But, it's her role in George Romero's somewhat underrated Monkey Shines, that inspired me to write this. This is the tale of a paraplegic who gets a helper monkey, only to discover that they have developed a weird and deadly psychic bond, thank to an experiment. McNeil plays Melanie who trains monkeys to help the handicapped. Our lead, crazy monkey, Ella, does not take kindly to Melania getting between her and our hero. McNeil is very likable in her role, and gives a great and highly believable performance. In fact, all of the acting is quite excellent in a movie that is really only marred by a lame, and forced shock scare that occurs towards the end and by being a bit overlong.
I've always had a soft spot for this one, and I recently upgraded my old MGM DVD to the Scream Factory blu-ray which is excellent, of course. Back, when I first saw it on VHS, as a kid, I developed quite the crush on the truly beautiful Ms. McNeil. Her blonder hair and blue eyes were very indicative of what was my ideal woman was back then. While, my versions of the ideal woman have changed over the course of my life, there is no denying that she is a complete stunner. And, still is, as is evident by her new interview on the blu-ray extra features.
One more thing, is worth mentioning, and that is her sex scene in the film. It's a very hot and, yet, genuinely tender and loving scene, that adds heart and feels like it wasn't just thrown in for the sake of showing her tits. That doesn't take away from the sexiness of it all, though. In fact, is is erotic enough that it made my list of the 10 Best Sex Scenes in Horror Movies, a couple of years ago. I also must admit, that as a kid this scene was a "personal" favorite of mine, if you know what I mean!
Hey, I would love to know, are you guys enjoying my horror crushes? Are you happy that this is becoming a more consistent feature on here? Leave me a reply, I would love to know your thoughts!
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