Link

Move over King Kong for here comes Link! Well, not quite but ‘Link’ – a devious chimp (who is played by an orang-utan) – is the real star of this 1986 horror flick, despite a young Elisabeth Shue getting top billing and Terence Stamp playing second fiddle.

Stamp gives a rather lacklustre performance as Dr. Stephen Philip, an anthropologist who studies the mental capabilities of chimpanzees when not holding lectures at a London University about the interaction of simians with humans. It is here that he is approached by American student Jane Chase (Shue), an aspiring zoologist eager to work with Philip. He offers her indeed a job though not exactly what she had in mind: for free boarding and food plus £40 p.w. she can stay at his grand and isolated mansion somewhere along the English coast in exchange for domestic chores (so much for women’s lib!) and ok, she is allowed to observe him during his work. Upon arrival she’s greeted by what seems to be a rather small butler, only when said butler takes her luggage we see that it is in fact an orang-utan dressed in a butler’s outfit! Philip introduces him as Link, a former circus chimp (so why did the casting director pick an orang-utan?) and we can see an old poster from his glory days (make that exploitation) whose many talents include smoking a cigar… I kid you not! Then there’s a savage female chimp by the name of Voodoo and a playful and highly affectionate baby chimp named Imp. A good half of the film is taken up with scenes of Philip showing off how obedient ‘his’ apes behave though it becomes apparent pretty quickly that Link possesses more intelligence than our Westminster government put together and picks up on everything that happens around him. While this might seem entertaining and we can’t help falling in love with Link’s many facial expressions (which are at times almost human) the tone changes considerably after Dr. Philip announces he has to leave for an appointment and before Jane even realises that he and his car are gone mayhem is about to descend upon the quaint cliff-top home…

First, Link plays ‘Peeping Tom’ when he observes a naked Jane about to take a hot bath, his gestures seems to suggest “Me Link, you Jane” in what is a hilarious but also an unsettling exchange of looks… Later in Dr. Philip’s lab Jane discovers the mutilated body of Voodoo (presumably killed by Link after yet another squabble between the apes) and it’s from then on that Link shows his true colours… especially when Bailey (Kevin Lloyd) – a dodgy ‘friend’ of the Doctor, turns up unexpectedly and makes it clear that his mission is to collect Link (who has clearly served his purpose as far as our anthropologist is concerned) and deliver him to an undignified end: vivisection! No wonder Link goes ape and if there’s one person who’ll find out the hard way not to mess with King Link then its Bailey…

Soon it’s utter pandemonium and both Jane and Imp find themselves confronted with an increasingly violent Link who outsmarts everyone. When she attempts to walk to the nearest town to call Dr. Philip (seeing how Link ripped out the phone lines in the house) she’s almost torn to shreds by a Doberman who appears out of nowhere but low and behold, Link also turns up out of nowhere and brutally smashes the hound against a fence. Every attempt to seek help fails and Jane finally learns of Bailey’s and Dr. Philp’s fate (no, he never reached London…). Help finally seems on the horizon with the arrival of Jane’s love interest David (Steven Pinner) who, together with his fellow student mates Tom and Dennis, enter the mansion with a foreboding feeling of unease. His gut instinct was right for within minutes both Tom and Dennis are dead while Jane and the injured David must act with their utmost wit if they want to escape alive from the utter carnage that Link is creating. The explosive finale needs to be seen to be believed - and did I mention that smoking is bad?

If there is one vital message in this film then perhaps it’s the notion that mankind should not interfere with the animal world and that nature (and beast) has every right to take revenge. That said, LINK is very much of a mixed bag (at least the apes are real and not animatronic) due to its occasional silliness and the fact that its star Terence Stamp is barely in it – indeed the real horror is perhaps a scene in which he brews a cup of tea (“You know what we English are like when it comes to tea”) in a microwave and fishes out the floating tea leaves with a spoon before handing the mug to Jane. Yuck!
Jerry Goldsmith’s typically 80s electronic score is really quite unsuitable and doesn’t emphasise any of the unfolding dramatics but praise should go to Elisabeth Shue (back then still a pretty unknown name) though really this film belongs to the apes and thanks to respected animal trainer Ray Berwick, no animal had been harmed during filming.

LINK has just been released as a gloriously restored Blu-ray version with brand-new Extras including audio commentary, deleted scenes, trailer and interview with horror expert Anna Bogutskaya.