This shows how writers and producers can take one of the greatest short stories ever written and turn it into a rambling mess. Yes, the basic plot is there as it relates to the paw itself. The father is in financial trouble (we never know why), so he wishes for the amount he owes to keep going. Of course the paw is cursed and we know how things play out. What ruins it is a cast of characters who are utterly unlikeable and have no connection to anything other than their presences. We are given a sort of voodoo woman who is at the center. There are distractions, like a stupid seance. There is the love interest, an insipid girl that supposedly loves the son. Then there is the appearance of a bunch of people on the lawn in the fog. Huh! I was really disappointed. Imagine what they could have done by playing it straight.
Review of The Monkey's Paw--A Retelling
