Is ‘Primate’ Based On A True Story?

The Strangers: Prey At Night director Johannes Roberts is back with a chilling new horror film.

Primate, which is playing in theaters now, follows a family on a tropical vacation that goes horribly wrong when Lucy’s (Dexter: New Blood star Johnny Sequoyah) brother – a chimpanzee named Ben – contracts rabies from a rabid animal and goes on a violent murdering spree.

Roberts co-wrote the screenplay with Ernest Riera, while Jessica Alexander and Oscar-winner Troy Kotsur also star.

The unique premise truly sounds like the stuff of nightmares. And the campy horror film is already garnering promising reviews, receiving a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes.

But is Primate based on a true story? One thing is for sure: Primate did not star a real chimpanzee. Ben was played by actor Miguel Torres Umba, who used prosthetics and puppetry to make Ben appear as realistic as possible.

Here is everything we know about what inspired Primate.

Is Primate based on a true story?

Primate is not based on a true story. But there have been several reports over the years of people being mauled and viciously attacked by their beloved pet chimpanzees.

In one incident in 2009, Charla Nash was attacked and blinded by her friend’s pet chimpanzee, Travis. The animal mauled her face, ripping off her hands, eyes, eyelids, nose, and began eating her, according to People. Nash underwent a face transplant and is reportedly planning to undergo a double hand transplant.

Roberts said Stephen King’s 1981 novel Cujo (and the 1983 movie adaptation) strongly inspired him to write the movie.

“I’m a massive, massive Stephen King fan, and a massive fan of Cujo,” he said, per Polygon.

But why chimps?

“It just seemed like a really, really unpleasant idea,” Roberts said. “A dog, you kind of feel a sympathy with. But chimpanzees? I just think they’re scary. […] Dogs are one thing, but chimpanzees are little fucking shits.”

Primate is playing now in theaters.