Parents
(R, 1:21:45, Released 1989)
| Genres: | Horror, Comedy |
| Release Date: | Jan 27, 1989 |
| DVD Release Date: | May 25, 1999 |
| Starring: | Mary Beth Hurt, Randy Quaid, Sandy Dennis |
| Directed by: | Bob Balaban |
| Synopsis: | In Parents, director Bob Balaban deconstructs our Father Knows Best perception of '50s suburbia, skewing it via moody cinematography and Angelo Badalamenti's sinister score. Ten-year-old Michael Lamele (Bryan Madorsky) thinks his parents (Randy Quaid and Mary Beth Hurt) are cannibals. His constant fear of his folks and their supposedly evil doings begin to warp his view of the world, and he starts seeing a social worker to confront his problems. Are they merely childhood fears intensified by an overactive imagination, or do Michael's parents really crave human flesh? Much in the way that David Lynch approached the sinister underside of small-town America in Wild at Heart, so too does Balaban challenge our notion of the 'burbs as an escape from the harsh reality of the city. If anything, Michael's parents show their true colors once they become wrapped up in the materialistic, socially predatory world of suburban life. Vastly underappreciated, Balaban's Parents is one of those rare modern horror films that uses psychology to freak you out rather than tossing buckets of blood at you (although there are a few in the film, given its theme). This is one horror film that stands up, and deserves repeated viewings. --Bryan Reesman |
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Other Top Reviews
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September 21, 2009
mix childhood imaginations, with screwed up parents and you get a psychosis, mix it with cannibals and you may get a young psychotic! Great show!
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July 13, 2009
There's now a new name for terror: Parents. In the Laemle family, Dad's got a job at the Toxico plant, Mom's homemaking, and ten-year-old Michael thinks his folks are cannibals. Michael frequently fears of his parents and their supposedly evil acts start to warp his view of the world, so he often visits a social worker to talk about his problems. Either his parents really do crave for human meat, or they're only childhood nightmares from his imagination.
Directed by Bob Balaban, Parents features very good acting performances from the following cast:
1.) Randy Quaid (Nick Laemle)
2.) Mary Beth Hurt (Lily Laemle)
3.) Sandy Dennis (Millie Dew)
4.) Bryan Madorsky (Michael Laemle)
5.) Juno Mills-Cockell (Shelia Zeliner)
6.) Kathryn Grody (Miss Baxter)
When I saw Parents, I find it as a horror movie with its sick humor that would end up on my dinner plate. Surely many TV and the movies portray the perfect all-American suburban family set in the innocently-looking late '50s/early '60s background, the film does show them but parodies in a terror twist. Sometimes I enjoy seeing a mystery where Michael asks what he's having for dinner and his folks tell him of leftovers (and more leftovers) while they eat quietly in the table. And then some good but grotesque bloody scenes ensue. Thank goodness my Parents aren't like that. -
July 10, 2009
looks like a very cheezy movie...
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July 8, 2009
Watched this movie when i was like mayb 12 (im 17 now) loved it, have to say then i thought it was creepy nd made me glad that ma mom was a vegan lol
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June 16, 2009
This is available for free viewing on Hulu.com.
The acting is the clear winner of this flick, with set decoration coming in close second. And unlike most modern horror, this film has a plot that includes characters we the audience have a stake in. I viewed this with my best friend who said this during the screening, "Why don't they make movies like this anymore? Movies where you actually care about the characters and want to know what happens?" And it's quite true - this movie is not the most complicated of stories, but we DO care about what happens to this kid and to know what his parents are really up to.
This is a fun family horror-comedy, with a really cool final act. -
May 22, 2009
What is that starnge meat your eating? This almost makes me want to become a vegetarian
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April 25, 2009
I was amazed at this movie, it's very clever, funny, and scary. I loved the kid in the movie too, he was a good actor.
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April 11, 2009
Ummm....wow...that was strange, to say the very least. Actually it made me even more appreciative that I'm vegan haha.
The introductory music is terrible...screechy and obnoxious. Sorry, I just had to say that...it really bugged me lol. I actually really dislike this movie. Way too grotesque subject matter...and just boring & retarded. I think I may just not have appreciation for the genre. -
February 25, 2009
Nothing special about this movie. There are other great horror films.
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January 24, 2009
everyone has to deal with their parents feeding them nasty shit when they're young, but this tops any putrid beets on a plate.
The concept of square nerdy parents chowin down on human meat is funny, -
December 10, 2008
no thanks not my kinda thing
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October 31, 2008
this is like a lynch film for kids
randy quaid makes this movie -
October 19, 2008
Flip side of the 50's. This, along with Blue Velvet and The Burbs will make you question leaving the big city.
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October 18, 2008
RQuaid may be funny, but he has always CREEPED me out lol. The little boy is an amazing actor. A classic.
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September 30, 2008
it had alot of blood and gory stuff i liked it
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July 27, 2008
OUIIIII VEUX VOIR DU BON SAAANG!
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July 23, 2008
really stupid, but I sat through it!
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May 20, 2008
Where does the meat come from? While it's funny as hell, Parents also plays on a number of childhood fears, and Balaban's direction, combined with Angelo Badalamenti's moody score, make this a fun, creepy, twisted tale of life in the suburbs circa 1954.
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May 3, 2008
This movie is sooo messed up...butAWESOME! You just have to see it to believe it!
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March 29, 2008
This is a totaly underappreciated film. Randy Quaid actually turns in a scary performance. The story is twisted as fuck! Imagine Ward and June Cleaver feeding Wally and the Beav. human meat for dinner and never telling them what the constant 'leftovers' are.
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February 6, 2008
this is a freaky movie
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September 27, 2007
Pretty cheesy at times, and at times quite creepy
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August 22, 2007
creepy movie about parents who are cannibals.... very sedate and slow for the subject, but effective.
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July 18, 2007
A movie that harpoons the idea that all suburban families are perfect families with no problems. The casting of Randy Quaid is perfect just because he is like a rock through a pane glass window in the genre.
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July 14, 2007
And you thought your parents were a little off....
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May 31, 2007
One of the few films that has stayed with me since childhood. A disturbing, hallucinatory black comedy that is criminally overlooked!
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February 25, 2007
A bizarre little cult gem.
The movie is played out to a sitcom like soundtrack and i dont really know what genre it is. Its called a comedy but there isnt alot of comedy in it, it just is, its called a horror movie but there isnt really alot of horror in it either. Well, maybe. But still! -
February 2, 2007
Great movie Any Horror Lover should see this.
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January 9, 2007
I caught this accidentally and can honestly say I lost the plot early on. I watched until the end though to try and make sense of what was going on but still felt a bit lost when the credits rolled. There is some gore and some tense scenes but nothing really scary in the traditional sense. I would not watch it again unless I could find nothing else to watch.
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November 7, 2006
haha worst horror movie ever! But sooo funny!
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August 24, 2006
I didn't like to music in this movie. The acting wasn't that good either. Please, don't kill me and eat me for dinner.
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August 8, 2006
What if Beaver Cleaver discovered that Ward and June might be sicko cannibals. This movie plays like a demented 50s sitcom and is delicious, although I would not recommend to diehard vegetarians.
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July 19, 2006
i love this movie!
i used to watching it all the time when i was a kid -
June 8, 2006
Just like real life.
