoyah, to get an inside look at the terror and chaos of their monkey problems!
Creature features are a rare breed of acquired cinematic taste. While they’ve existed long throughout the annals of cinematic history, few have achieved noteworthiness on the same level as Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, or Jurassic Park. With the film industry relying on safer bets like cinematic universes and blockbuster franchises, the days of the original low-budget creature feature seem to be behind us. But they’re not over yet! Roberts has made sure the lowly creature feature is still alive and well, as he brings us a genuinely scary and suspenseful horror film in Primate.
The premise of the movie is simple: a family’s pet chimpanzee contracts rabes and wrecks havoc on a group of young adults, trapping them in their own home with minimal hope of escape from his vicious, violent, and bloodthirsty behavior. Kotsur plays a successful crime novel author who was once married to the linguist that studied their chimpanzee, Ben. While Sequoyah portrays his daughter Lucy, who is trying heal after the death of her mother…and survive Ben’s rabid wrath of course!
Kotsur and Sequoyah provide some incredible heart to a very grim movie, with an on-screen father/daughter dynamic that feels familial and lived in. This is thanks to their winning performances, as well as the strong direction and writing from Roberts. Together, this trio has successfully brought back the “killer ape” film in spectacular fashion. Here’s what they had to say about bringing Primate to life:
Primate is hitting theaters this Friday, January 9th! Stay tuned to The Nerds of Color for more coverage on Primate including further interviews with POC cast member, Victoria Wyant!
