Movie Details
| Title: | Parents | |
| Director: | Bob Balaban | |
| Year: | 1989 | |
| Genre: | Horror | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 07.06.06 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (0)
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 07.06.06 | Terror Thursday | Whoever called this a dark comedy is out of their mind. Sure there are some parts that are intentionally humorous but come on... this is one creeped out movie. I remember renting this when it first came out. Other than that, the only thing still in my head was that it was way more serious than I thought it'd be... and that they ate people. I am happy to say that not only does the movie hold up, I think it's actually really good. it's surprisingly well done, with Balaban pulling out a lot of tricks to emphasize the creepiness of your family and that you can never escape (I'm also thinking of the shot where the school headshrinker screams and the camera pulls back through the door then into the air ducts and out the roof where the arriving Randy Quaid can hear). Randy Quaid is really really creepy, the kid does a great job at acting creeped out, the mom is great, everyone's great... but mostly it's just this heavy vibe that coats the whole movie. There's a really dischordant score bed that kind of creeps and sogs away during a lot of the tense scenes that really gets to you... and the line between funny and creepy feels completely deliberate in its use. Interestingly enough, I was deeply impressed at how quiet this normally rowdy thursday midnight crowd got... It clearly had everyone in the theater going... there was complete silence when there was supposed to be. So yay! I couldn't remember barely anything about this movie so it's good to find out how quality it is. Afterward Wiley laid out his whole theory that what's so bleak about the film isn't the whole cannibalism thing but more that life just sucks... it's all about screwing and eating and conforming and everybody's insane and you can never get away from it. Interesting... but i think it was a little about cannibalism too. Sure made me hungry. |
