Where is the love for Shakma? This is an entertaining, mindless cheesy Horror flick that came in the decline of a genre.

The movie is about a killer baboon. How could someone not like it? It's cheesy as hell and unintentionally funny but still it delivers expectations. I'm glad I rented this on VHS because I had a great moment. I laughed, cringed, and applauded for Shakma! The lead characters had great chemistry between each other. Wyss on her hottest form, Atkins, and the always fantastic Roddy McDowall were great on their roles. But keep in mind that Shakma is the real star of the movie. Our killer baboon made the entire movie watchable.

Rent this not so bad piece of 80's Horror trash and have a good time. Remember to keep your brain out of this. You won't need it.

Slice'n'dice fright flicks featuring glassy-eyed psycho fruitcake killers hacking up jerky teenagers with all the charisma and personality of used, parched Play Dough were all the rage in the 80's, so it was only a matter of time before some desperately reaching hack screenwriter decided to cook up a would-be "high concept" entry in the slasher horror sub-genre which substitutes a crazed, screeching bloodthirsty baboon for your usual insane, heavy-breathing sanguinary subhuman lunatic. "Shakma" is that film; it's an often unintentionally uproarious riot that isn't scary for a minute, but does manage to be hugely amusing and entertaining straight-to-video trash just the same.

A bunch of bonehead college students playing a Dungeon and Dragons-type game in a high rise medical research center are stalked and killed by the titular deranged simian. Directors Tom Logan and Hugh Parks wearily go through the shopworn body count paces without ever injecting any vitality or originality into the threadbare proceedings. Roger Engle's trite script likewise skimps on the novelty, with all the creativity beginning and ending with the central gimmick of replacing a madman with a mad monkey. The baboon itself, played by the loud, irritating, uglier-than-a-horse's-a** Typhoon, proves to be more funny than fearsome (the scenes with this shrieking beast running down the halls after its victims are absolutely sidesplitting!). Most of the killings take place off screen and the gore is pretty mild. The irony of casting former "Planet of the Apes" series mainstay Roddy McDowell as your stereotypically well-meaning, but misguided scientist who's responsible for the whole bloody mess is a nice touch. The rest of the cast alas ain't so hot: onetime teen idol Christopher Atkins, the adorable Ari Meyers and Amanda Wyss (Freddy Krueger's first victim in the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street") all fail to believably bring their roles to life. All that criticism aside, this honey still qualifies as a total gut-busting campy hoot.

A wild baboon attacks medical students who are playing a game, trapped in a large tower.

Why did this movie attract my attention? The great cast. We have Roddy McDowell with a bow tie, Playgirl model Christopher Atkins ("Blue Lagoon") and Amanda Wyss ("A Nightmare on Elm Street"). A solid cast right there, despite this being a film that few people have probably ever heard of. Granted, these were 1980s stars on their way down at that point, but still decent.

Ari Meyers, who may be less well-known, is also present, dressed as though she was prepared to audition for a role on "Full House". The breakout character was actually Bradley, the homosexual nerd, played by unknown actor Tre Laughlin, who apparently never acted in anything else.

The problem with this film is that it runs a bit too long, especially towards the last act, and that earns it a five. A six would have happened if it was trimmed down -- the monkey is not on screen too much or too little and we spent a fair amount of time watching these people play a game. Important in some ways, but the game has little to do with them getting attacked -- they could have been doing anything. (Although it is interesting to see how little is revealed to the audience -- if you figure out the rules of the game just by watching, well done).

This also is the sort of movie where the audience might point out the dozen or so bad decisions made by each character. Despite a lack of phone or fire alarms, surely they must have some way to get in and out of the building... but it never seems to occur to anyone, with their best thought being to throw silverware out a vent to see if someone notices. (And if they do notice, why will it make them call the police?)

Not bad as a hidden gem, but not something to go out of your way for, either. Could make a nice double feature set with "Link".