First trailer for the rabies animal horror from the “Resident Evil” director

What happens if a chimpanzee becomes infected with rabies? He is hunting his family, as the first trailer for the animal horror “Primate” shows.

Animal horror is socially acceptable again! After the horror subgenre eked out an existence in the B sector and in the seemingly endless expanses of streaming services for many years, there seems to be a cinema audience again that is hungry for sophisticated horror entertainment with wild animals.

“Dangerous Animals” has just been shown in cinemas, the crazy “Anaconda” reboot with Jack Black and Paul Rudd is waiting for you in December and next January a chimpanzee can set about scaring you right at the start of the year.

In “Primate” from director Johannes Roberts (“Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City”), Lucy’s (Johnny Sequoyah) family has an unusual pet: Ben, a chimpanzee. The friendly primate can even communicate to some extent with its human family. But everything changes when he becomes infected with rabies one night and Lucy’s pool party turns into a bloody massacre.

Roberts’ horror film was already shown at Fantastic Fest and caused quite a stir among audiences. So it’s no surprise that it has already received a whopping 88% review score on Rotten Tomatoes. Check out the trailer above.

Extreme and playful: “Primate” director explains the connection to Stephen King’s “Cujo”

One netizen described the trailer for “Primate” as “basically ‘Cujo’ as a chimpanzee.” He’s not entirely wrong, even in Stephen King’s original, a well-behaved pet becomes a raging monster after a rabies infection and threatens everyone’s life. A connection that Roberts doesn’t hide (via Bloody Disgusting). Just like in the “Cujo” film adaptation from 1983, he and his team relied on practical effects:

“I love when I’m watching a movie and I’m completely manipulated by the film crew. It’s a great feeling to feel the tension, to feel fear and to be afraid. It’s a wonderful feeling. I felt that for the first time when I saw ‘Cujo.’ The film manipulates the audience in such a clever way.”

According to Roberts, “Primate” is a horror film and therefore “extreme”, but at the same time its animal horror is also “quite playful” because the film also has some humorous moments that arise from the constant tension.

In addition to Johnny Sequoyah and Troy Kotsur, the film also stars Jessica Alexander, Kae Alexander, Victoria Wyant, Gia Hunter, Charlie Mann, Tienne Simon and Benjamin Cheng. “Primate” starts in this country on 22 January 2026 in the cinemas. This could be the first horror highlight of the year.